That's Fit

Money can't buy you happiness. That's how the saying goes, anyway. But has anyone ever subjected to this theory to any kind of scientific method? As a matter of fact, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have, and their findings seem to support this popular tenet.

According to the research, money does play a role in the initial stages of happiness -- to the point where basic needs are met. Beyond that point, however, the affect money has on happiness appears to be far less significant. So, if money doesn't bring joy into people's lives, what does? Family ties, say researchers. Surveys on this topic indicate that while happiness is less strongly tied to changes in income, there is a strong association to changes in the quality of family relationships over time.

However, just as you still might disagree with these findings, so do some economists. As stated in a recent WebMD article, polling data from rich and poor countries reveals that satisfaction is highest among people living in the richest countries. And, within those countries, people with higher incomes tended to be happier than those with less money. In the U.S., for example, 90% of people in households making at least $250,000 considered themselves "very happy," compared to just 42% of people in households with incomes below $30,000.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz, My question for you is: how can I lose weight when I'm no longer able to exercise due to a life time injury. I'm even stuck relying on the government for my income and food. Lisa

A. Hey Lisa. As if staying in shape isn't hard enough! Dealing with a disability truly makes weight management a challenge. It's not an impossible accomplishment though. It's just going to take a decent amount of education about nutrition for you, and an even greater amount of discipline.

Christina Cherif of Oakland Based Urban Gardens (OBUGS), a nonprofit that provides garden-based education programs at four Oakland schools, conducts weekly gardening lessons for first-graders. And when the students see her coming, they cry, "Yeah, the garden lady!"

Dropping seeds into little hands, asking questions about roots and stems, and marveling at the wide eyes and wonder she sees on the faces of her pupils, Cherif is just one person representing the growing trend of incorporating instructional gardening into the school curriculum.

For children in urban environments, especially in low-income areas where access to fresh produce is limited or non-existent, kids don't know much about the origin of food. Bringing gardens to them opens up a whole new world.

"A lot of the kids we work with don't know where food comes from," said Michelle Lieberman, executive director of OBUGS. "A benefit of school gardens is that they see the life cycle."

Interested in helping young minds grow through gardening? Check out kidsgardening.com to get started.

I absolutely love this kind of stuff and found this article from Time magazine really interesting. Have you ever thought about how the birth order of you and your siblings, or your children, has had an effect on everything from intelligence to career success? It's obviously something we have no control over, and somebody has to be first, middle, and last -- but just what does that mean?

Of course this kind of research and the generalized statistics they come up with are hardly across-the-board situations that apply to everybody, but I personally do believe that when you look across a society like ours as a whole you can definitely come up with "more often than not" type generalizations. And it's a little scary to look at some of what they say and see how it fits into each of our families. What patterns does your family follow? Are you typical of your birth order position, or are you the exception to the rule?

Managing both a career and being a mother and caregiver is more than demanding. Balancing a job and balancing a family is challenging. The added stress, and physical demands each day wears on a body in the long run and can aid in the cause of many diseases like heart conditions, cancer, hyper tension, inflammation in the body and many more. Women need more flex time, better child care options, benefits for part time work, more paid sick days and family leave without jeopardizing their positions at work if they take time off, and they need better health care coverage that covers more tests on yearly health exams for disease prevention.

The comments to be a "stay at home mom and not work" really urks me because in actuality women who do stay at home work. Being a caregiver is hard work. Many women work separate shifts from their husbands so they can care for children, elderly parents, grandparents, and do household chores during the day and also work in the afternoon and evening. Women are needed more now to help with financial matters in the home to make ends meet. Most women even set up and maintain the family budget so in actuality they are also the family accountants.

The majority of U.S. mothers simply cannot afford to exit paid work because it would devastate their families financially. Additionally, upper and middle income women often are pushed out of their jobs by inflexible work environments that penalize workers who have family responsibilities, not because they blissfully choose to leave. Low income women are expected to work no matter what the circumstances are.

Mothers who do flee the workplace often do so out of frustration. As rewarding as motherhood can be, most women would prefer not to give up their careers entirely. The lack of flexibility at work, childcare issues and societal pressures are what make some women get off the fast-track. Meanwhile, the struggle persists for women who simply can't take the choice to not work because they rely on their jobs for a steady paycheck and health insurance.

Do you buy a lot of the same foods week after week at the grocery store? Sure, we switch it up a little, but most of us have quite a few brands and foods that we're faithful to. Researchers are currently working on something I think would be really interesting: they're studying why we choose the foods we do when making selections at the grocery store.

Not only do we buy foods based on our income levels and what we know and/or believe about nutrition and health, but our ethnicity and gender also play a role. This is a pretty interesting article covering everything from how lower incomes mean higher sodium intake, to how men generally eat more fruits and vegetables than women.

Really? That last one surprises me.