If the problems of the poor are about obesity, because all they can afford to eat is HFCS-laden industrially processed food that's just cheap calories, that definitely does not mean we are doing really well.
That's not a problem of affordability, but of education. Vegetables, beans, and rice are cheaper than processed food.
That's just a guess though. I don't know why poor people eat junk. Perception of cheapness might be a big part of it. Decadent flavors and bright, colorful packaging also help, I'm sure.
The food topic is really just a metaphor. I could give a similar example with education. If you the problem is the dropout rate of school, and not that your kids need to work on your farm to make ends meet, you're doing OK.
Clearly my standard is a bit extreme in western contexts, but not so much with respect to the rest of the world or recent history.
