Can Wealth Guarantee Health?

There are so many obvious benefits to wealth that one would think we can readily conclude that surely, wealth can guarantee health. Just consider the following: a rich man can have all the kind of nutrition that he wants, all the vitamin supplements, all the medical experts and personal trainers that money can buy - not to mention the latest and the best fitness gadgets in the market. With all these, you would naturally conclude that certainly, a wealthy man would be a much healthier man than his poor counterpart. Contrast that with the situation of someone who is just struggling to economically survive. His access to nutrition is limited to the simplest of fares, the availability of medical advise and support from doctors and specialists are not there - unless it's an emergency - and he may hardly have any fitness equipment at all - except perhaps for his running shoes. So with all the things that he lacks, including not having the luxury of time to indulge himself in gym workouts, surely a poor guy must be generally in poor health.
Well, just based on my own personal observation and experience - this conclusion is not necessarily reflected in reality. The points of advantage can easily become the sources of disadvantages. Take the varied and easy availability of food. When you can have what you want practically at will, you can be easily led into indulging into what you like - those irresistible goodies: juicy, chunky steaks, delicious desserts, the superabundant buffets, etc. You could end up easily eating more more than you actually need physically. Where every meal can be and generally is a feast, you can be easily led towards excess - in fats, in calories, sugars, etc. - just by the very fact that they are so available. You have to end up really exercising a lot of self-discipline just to resist overindulgence at every meal. Now the poor guy on the other hand, is mainly limited to the most essential food - in their variety, quantity and quality. Chances are, then, a poor man would have a lesser food intake - on all three fronts of variety, quantity and quality. In reality, however, these limitations could work in the poor guy's favor. He will certainly not be overeating, and chances are, he will be more than able to expend most of the calories he takes in by eating, simply because he may have to exert more work, in order to get the money he needs to eat. A poor guy has a built-in limiting factor - which can actually be a health advantage to lim. All things being considered, you cannot there just readily conclude that an economically poor fellow would also be of poor health, and that an affluent guy would automatically be in excellent health as well.
Ultimately, what will make the difference will still be founded on the individual's own values and the choices that every one of us have to make for the benefit of our health and well-being. If we are resolved to be healthy, whether rich or poor, we can be healthy - barring of course any external or uncontrollable factors as heredity, unforeseen accidents/events, etc.
The moral of the story? Health comes not from being wealthy or poor. It is the result of our own individual conscious decision to be healthy, followed by a dogged determination and discipline to act, and follow-through on the many common sense guidelines to becoming, being and staying healthy.

Health Is Wealth

Given the choice, which would you rather be? Healthy, though Poor, or Wealthy but Sickly? For me this is kind of tricky, because I'd rather be Healthy and Wealthy, but if these were my only two choices, I'd prefer to be healthy. Why? Because being healthy puts one in the best position to make the most out of what you have - your life, your challenges, your talents, etc. Even if you are not in the most affluent levels of society, because you have health, you have an opportunity to make a serious go for wealth, success, and happiness. In the other extreme, a very wealthy but sickly person would not be in the best condition to appreciate the benefits of his/her wealth. One's outlook on life can be seriously affected by one's physical health - and more often than not, a sickly person is not generally a happy person. Of course there will always be exceptions - but I am a firm believer in the common adage: "Health is Wealth."