There seems to be a growing amount of evidence that low socio-economic status is bad for mortality, mostly indirectly (makes you more likely to do things like smoking, eating a diet with less fresh fruit and vegetables, etc)
This is subject to the same cause and effect issues you alluded to earlier. It’s reasonable to hypothesize that worse-than-average impulse control is likely to result in both low socio-economic status and overweight/obesity.
Anyway, for my purposes it doesn’t really matter. The evidence is strong enough that at a minimum I’m willing to stake my health on the claim that it’s better for one’s health to avoid getting fat.
This is subject to the same cause and effect issues you alluded to earlier. It’s reasonable to hypothesize that worse-than-average impulse control is likely to result in both low socio-economic status and overweight/obesity.
Anyway, for my purposes it doesn’t really matter. The evidence is strong enough that at a minimum I’m willing to stake my health on the claim that it’s better for one’s health to avoid getting fat.