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RElation between Poverty and Obesity
the effects of fast food on childhood obesity
the effects of fast food on childhood obesity
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Recommended: RElation between Poverty and Obesity
Food deserts are one of the main causes of obesity in lower income areas, and while initiatives are being created to solve this problem, more than just a few initiatives are needed to change the obesity issue.
Over 60 million people are obese in the world today. The socioeconomic statuses of the Americans play a major part in the obesity rates across the country. People with higher incomes are less likely to be obese than people with lower incomes. One in every seven preschool-aged children living in lower income areas are obese (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). A 2008 study showed that obesity is highest among American Indian and Alaska Native (21.2 percent) and Hispanic Americans (18.5 percent) children, and it is lowest among white (12.6 percent), Asian or Pacific Islander (12.3 percent), and black (11.8 percent) children (Get America Fit).
“Food Deserts” as defined by the CDC, are “areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). In simpler terms, a food desert is a community with little to no grocery stores. Many reports show that neighborhoods with less access to neighborhood grocery stores have a higher risk for obesity and unhealthy diets unlike neighborhoods where residents have better access to neighborhood grocery stores. The “USDA estimates that 23.5 million people, including 6.5 million children, live in low-income areas that are than one mile from a supermarket. Of the 23.5 million, 11.5 million are low-income individuals in households with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. Of the 2.3 million people living in low-income rural areas that ...
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... educational session. If education about healthy choices isn’t pushed, the food desert and obesity issue wont be fixed.
Works Cited
http://www.letsmove.gov/healthy-communities
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/ocs_food.html
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/02/20100219a.html
http://www.cdc.gov/features/fooddeserts/
http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/why-are-low-income-and-food-insecure-people-vulnerable-to-obesity/
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/data.html
http://www.getamericafit.org/statistics-obesity-in-america.html
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=2&did=2403440211&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1319645467&clientId=21210
Grocery access doesn't improve diets:Study:
Fast food is bigger factor in obesity problem
Daniela Hernandez. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.:Jul 13, 2011. p. 16
Alviola IV, Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., and Michael Thomsen to learn more about what food deserts and how they impact the society around them. I believed that this was a good source because it went into what food deserts are and how they might be connected to the increase of obesity. I learned that a food desert is an “area where access to healthy foods is limited or constrained” (Alviola 106). I also learned that studies have shown people who live in food deserts “are likely to pay higher prices for food and have limited options in terms of purchasing healthy foods” (Alviola 106). After reading this article I have realized that Xavier may also be in a food desert because the closest grocery store is Kroger whose produce is almost always non-fresh and does not look edible to eat which encourages people to leave and resort to eating fast food for every meal. Needing more information about the effects of Food Deserts I started to look at an article called, “The Effects of Food Deserts on the Weight Status of South Dakota Children”, written by Emily Niswanger, Elizabeth Droke, Suzanne Stluka, and Kuo-Liang Chang. I believed that this was a great next source to look into because the name of the article was exactly what I wanted to get more information about. The source was about one study that was made in the state of South Dakota to discover if food deserts do have an effect on
Because the people who live in food deserts do not get proper supplements of fruits and vegetable, much of their diets are consisted of mainly junk food, fast food, and meats. As a result of this, today, more than one third of adults in America are obese. In addition to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease can also be results of a lack of healthy food choices, which result from people buying their food from convenience stores that only sell processed foods and from fast food restaurants. This paper attempts to provide readers with a better understanding of the fact that not only do food deserts exists, they are threatening the lives of Amer...
A food desert is a location in which a wide variety of nutrition food is not generally available (Wrigley et al. 261). Food deserts exist in places such as inner cities and isolated rural areas (Morton and Blanchard 1). The purpose of the paper supported by this annotated bibliography is to argue that food deserts do not exist because of discrimination against the poor, but because of forces related to supply and demand. This hypothesis ought to be kept in mind when considering each of the sources (Just and Wansink; Wrigley, Warm and Margetts; Jetter and Cassady; Epstein et al.; Schafft, Jensen and Hinrichs; Bitler and Haider) described in the annotated bibliography.
Food deserts are places where healthy foods are not produced nor sold. Unfortunately, Chicago is filled with food deserts. Approximately 600,000 people reside in areas that consist of food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Nearly 200,000 of those people are children. These children do not have the opportunity for healthier options, which shows an increase in obesity rates (News One Staff, 2011). There are 77 Chicago communities and out of that 77, 23 are food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Chicagoans-particularly the black communities- are forced to live off the accessible food that is near them. The food deserts are in Austin, North Lawndale, Armour Square, Near South Side, Fuller Park, Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Woodlawn, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, Englewood, Ashburn, Auburn Gresham, Beverly, Washington Heights, Morgan Park, Roseland, Pullman, South Deering, Riverdale, South Chicago, and West Pullman (Grossinger, 2007). The communities are usually served by junk food- filled corner stores, which do not offer an abundance of healthy foods. The communities are in desperate need of change.
Holzman, D. C. (2010, April 1). Food deserts and how to tackle them: a study of one city's approach:
“Food Deserts” are arears where people have a hard time finding affordable, healthy food. These places are usually low-income neighborhoods that do not have any supermarkets nearby but have convenience stores that sell junk food and fast food places around them. Ron Finley, a guerrilla gardener, lives in a “food desert” in South Central Los Angeles. He plants fruit and vegetable gardens to help nourish his community with healthy eating. In the article “Giving the Poor Easy Access to Healthy Food Doesn’t Mean They’ll Buy It,” Margot Sanger-Katz states that “merely adding a grocery store to a poor neighborhood doesn’t make a very big difference” because the diets of the residents living in those neighborhoods did not change. I think “food deserts” are only a part of the bigger problem in America because obesity is everywhere, not just in low-income
This is problematic because those in most need of nutritious meals to sustain health are those unable to access them. A simple change in zip code is the difference between a food desert and a food utopia. This finding furthers the text’s argument that “Place matters. Issues such as housing and income determine quality of life, especially among the low-income residents of urban areas.” Inequity of food selection at the Yale location can, in extreme circumstances, promote the failing health of a certain group- an action that is largely discriminatory in nature. To solve the food crisis, I suggest the implementation of more urban gardens. Similar to what the documentary on food deserts suggests, urban gardens no only create a sense of unity in a common goal, they provide the much-needed fresh and healthy food to those unable to access them. Since transportation to adequate grocery stores is also a barrier to must in food deserts, a free public bus whose purpose is to shuttle people to food availability would be beneficial. As discussed in class, grocery stores are serving to perceivably different populations based on zip code. However, all people shop with the same goal in mind and require the same access to affordable, healthy
A major issue that is occurring in America is a phenomena known as “food deserts”, most are located in urban areas and it's difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. Whereas in the past, food deserts were thought to be solved with just placing a grocery store in the area, but with times it has become an issue that people are not picking the best nutritional option. This issue is not only making grocery store in food deserts are practically useless and not really eliminating the issue of food deserts because even when they are given a better nutritional option, and people are not taking it. In my perspective, it takes more than a grocery store to eliminate ‘food deserts’. It's more about demonstrating the good of picking the nutritional option and how it can help them and their families. For example, “Those who live in these areas are often subject to poor diets as a result and are at a greater risk of becoming obese or developing chronic diseases.”(Corapi, 2014).
Obesity is a rising problem in the United States. With obesity rates on the rise something must be done to prevent this massive issue. There are ways to help including educating at young ages, improving nutrition facts at restaurants, and providing more space for citizens to get physically active.
That is just in America alone. This website discusses what defines a food desert. It goes on to explain that these food deserts are a very common thing in America, along with the effects that come into play when one is living in an area defined as a food desert. The main methods of this source focus on the use of statistics. In summary, the United States Department of Agriculture state that “Food deserts are defined as urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.” Further explained is that the effects of food deserts correlate to higher levels of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service estimates that twenty three and a half million people live in food deserts and that more than half of those people, thirteen and a half million have a low-income. This source is considered to be credible because the website is a .gov website which means an official government agency created the site. This source is also credible because the information was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture an official government agency. The website is similar to an article titled “Four Community Initiatives for Urban Food Deserts, When Supermarkets Fail” in the fact that both mention what a food desert is. However, they are different in ways such as that the website focuses on how these deserts affect people while the article discusses solutions to this problem. This source specifically supports how common and how dangerous this issue
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been very beneficial to many households that do not know where their next meal is coming from by providing them with resources to acquire food. Many of those food insecure households, however, are faced with high rates of obesity that leads to a variety of other health issues. Research has shown that increasing nutritional education through programs that teach people to read labels and balance their diet works and can decrease obesity rates. Low income and minority households, the populations most affected by the issues of food insecurity and obesity, are especially in need of nutritional education. By expanding nutritional education for those households most at risk of obesity, a public health initiative could decrease the obesity levels in SNAP participants.
Since 1970, the obesity rates in America have more than doubled. Currently two-thirds of (roughly 150 million) adults in the United States are either overweight, or obese (Food Research and Action Center). According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 whereas obesity is defined as a BMI greater than 30.” There are numerous factors that contribute to obesity such as: biological, behavioral and cultural influences (Food Research and Action Center). While these factors all have a large role in obesity, there is no factor with as great of an influence as poverty.
Food deserts low income areas, where people don’t have access to healthy and fresh foods for them to; in most of these areas there are no local stores or supermarket. Not having these things really affects the health of the people in these communities. In the article ‘The Origins of the Food Desert: Urban Inequality as Infrastructural Exclusion’ they state that these are, “Places without supermarkets—what many call “food deserts”—lack affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, as remaining corner stores are unable to procure and preserve wide varieties of fresh foods” (Deener). This shows that even though there may be some places to get food in these areas, there are only corner stores that do not provide the right types of food or there are fast food places. The places that aren’t there but need to be are supermarkets and places for people to get food that is healthier, than the food that they are already eating. These food deserts can lead to people’s health being affected badly; they may end up with weight issues, diabetes and other serious issues that can affect them in the long run. Food deserts came to be in the 1950’s-60’s when supermarkets became a “suburban phenonium”, this was not good for corner stores in the cities; it then leads to the corner stores in the cities failing, which then lead to the start of the food deserts. Over the past couple of years people and groups have been trying
Food deserts are areas where the population has limited access to fresh produce and healthy, affordable choices for food. Many of those living in food deserts are in poverty, restricting their budget for food. For this reason, they revert to fast food and cheap, processed food. The root of the issue lays at the problems of race and poverty, as the gap between rich whites in power and poor people of color grows. Some offer simple solutions to the problem such as planting a garden while others consider food alternative programs, but for long lasting change, legislature is to address the issue.
Obesity is one of the most dangerous health issues not only in the United States, but across the world. In my opinion our government should pay serious attention to how they plan to find solutions to this dilemma. The futures of those children rely on the help that we provide for them. If they aren’t being taken care of how can we expect to save other people with other types of issues? It is easy for others to think obesity can be solved from one to another. However they fail to realize that in order to fix this problem they will have to work on it little by little. In conclusion obesity can be deadly so be aware of the consequences obesity has so that our children can live a healthy and normal life.