Max: Insightful post. As an American, I appreciate your perspective on this, and it confirms my own observations. I lived for year in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Although remote, Almaty is at or above the standards of the big CIS cities and people lived well. Not everyone had a car, though, and certainly they didn't have a car for every member of the family.
I walked a great deal, hiked in the mountains above town, and even though I ate a much fattier diet than here, my weight stayed down. Lot to be said for not having a car.