Brittany Errington
08-12-2015
GPH 722
Research Paper
What is it?
Food insecurity is defined as “the lack of access to enough food to ensure adequate nutrition.”1 The Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reported that 14.6% of US households were food insecure during at least some portion of 2008 (up 11.1% from 2007), the highest levels recorded since monitoring began in 1995.2 Food insecurity is a concern of under consumption and obesity is a disease of over consumption, yet both outcomes may coexist, seemingly incongruously, within the same household.2 The most popular explanation is that low-cost, energy-dense foods linked to obesity are favored by financially constrained households, who are the most likely to be food insecure.2 Another theory, focusing on environmental context net of individual circumstance, argues that obesity and insecurity are both symptoms of malnutrition, occurring in neighborhoods where nutritious foods are unavailable or unaffordable.2 A separate literature researches environmental roles in poor nutritional outcomes, recent studies link obesity as well as atherosclerosis and diabetes to the food environment, the local context of available food items.2 The theory is that local inaccessibility to healthy foods influences diet composition, a claim supported by evidence.2 Especially in poorer neighborhoods, food options are often limited to fast food restaurants, convenience stores, or grocery stores more poorly stocked both in
Food insecurity is defined as “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.”1 Food insecurity data found that in America, 12.7% of households were food insecure at some point and 5% of households had very low food security in 2015.2 The prevalence of food insecurity in Ohio was greater than the national average in 2015, with 16.1% of households reporting food insecurity.2
Obesity rates in the US are rising due to food insecurity. One in six people in the U.S. are food insecure, while two-thirds of adults and one-third Americans are overweight or obese.14 Studies have found that wealthy districts have three times as many supermarkets compared to the poor.15 Kevin Conocannon of the USDA noted in an interview that people in poorer areas sometimes have narrower variety of food options.16 SNAP recipients face barriers to achieving nutritious diets due to lack of availability in their neighborhood. Healthy food often comes with higher costs, so most people with lower income result to eating foods with lower cost and higher calories. According to a 2009 report by the USDA, as many as 23.5 million Americans live more than one mile from a supermarket with limited access to a vehicle.17 Food Deserts are particularly prevalent in low-income communities.18
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
Various reports and research have attested to this phenomena (Food Research Action Center, 2015). Both hunger and obesity were defined using USDA terminology: Low food insecurity- Households reduced the quality, variety, and desirability of their diets, but the quantity of food intake and normal eating patterns were not substantially disrupted. High food insecurity- At times during the year, eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake reduced because the household lacked money and other resources for food (USDA, 2006). Obesity, as having a body mass index over 30, results from factors such as genetics, lifestyle, and access to food (USDA, National Institute of Food and Nutrition, 2015). The target group was identified as school aged
Food insecurity is one of the leading public health challenges in the United States today, since millions of people (children and adults) are food insecure because of insufficient money income and other socioeconomic and demographic factors. (Seligman, Kushel, & Laraia, 2010)
Food insecurity is a major issue in Canada, affecting millions people across the country especially minorities. In 2012, four million Canadians experienced some form of food insecurity (Tarasuk, Mitchell, & Dachner, 2014). This paper aims to focus on how food insecurity affects women and children, and the costs associated with it. The results of food insecurity can be serious mental, and physical health problems for women and children. It shall demonstrate the need for government intervention, job security, prices of food, and public policies to protect low income families. This topic was chosen as it is an issue which often gets overlooked by many middle and upper class Canadians. Often times when people think of starvation, they picture children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The reality is that women and children in Canadian communities are affected by food insecurity daily. Action needs to be taken immediately in order for food insecurity to be fully eradicated, and justice to be achieved.
It is no coincidence that the obesity rate is higher in poverty-stricken regions of the United States. Author James Levine suggested, “Individuals who live in impoverished regions have poor access to fresh foods. Poverty-dense areas are oftentimes called “food deserts,” implying diminished access to fresh food.” (Levine) Families of poorer regions of America have no choice, but to eat the cheap, unhealthy fast food. Our society is based upon speed. The fast pace life of Americans do not have time for extravagant meals; they prefer to eat on the go. And the low-income families substitute fresh produce and healthy meat for dehydrated carrot sticks and chicken nuggets from the dollar
Food insecurity is when an individual or a family has a limited amount of food available, due to lack of financial capability or other limited resources. Food insecurity has numerous adverse effects and is even more dangerous for children. According to research done in 2015, the percentage of households that suffered from food insecurity was about 16.6%. Among these, 7.8% were children. Hence, the results showed that children are more exposed to food insecurity than adults. More shocking still, the results made it clear that children who were old enough to go to school suffered more from food insecurity compared to infants. This showed that schools contribute significantly to food insecurity. Some of the ways they could be participating in food insecurities is that the food that is served doesn’t make fora balanced meal that is nutritious enough. It could also be that the budget does not allow for balanced meals. Another fact that was observed is that food insecurity was more prevalent in the low-income families compared to those families are financially stable. This is clearly caused by the fact that the purchasing power of the lower income families is not enough to enable them to buy enough food or to buy nutritious food. Food insecurity among children was observed to have adverse effects such as low performance their academic studies, bad social relationships, and ill health. It may also result in psychological
Water and food insecurity is a worldwide issue that should be concerned in 21 century. “Countries Near East and North Africa are facing the water scarcity and food security right now. The availability of fresh water is expected to drop by 50 % by the year 2050, said FAO” (Impact of water scarcity on food security a priority for Near East and North Africa meeting, 2014) There are some similarities in the causes of and responses to food and water insecurity. However, there are also some differences between the cause and effect of water insecurity and food insecurity. Similarities and differences will be discussed in this essay.
Food insecurity causes health issues such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and early mortality among young single mothers. According to author Christine A. Stevens young single mothers are affected by food insecurity in two ways “first, the stress of food insecurity can lead to compounding issues of depression for this mother, second, food choice.” Factors that assist these problems are socioeconomic status and the ability to obtain adequate nutrition. These young single mothers do not have enough money to give nutritional food to their families. With limited money they do not have a choice for nutritional food and according to Stevens are forced to buy “inexpensive, high fat, high carbohydrates food” (Stevens 163). In
In Exploring Social Change, Harper tells us about his father’s upbringing on their family farm. Harper father had a limited amount of food that was available to him, especially fresh fruits in the winter months. At this time in society, families growing food on their farm to sell and eat, but Harper grandparents’ farm was just able to grow enough food for their family to live off. This occurred in the early 1900s and although Harper’s family had limited amount of food, they still didn’t have hunger issues. It’s ridiculously that in the United States today that citizens are having food insecurity problems. There are many states ranging from Arizona to Michigan with hunger issues. In, this paper I am going to give a brief detail
Listening to conversations about food on campus, I found that there was a common theme last year: it was difficult to find healthy food on campus.
Many Americans struggle with food security every day. In fact, according to Diane Beasley, a writer for the CNN Wire, “One in six Americans struggles with food security,” and “40% of food goes to waste” (Beasley). America needs to fix this problem because one sixth of Americans don't get food. Chesterbrook Elementary in Mclean, Virginia has figured out a way to help. Chesterbrook Elementary has taught every student how to recycle and donate leftover food. Chesterbrook Elementary gives food to the needy, and what can't be donated, they recycle. Schools in America should implement a mandatory system in which students are required to
Food insecurity is prevalent in many communities around the world. These communities range from children, adolescents, adults, and senior citizens. According to United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, “12.3% or 15.6 million US households had food insecurity at some point in 2016 (United States Department of Agriculture).” Food insecurity affects not only the health of these individuals, but it also affects their learning abilities. Not having the available resources to reach the nutritional needs of individuals can impact their lives in negative ways. This needs assessment will cover food insecurity on the college campus of South Dakota State University. When your job is to be a student having the proper nutrition available to do your job completely is important.
The Journal of Nutrition did a study discussing how food insecurity is associated with increased risk of obesity. The study they conducted was focused on women who lived in California. Through the process of evaluating a variety of women, they were able to seek information from several different situations. Women from multiple ethnicities, socioeconomic status, and even food security levels were observed. The study model controlled the income level, race/ ethnicity, age group, education and country of birth. There was a two-way interaction between the status of food insecurity and all other variables. The sample utilized 8169 women in total, of which, 13.9% of the women were food insecure without hunger and 4.3% were both food insecure and hungry. The data collected demonstrated that there was a correlation between obesity and food security. However, there were multiple other factors that contributed the levels of obesity as well. For instance, there was not just a general answer to describe how food security affected the women’s obesity status. One other factor to consider would be their ethnicity. Although all obesity increased with food insecurity, the amount varied depending on the ethnicity of the individual. Women of minority races had a stronger correlation of hunger and obesity, than those who were predominantly