Family Socioeconomic Status

In the article “The Color of Family Ties: Races, Class, Gender, and Extend Family involvement” by Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian, there is a theory that they believe in reality, people misunderstand the wrong concept of family involvement. In this case, we need to realize this conflict is still happening in the societies. Base on the authors’ data, Black and Latinos/Latinas families show that they likely to have less education than the whites families therefore black and Latinos/Latinas will focus on reply the helps from the members of the families rather than being independent (49). Toward more, Gerstel and Sarkisian also discuss

For most Americans, the word poverty means insufficient access to to housing, clothing and nutritious food that meet their needs for a healthy life. A consequence of poverty is a low socioeconomic status that leads to being exposed to poor nutrition. Since food and dietary choices are influenced by income, poverty and nutrition go hand in hand. There are many important factors that threaten the nutritional status of poor people. The number one factor is not having enough money to buy food of good quality and quantity. Not having enough money can have a profound impact on the diets of low-income people. Limited financial resources may force low income people to make difficult decisions about what kind and how much food to buy. Limited

In the United States alone, minorities have struggled for centuries to earn the basic rights and opportunities as others. African Americans have always worked harder and been treated maliciously just because of the color of their skin. There have been numerous movements, peaceful protests, and brutal battles by black leaders against whites for equality, justice, and a fair chance at a better life. It is safe to say that in the past, blacks were not allowed to progress or have a mind of their own. In comparison to the past, the educational sector for minorities still remains as an extreme societal challenge. For many years, African Americans have been denied educational advancement opportunities. The higher education area suffers greatly for the black population but very few people will address why this matter occurs. Do black families’ socioeconomic status affect the children’s education? The socioeconomic status is easily defined as an individuals or families’ economic and social rank based on income, education level, and occupation. The socioeconomic status of black families does affect their children’s academic success, however; it does not determine their children’s success. This educational disadvantage for black students needs to be addressed because of the lack of financial and emotional support that minority students receive due to their parents lack of experience and knowledge with higher education. Many black students become a product of their environment because

Poverty has a direct influence on the type of food that is consumed due to the rising cost of healthier foods, as well as the fact that less healthy, higher calorie foods are typically more affordable (The State of Obesity, 2014). To get a clearer look at the income level of African American families, statistics show that nearly 40% of African American children under 18 live under the poverty line, as well as more than 12% of African American families living with an income that is less than 50% of the federal poverty line (The State of Obesity, 2014). The other predominant issue that aids in obesity in the African American population is the lack of available resources in the form of food options and education. Even with their income status excluded from the equation, African American neighborhoods contain the least amount of supermarkets compared to other neighborhoods (The State of Obesity, 2014). The lack of supermarkets near them makes it difficult to find access to fresher, healthier foods to eat in order to foster a healthier

Socioeconomic Status is where a particular person or group of people stand in regards to social class. The main measurement that determines one's socioeconomic status is level of education, occupation and income. Although it may not be considered a factor in child development, socioeconomic status can actually play a huge role in determining what kind of adolescent a child develops into. It can influence a child’s morals, self-esteem, grades and many more aspects of a child's life. Socioeconomic status can play a role in determining where a person resides, the occupation they end up getting, their education and their income as well. So, although one’s socioeconomic status is technically made up of these aspects, one can be born into a low socioeconomic status which could result in them continuing to have one throughout their life. It is a cycle that one must break in order to change the outcome. Low socioeconomic status can result in child poverty. Child poverty over the years has risen and fallen but has remained consistently apparent in America. Child poverty can have detrimental effects on developing children and adolescents. It may influence the way they are raised, taught, cared for and many more aspects of the child's life which are important for successful development. Low socioeconomic status can determine how well children and adolescents develop and the type of person they develop into, including

Socioeconomic status influences health care quality and outcomes. Patients of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to have worse self-reported health, lower life expectancy, and suffer from more chronic conditions when compared with those of higher socioeconomic status. As a result, patients of lower socioeconomic status, in which we will encounter throughout our career’s, require more care and attention during their visits due to this lack of access. These individuals typically need the most care and unfortunately, we will not see them as often compared to other socioeconomic groups. An additional additive for this population may include providing them with take home exercises in which they are able to perform on their own. That is if they are invested enough to complete them without further supervision. While some hospitals are willing to revise their current policies, to basically “write off” the lower class, we as athletic trainers have to be advocates for these individuals who make up the majority of the population. The first step that we can take involves going a step above to the school board and asking for better nutritional options regarding school lunches. Most school lunch options fail to include fresh alternatives consisting of mostly processed food that can be easily distributed to a large number of students. Another way in which we can promote healthy eating habits is by utilizing social media to share coupons and local grocery store ads to the parents of

Socio-economic status and obesity also relate. A concerning problem is that buying a burger off of the dollar menu can actually be cheaper than buying fruits and vegetables. It has actually become easier and more affordable to buy unhealthy foods such as fast foods and processed foods. In low-income areas, schools also tend to serve unhealthy processed foods in the cafeteria. It has become much more difficult for the poor to access healthy ingredients so they turn to cheap processed foods. The correlation between socio-economic status and income is shown by the fact that Mississippi, the poorest state in America, has the highest obesity rate in the nation (Berl, Rachel).

In this case, socioeconomic factors, especially education and income, are key contributors to poor nutrition and lifestyle behaviors. Greg Critser points out studies which show that the effects of socioeconomic status on disparities are stronger than those of race and ethnicity . Regardless of which characteristic might be a stronger contributor to diet-related disparities, the significance of socioeconomic factors cannot be exaggerated. For example, level of education impacts knowledge of dietary recommendations and skills to make healthy food choices , while income influences whether a person have access to healthier foods at a price they can afford. When people move from middle to low socioeconomic status food choices shift toward cheaper, but more energy-dense foods. Low socioeconomic status leads to consuming high calorie food and avoiding physical

“We’re the only nation in the world where all of our poor people are fat”’ (Herbert 323). The truth is that Americans are worried about not having enough food and rather buy food that is much cheaper and that is very unhealthy, the least of their concerns is making sure if the food they buy is healthy or not. ‘The 12 million families represent 11.2 percent of all U.S households. “At some time during the year,” the report said, “ these holds were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all their members because they had insufficient money.” (Herbert 323). Low income families cope with not being able to afford healthy food by buying food that are high in calories, low in nutritional values and low in cost. People that have low incomes are more obese than those with high income because people with higher income are able to afford fresh and healthy ingredients without concern of quantity or quality of

As of 2017, millions of families in the United States live in poverty. As a result, this forces parents in between a rock and a hard place. This position of food insecurity, when someone is in a state where they are not able to access good quality food, leaves families with some cheap, unhealthy choices for food. Yet still, there are many other reasons as to why the United States is pressed with the major issue of food insecurity. One reason stems from the quality of American school lunches compared to those in other countries. Another is the link between hunger and obesity and the long-term health consequences of relying on processed foods for sustenance.

Today’s society is infatuated with the thought of being fit and skinny. Although eating healthy and balanced sounds ideal for most Americans, this can be more difficult than it seems. Because of the number of families living in poverty, eating a nutritious and balanced diet is a tremendous challenge. Healthy foods generally cost more than cheaper, processed foods. Families attempting to make the most of their scarce amount of money will try to stretch their dollar and purchase large quantities of food, disregarding the nutritional value. Many studies show the correlation between obesity and other health issues, with a family’s financial status. Although there are now several ways for today’s society to be healthful, including new diet

Higher income groups are more likely to be physically active, to take vitamins and to eat fruits and vegetation than lower family incomes (McMullin, 2010 pg. 247). In contrast, wealthier families may have the ability to purchase organic or healthier food. Children in low income families are more likely to have heath issues than children in higher economic classes. It is suggested that children living in low income families or low status neighbourhoods display worse health outcomes than those in higher social class neighbourhoods (Welsh, 2010, pg. 81). There are also barriers for lower income and low social status in regards to obtaining health care.

Childhood obesity is the most common pediatric nutritional disorder in the United States (Balog, 2015). Most people believe that the solution to stopping childhood obesity relies entirely on education. Sadly, this is not true. While education is one of the main factors for solving this epidemic, there are many other factors that need to be resolved as well. One cannot rely on the simplistic idea that, once educated, Americans would make the healthiest choices. This is because Americans choose, buy, and consume their food based heavily on the taste, convenience, and economic motivations, not health reasons.

The findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which was the most comprehensive study conducted so far in an attempt to document the nutritional status of the United States population, found that low-income children and adolescents are more likely to be obese than their higher income counterparts, also, reports have shown a higher prevalence of obesity among low-income adults. Studies showed that more than one-third of adults who earn less than $15,000 annually were obese, compared to twenty-five percent of adults who earned more than $50,000 a year. Much of this obesity is because of the fact that unhealthy food is a lot cheaper than healthy food.

Thirdly, the self-knowledge to prevent obesity is another issue. For the children, their parents’ knowledge of appropriate food will directly affect them, since their schools mainly focus on the academics of the children, and rarely on dietary education. If the parents gain knowledge to pick up healthy food for their children, their children will eat healthier and vice versa. As Cluss et al. (2013) stressed, the parents with low social economic status revealed a lack of knowledge regarding the nutrition values in common food. They just provide their children with any food that is accessible and cheap. Consequently, the children who live in low-income families represented a large portion of childhood obesity. Especially in New York City, the prevalence of childhood obesity is high in Hispanic and Black boys which may be associated with higher amount of children live in lower socioeconomic status and lack of knowledge to prevent obesity. (Thorpe et al., 20014).