Obesity Rates Are Constantly Rising Essay

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers food assistance programs that help provide food for low to no income families. It is their goal to increase food security and reduce hunger by increasing access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education for low-income Americans (Caswell, 2013, para. 1). Some of the current nutrition assistance programs include “the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)”(Caswell, 2013, para. 1). SNAP will be the primary nutrition assistance program of the paper at hand. No matter how morally good it is to try to help reduce hunger and increase food security within the United States, there are still many questions regarding issues with SNAP. This paper will be discussing why there is such a strong support for the program, how it helps the United States as a whole, problems with the program, and why some people are against SNAP.

The federal food stamp program (SNAP), makes up the largest portion of the budget for the US Department of Agriculture.1 In New York alone 15.3% of residents receive benefits from the SNAP program.2 The purpose of SNAP is to provide nutrition to low-income citizens, however SNAP beneficiaries experience higher rates of obesity compared non-reciepiants.3 According to a report published by the USDA, Americans use food stamps to buy more than $600 million worth of “sweetened beverages,” and bought hundreds of millions more of junk food and sugary snacks.4 Lack of regulation and reform to the SNAP program is causing harm to the public.

In the United State, there is a federal nutrition program for low income people to help food budget and buy healthy food. People who have low income in the United States get the food stamps, also known as “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)”. For every month, eligible people who have low income get benefits deposited in to their EBT account. Once they get food stamp, people can purchase food items including seeds and plants to grow food in their house or backyard. It can be used at a grocery store, a supermarket, a farmer 's market, and a shelter that serves meals. However, with all these great benefits, people still eat unhealthy because of too much time consuming, limited money, some food dessert area, and the benefits allow people to eat junk food.

Tom Vilsack once said “The lack of access to proper nutrition is not only fueling obesity, it is leading to food insecurity and hunger among our children”. In recent years an unruly amount of homes were classified as food insecure, which is a government measurement for when all people are not able to access nutritious foods to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Hunger is a worldwide problem and is also a crisis in the United States of America. Because of this concern the federal government configured a temporary solution for society, called Food Stamps or now known as SNAPS. SNAPS stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Although this program helps to alleviate America’s hunger problems, it also created a new problem in the

Over 60% of the people in the U.S are obese, obesity ranks second among preventable causes of death. What you eat is what you are. More and more people are becoming obese which is not healthy. People who suffer from obesity are going to face severe chronic illness or stress. A person who is obese is not necessarily overweight but has too much body fat. Many experts use BMI index for an accurate measurement for a body fat. BMI is calculated by a formula that includes a person’s height and weight. One important cause of insulin is obesity. Insulin is supposed to transport blood sugar into the cells of the muscle and fat. Since the year 1980 the obesity rate in the U.S. has changed. In 2000 the obesity rate was 30% percent but in 2013 it

How would you feel if I told you that there is no one state with an obesity rate lower than 20%? Take this information and compare it to twenty years ago when every state had an obesity rate lower than 15%. Obesity has become not only the number one cause in death, but according to David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health and author of “Don’t Blame the Eater”, it is the number one cost in health care with numbers rising well over 100 billion dollars a year (196). There are many people we could blame, such as the food industry or the government, but before we start pointing fingers elsewhere, individuals need to stand up and take personal responsibility for their own actions and health. Either way it is evident a

The initial program for nutritional support from the government was established in 1964; the program was altered in 1977, and remains the largest federal nutrition program for low-income households (USDA). Census reports from the Department of Agriculture reveal that we more than 47 million low income families rely on the SNAP benefits monthly within the Unites States. However, more than 50% of the recipients are children and elderly residences; about 8% actually receive cash welfare. Approximately 30% of SNAP recipients have earnings, or reside in a household with earnings. Nonetheless, government spending at its highest; money allocated for programs that have little or no monetary return, such as the SNAP program are deemed useless, wasteful, and detrimental to our ever growing capitalist economy. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Obesity in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) participants is a problem that needs to be addressed through an effective intervention. The problem is that even though SNAP provides resources to food insecure individuals, the food being provided is not nutritious and is thus contributing to the high rates of obesity in SNAP participants. The most effective way to address this issue is through nutrition education for these participants. At least two intervention programs have worked in the past, with a few improvements that could be made. Looking at two different intervention programs and funding options will help determine the most effective methods for relieving this issue. When the benefits and obstacles of each intervention are understood, the best program can be established, funded, and implemented to best serve the population. Using nutrition education methods to alleviate obesity in SNAP participants through SNAP-Ed and WIC Health are the most effective in terms of the textbook’s theory layout.

The food stamp program was instituted to ensure that people are no longer are going hungry in America. Since The Food Stamp Act came into effect in the year 1964. Obesity seems to be more prevalent in participants of this food program. Obesity does not discriminate, although it does appear to affect lower-income women that participate in the Food Stamp Program. As written by Gibson (2008) "Participation in the Food Stamp Program by low-income women was associated with a 9.0% increase in the probability of current obesity" (as cited by Zhu,Yen,Eastwood, 2005). More people are inclined to be more obese now than ever before; there are 30% or 6 million of adults that are categorized as obese in the United States (Collins, 2007). The rate is for

The worry over obesity has reached monumental proportions that New York requested to conduct a pilot project with New York City that would eliminate SNAP benefits for sugar-sweetened beverages. However, the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) denied the request, a very controversial decision on August 19, 2011. New York was not the only one disappointed in the decision, other states like California asked for such permission and urged Congress limit and set standards for what type of products that can or cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits. Initially the Food Stamp Act of 1964 was enacted to help feed needy people at a time when hunger was the nation’s most prominent problem. Now, almost 50 years later, the program’s focus has shifted and has begun to slowly adapt to a changing nutritional environment. “Among low-income young children in the United States, the prevalence of overweight and obesity now exceeds underweight by about 7 to 1. In its proposal, New York argued that sugar-sweetened beverage consumption causes obesity and diabetes and that government cannot afford to subsidize disease-promoting behaviors.” The New York City Mayor claimed that the proposal would have helped people by protecting them from preventable illnesses and that it had little or no cost to taxpayers.

Obesity is a rising epidemic throughout the United States of America. In many cases, people that are obese tend to develop type 2 diabetes, because the pressure of being obese affects the body’s ability to properly use insulin and control blood sugar levels. In many studies, a hypocaloric, or reduced-calorie, diet is suggested as the main solution to the obesity problem. However, throughout these studies there have been contradictions about the impact of dietary iron on obesity-induced insulin resistance. The objective of this study was to determine if mice liver samples with lower iron levels have an increased sensitivity to insulin resistance. Six liver samples with different iron and fat levels were used from mice with 8 week dietary

Obesity does not discriminate against social status, sex, or race; it can take a person’s life and turn it upside down in the blink of an eye if they are not careful. Some people think of obesity as a worldwide killer because there is no outrunning it if it overtakes a person’s body. Every 1 in 3 adults are obese right here in America, that should give each and every individual some type of hint that there is a major problem occurring. The obesity epidemic is not something that has just caught the attention of people recently; it has been going on since the 1950’s! This epidemic is a major problem; over 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being obese or extremely overweight and over 40 million children were said to be obese in

Obesity rates are soaring throughout North America (What Is Obesity?, 2013). With obesity reaching almost epidemic proportions in the United States, and the threat of a global epidemic, we must watch this alarming increase carefully ( Health Risks of Obesity, 2013). Obesity is defined as: "…an excess of adipose tissue…" (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014). The two most common measures of obesity are Body Mass Index (BMI is a ratio of weight to height) and relative weight index, such as percent desirable weight (Body Mass Index , 2013). BMI is the most frequently used measure of obesity as it has a strong correlation with more direct measures of adiposity, such as underwater weighing (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2013). Some

Food stamps are government-issued coupons for low income families. People in America like to take advantage of those coupons and use them for unhealthy food and drinks. In SNAP households, soft drinks are ranked the second highest purchase (Tanner). SNAP is the formerly known program for food stamps. In one study, low income women admitted their babies into a government nutrition assistance program. Researchers confirmed that “The rate of youngsters at risk for obesity fell during the study, from almost 15 percent in 2010 to 12 percent overall in 2014” (Tanner). In that study, the government took control of what food stamps were available, and the obesity rates fell among the families. Additionally, another survey published by SNAP provides a glimpse into the shopping cart of a typical house. As said by a group of Stanford researchers, “Banning sugary drinks for SNAP would be expected to significantly reduce obesity prevalence and type 2 diabetes incidence” (O’Connor). Here, it means, that instead of promoting unhealthy food, the government can give out food stamps that are a healthier alternative for the public . Although this may be true, some people consider that it is society’s responsibility to be healthy. Ryan Schwertfeger, president of the Student Senate concludes, “Those who make healthy choices will have no reason to suffer or worry about those

Obesity has rapidly emerged as a serious health issue in America. The cause of obesity results from America’s social injustices. Today, food advertisements are in all places promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. Considering the great expense of healthy foods, low income families can barely afford fruits and vegetables. These two factors contribute to the increasing obesity rate in the United States. Unfortunately, it has taken an excessive amount of Americans to become obese for America to become aware of the issue and take action. Although obesity is still an increasing problem, America is fighting to reduce the number of obese citizens. As a result of low income and the media advertising unhealthy lifestyles, America is in the midst of an obesity epidemic.