[WS:] This is the first thing you notice when you head west from the northeastern areas (DC-NY-Boston). I am not sure if this is confined to working class, unless you want to expand this concept to cover the so-called middle class. It seems to be the midwestern thing. What I also noticed is a significant number of obese adolescents - which is not limited to the midwest or even the US. You see that in EU as well albeit on a smaller scale. I think it points at adverts and food industry as culprits.
Adverts for high-sugar, high fat "food" (or rather snacks) are ubiquitous not just on TV but in most public spaces, and vending machines selling this crap are installed in most schools.
My wife tells me about a losing battle against this industry - in her school they got rid of the vending machines but the kids get their supply of high-carb-and-cholesterol snacks from the convenience stores nearby.
And they munch on this crap almost constantly, even during classes. A lot of it appears to be the so-called "comfort eating" - kids who come from high stress background tend to comfort themselves by eating, especially high on sugar foods (this is the neoliberalism connection). What is more, the kids often discard vegetables from the school cafeteria meals ("this is not food, this is what food eats") and munch only on carbs and meat.
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."