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According to results from varied epidemiological studies it is the people who are educated, wealthy and living in developed countries that are most healthy. They are probably thinner, exercise more and are more "health conscious" than those in lower socioeconomic brackets. Poor people living in third world countries or underdeveloped countries are less educated, smoke more and weigh more than healthy people. Poor people are often more likely to suffer from the physical, emotional and mental stresses associated with living in environments with noise pollution and environmental pollution. Poor people are also less likely to care about preventative health practices because of their lack of education and will probably suffer more greatly from disease and illness. However, I feel that this representation of health is not at all mirrored in American culture. Affluence allows rich people to eat more foods of higher quality, thus leading to the obesity epidemic among middle class and upper class Americans.  On the flip side, the obesity epidemic is still able to pervade the ranks of poor people because there is a lack of understanding that comes from health education about what is the right food to eat. Poor people, based on their needs for survival, may be forced to buy food with a lesser quality in a greater quantity. For example, McDonald's and other fast-food chains offer "poor people" the opportunity to eat a large quantity of food, mostly unhealthy, for very little money.  Also likely, is the idea that poor people will not have enough money for sufficient amounts of food and will constantly be thin or under-nourished. To me, this example serves as the primary contradiction of what is health and how it is wrongly represented in polar opposite socioeconomic groups