Impact Of Poverty On Obesity

Poverty impact on Obesity Over the years, the U.S. has seen a tremendous increase in the obesity rates in both children and adults. Many have stopped to question what is causing this increase. Researchers have found that poverty links to obesity, leading to a huge impact in the obesity epidemic. Because poor people can not afford a healthy lifestyle, obesity rates are increasing, and it’s affecting humans health. Obesity is a topic that many people are recently talking about, but what is obesity? Obesity is having too much body mass or being overweight. It is also defined as having too much weight that is considered unhealthy for the height. Obesity rates are growing constantly in children, adults, and the elderly. According to a journal …show more content…
When people are obese they have a high risk of getting heart disease, cholesterol, and diabetes. Lee Hedwig states “Obese young adults are a high risk for ongoing health problems such as cardiovascular disease, depression and certain cancers”. This in fact shows that obesity is causing health problems that can affect people for the rest of their life. According to Levine, counties that have big rates of poverty also have the greatest diabete rates too (2). This shows that low income people are not purchasing the right kind of food and its leading them to get diabetes. Food Research and Action center asserts that people in poverty areas are uninsured and have low access of health care (FRAC). In other words, poor people are not able to get treatments or diagnosis for health problems that obesity is causing because they are not able to afford them. What can be done to help reduce the obesity in the poor? Many believe that grocery stores need to lower the expenses in healthy food. According to Roland Sturm, a senior economist, states “Lowering the costs of healthy foods in supermarkets not only increases the amount of fruits, vegetables and whole grains that people eat, but it also seems to reduce their consumption of less nutritionally desirable foods”. In other words, if supermarkets lower their expenses in fresh vegetables and healthy foods, people would purchase them and will stop purchasing food that does not give them the right amount of nutrients that their body needs. That will help the obesity rates to decrease. Another way to help reduce obesity in the poor is by helping. Hedwig states that people need to find ways to improve the physical and social environments where low income people live. Therefore, people need to contribute to help the poor get nutritious foods, and get a safe environment where they are able to be physically active. Hedwig also points out ways people are already helping. New York has