Diet Composition Doesn’t Explain Obesity Gap

Population survey data from the U.S. and U.K. show rich and poor report very similar macronutrient and meat intake; differences are quantitatively tiny and cannot account for the higher obesity rates among poorer women. Objective validation using doubly‑labelled water reveals that underreporting of intake grows with body size, suggesting measurement bias rather than true compositional dietary differences explains at least part of the apparent intake gap. — If true, policy and public debate that focus on macronutrient composition or meat access as the primary cause of poverty‑linked obesity are misdirected and should shift toward structural factors, energy expenditure, and measurement methods.