Parents are one of the major causes of child obesity in the United States. In fact, children can become obese prior to birth. A mother 's life choices will affect her unborn …show more content…
This question has been asked for years, and now there is data and science to back it up. Socioeconomic status is a mixture of economic and sociological measures of a person 's work experience as well as an economic and social position in relation to others. It is often based on a person’s or family’s income, education, and occupations. There are many reasons of why obesity relates with one 's social and economic position. One study in particular collected data from over 67 countries and collected data based on obesity and socioeconomic status. The results show that in a low-income country, high socioeconomic status has lead to the consumption of junk food and irregular physical activity, while individuals in high-income countries respond with a healthier lifestyle (Houle 2). This study proves that in the poor countries, families would rather eat cheaper foods with high calories than health food which can be very pricey. Conversely, high income countries have a healthier lifestyle because they can actually afford healthy foods. Diet is one of the leading causes of obesity. If families cannot afford healthy food due to their economy, then obesity will increase. Individuals who have a lower income and education have a higher chance of being obese. Consequently, obesity is one of the leading causes of increased health care cost. In fact, obesity health cost in America has reached a total cost of $147 billion (Wolfson, et al. 74).