Do We Look Fat And These Suburbs?

Obesity in America is real and profoundly alarming when you look at the major impact it has on our communities. Major health concerns like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure cases are at an all time high. Specifically, the disparity between low-income urban inner cities in regards to obesity as compared to more upper class wealthier communities makes you take pause. This relates to my professional goals of going back into my community as an activist and organizer of issues related to my environment, like health and education.

America is known for its advanced society and technology, but is also known to be one of the most obese populations. Found in “Down to Earth”, America is one of the most progressive countries to exist; therefore it should be the healthiest (“Obesity in America”). If America is so highly advanced, more advancement needs to be put towards obesity rates. As time goes on, adults and children are having to consequently expand their waistbands because of unhealthy habits. In an article previously discussed, Brown-well states that Americans are at an all-time low in exercising (Murray). By having less motivation to exercise, family health is at stake. Future generations need to be more pressured to keep physically fit for their health. With less motivation for a healthier lifestyle, communities across America will remain obese. According to CBS news, Americans prefer to consume Twinkies over Tofu (“The Blame Game”). With Americans not giving healthier options opportunity, less interest will be put into healthy options. Individuals are focusing on the pleasure of taste than their own well being. Internationally speaking, Americans have one of the strongest societies, but the weakest mindset for healthy living. With stubborn attitudes and continual unhealthy choices, obesity will not only stay but

Clearly, the individualistic western society has taken a toll upon the populace, in such a way as to render certain members of the social order helpless in matters of health and wellbeing (Peralta 329). A degree in sociology is not required to note significant health differences amongst the various SES’s of the population. According to information from the CDC in conjunction with per capita income by state and county, the wealthiest counties within the wealthiest of states, generally, held the lowest population of obese individuals ("Obesity and Overweight…”np) ("State and County…”np). Such information proves only to refute Peralta’s claims that an unequal allocation of resources perpetuates and unequal society. Commensurate to the given socioeconomic status of certain groups are the variances within racial and gender based identities. For instance, according to statistics offered by Peralta, the educated, wealthy, white woman will weigh substantially less than the average African American woman (Peralta 334-335). This can be attributed to the variances in aesthetic ideal within the different cultures.

According to countyhealthrankings.org, (2017), the percentage of adult obesity in Brooklyn alone is high, with 23%, compared to the entire NYC with 25%. From my observation of the community, about a quarter of the adult population are either obese or overweight. During my assessment of the community, I noticed that there are lots of fast food restaurants, Chinese take-out/eat-in, pizzerias, Burger kings, McDonalds, Footprints, Dunkin Donuts, Jamaican restaurants and food trucks situated on almost every block. To my amazement, people of all ages, both adults and youths are seen coming in and out of these amenities. I observed only two of the holistic food stores, and each one is surrounded by multiple unhealthy food restaurants and remotely distant from each other. According to countyhealthrankings.org, (2017), about 32% of children in the community are living in poverty and have an income inequality of 6.4% which supports their decision of poor food choices because healthy food choices are too expensive and unaffordable (usda.gov, 2017). Additionally, about 26% of the community residents are physically inactive, which is associated directly with their unhealthy lifestyle (countyhealthrankings.org, 2017), and it is emphasized by www.nih.gov, that people with inactive sedimentary lifestyle are likely to gain weight due to their inability to burn calories accumulated during meal consumption and lack of physical

Obesity is a problem in different areas throughout the world; obesity is a major problem in the United States of America. The food industry in the U.S. has changed. Food is cheaper and easier to access, but food is lower in quality and is massively produced (Kenner, 2008). Food is no longer as hard to come by as it once was and is not as expensive, but healthy food is more expensive and, most of the time, requires trips to the grocery store. In American society today, American are busy and have minimal time to exercise, cooking, or even go to the grocery store. The lower socioeconomic classes are notably affected as a result of individuals and families of lower socioeconomic classes often can’t afford healthy food from local grocery stores

Nationally the obesity rates have increased 7.2% in females and 29.1% in males over the last twenty years. (Healthy People 2020, 2010) In San Diego, the Health and Human Services Department (SDHHSA) has identified that obesity is an area of focus with a goal of reducing the problem by 20% by 2010 and currently that 34.4% of the county’s population is classified as overweight and 22.1% is obese with a BMI greater than 30. Other findings reveal that there the problem is disproportionally larger in the Hispanic, African American and low income communities. (Appendix 1. Figure 5 & 6) Although San Diego boasts of a climate that encourages outdoor pursuits and an abundance of recreational spaces and parks, 13.9 % of the population report no physical activity and that 25.5 % of children do less than an hour of physical activity daily, which corresponds with a threefold increase in childhood obesity in the last 30 years. Statistical data points to greater consumption of fast food in areas where obesity is highest and that Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI) which is the ratio of grocery stores and availability of fresh produce to fast food and convenience food outlets are higher in areas where obesity levels are greater than the county norm. B3. Heath Concern:

Today we have a much greater understanding than any time before on what if affecting our health that has led to an alarming rate of chronic conditions, including heart disease, obesity, asthma, depression, and diabetes. These are directly linked to poor diet, lack of exercise, and land-use patterns, including access to transportation, urban design, and housing characteristics that can make an impact on people’s ability to participate in physical activity. The land-use pattern that has plagued the United States and Florida since the end of World War II has been suburban sprawl that has led to auto-dependence, air pollution, and a much higher risk of respiratory disease. However, we have the ability to combat these tragedies by shaping

When it comes to the topic obesity, most of us readily agree that it is an extensive problem in America. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of the source of the cause. Tove Danovich, author of the book review, ‘Supersizing Urban America’: How U.S. Policies Encouraged Fast Food To Spend, writes about the perspective of Supersizing Urban America author, Chin Jou. Danovich is a graduate of NYU: Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where she gained expertise in journalism and health. Danovich’s credentials allow her to compose the book review about Chin Jou’s book. Author, Chin Jou, is a professor at the University of Sydney, where she teaches American history (Danovich). Although Jou is an

The episode from designing communities that was covered in this video was about the connection between the increase in obesity and how living in the suburbs could be a cause of that rise. The video also talks about different ideas and methods that could be used to change the need to use motor transportation and increase the community’s activity levels. Jackson talks about not only the need to lower the cost of healthier food, but also when people live in the suburbs it requires more commute time in regards to getting to jobs and stores therefore decreasing people’s daily activity levels.

The episode watched, presented diabetes as an “common source epidemic” plaguing Americans, but goes further to say that is it more than just bad eating habits, it is also our “car centric society” that contributes to the epidemic (Baroff, 2012). The episode presented people of varying ages fighting against diabetes, obesity, or lack of a safe outdoor recreation area. The episode also provided several examples of towns that were changing the landscape of their communities to make them more exercise and socially friendly.

NYC department of health reports show that adult obesity rates in Flatlands and Canarsie are 32% while the rates in Brooklyn is 27% and the rates in NYC is 24%. The rate of obesity in Flatlands and Canarsie is four times the rate in Stuyvesant Town and Turtle Bay and is almost two times the rate in Midtown. Obesity-related health outcomes rates are also higher in Flatlands and Canarsie than others. The rates of stroke hospitalizations are 344 per 100,000 which is similar to the rates of Brooklyn and a little bit higher than NYC rates. Flatlands and Canarsie rank 9th in diabetes rates with 15% which is higher than Brooklyn and NYC rates and five times the rates of diabetes in Greenwich Village and Soho. There are some factors that might have an influence in making these high rates of obesity and obesity-related health problems among adults in Flatlands and Canarsie. Lack of access to healthy food, poverty, and barriers to physical activity are factors associated with individual-level obesity (Lim and Harris, 2015). High consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is highly associated with great risk of obesity (Ruff, 2014). A research by Kwate et al. (2009) showed that fast-food outlets are more prevalent in Black NYC neighborhoods than other neighborhoods. The same study also showed that fast-food outlets in

Dr. Richard Jackson has committed his life’s work to changing or designing healthier communities. Retrofitting suburbia connection of the sprawl, our current obesity Type II Diabetes and suburbia communities, in the past 15 years the Gross Domestic Product has doubled from 1 percent to 2 percent this is what America has spent on diabetes alone. Building America for the needs of cars and not people is a major contributor to our nations Type II Diabetes epidemic (Jackson, 2012b).

Australian government issued carbon tax aiming to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. The FitBit could indirectly contribute to the environment protection by encouraging people to walk instead of driving car

In todays society the amount of obese children is constantly increasing at a drastic rate. Since the 1970’s the rate of obesity has doubled in the United States causing researcher to study what factors are causing this epidemic. When studying weight researchers use body mass index (BMI), or a chart which takes into account height and weight to tell if a person is in a healthy weight range. When looking at the BMI of a person there are four categories in which they can be classified: underweight, healthy weight, over weight, and obese. Obesity is considered one of the most extensive diseases with the highest rates of mortality and

In order to define the health disparity, Befort, et al. (2012) stated, “Height and weight were collected in a mobile examination center using standardized protocols. Obesity was defined as BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2” (p. 393). According the Healthy People 2020, obesity is defined the same way, that an individual’s BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 (Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, 2015). To determine a rural verses urban are,a Befort, et al. (2012) used the Urban Influence Code (UIC) and separated non-metropolitan counties (rural) from metropolitan counties (urban) for this