Poverty And 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 on the obesity epidemic. Since poor people cannot afford a healthy lifestyle, obesity rates are increasing, and it’s affecting the over health of human beings. Obesity is a hot topic for many, but for starters, what is “obesity?” Obesity is having too much body mass or being overweight. It can also refer to when the body weight is greater than the body height. Obesity rates are increasing among children, adults, and the elderly. According to a journal article by Tahereh Hojjat , the obesity rates …show more content…
When people are obese they have a higher 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 diabetes rates too (2). This demonstrates that low income residents who are not purchasing the right kind of food can lead to grave health issues, like diabetes. Food Research and Action center asserts that people in impoverished areas are uninsured and have low health care access. In other words, poor people cannot afford treatments for obesity. What can be done to help reduce obesity amongst 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”. If supermarkets just lower their expenses in fresh vegetables and healthier foods, people would turn to these, instead of food that does not give them the right amount of nutrients that their body needs. This can help the obesity rates to …show more content…
Research has shown us how obesity rates are constantly increasing due to poverty. Personally, I believe that poverty is a contributor to the obesity epidemic. The problem is that low income families are not able to afford nutritious foods, and instead purchase foods that fits their budget, possibly resulting in the purchasing of unhealthy meals. Food Research and Action pointed out how poor people are not eating healthy because they aren 't able to purchase fresh vegetables or good food. Instead, they tend to go to fast food restaurants because of how cheap and easily accessible it is. Fast food restaurant meals contain a lot of calories. They are not healthy for the body and it can cause major weight gain. Consuming fast food would most likely require that they are physically active in order to burn of all those excess calories they consumed. Low economic areas don’t have a safe environment where the people can be active. If they are not active they are not able to burn calories. It 's important for everyone to eat healthy. If the obesity rates in the poor still keep increasing, health problems will also increase. Lee Hedwig mentioned that “adults are a high risk for ongoing health problems.” I agree with him because if people eat lots of sugars, greasy foods, and don’t eat healthy they are at a high risk of developing diabetes, cholesterol, or a sickness