Obesity and Food Deserts

Healthy eating is vital to eliminating sickness and diseases in one’s life. Many people suffer from diabetes, obesity, heart conditions, and high blood pressure because of improper eating habits. To a degree, most of these eating habits are related to limited access to produce healthy foods. The increasing amount of food deserts and lack of family income contributes to African-American obesity rates, and lack of healthy choices. Ironically, these food desserts reside in communities plagued by poverty. These income restrictions also add to the problems that are part of being in a food desert.

Food deserts are one of the main causes of obesity in lower income areas, and while initiatives are being created to solve this problem, more than just a few initiatives are needed to change the obesity issue.

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic with 67.1% of adults (aged 16 and over) in the UK being overweight or obese according to the

The existence of food deserts is an issue of both public health and social justice (Schafft, Jensen and Hinrichs 153). Schafft et al. made this point with reference to the state of Pennsylvania. Utilizing data from Pennsylvania, Schafft et al. studied the relationship between residences in a food desert (whose definition was established through a proximity-based model utilizing distance from large grocery stores as a criterion) and found that schoolchildren living in food deserts were more likely to be both poor and obese. Schafft et al. utilized these findings to reach the conclusion that the

With growing population it is normal to expect this change to affect environmental and health nationwide. By making ourselves aware of these issues allows preparations and changes to decrease chances of diseases and viruses. The biggest environmental concern is obesity because in the last two decades Americans have witnessed noticeable changes in the average body formation by a 10 percent increase. This has become the number one nutritional concern on the public health agenda. Although many do not understand how this obesity epidemic began but speculation is contributed to the environmental changes. Many believe the lack of exercise versus consumption of food is the most logical reason for obesity. The concern of fast food has also remained in the spotlight for unhealthy, greasy, high calorie food. Obesity can contribute to other health concerns such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. With growing population and the increase in obesity finding a solution for this concern is important.

When it comes to the topic of obesity, most experts and critics will readily agree that it can lead to more severe health issues. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on how much obesity really contributes to illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Whereas some are convinced that obesity is a major cause in such diseases, others maintain that it is only one factor, of many, that lead to other diseases.

A lot of people wonder why we are so concerned about the obesity rate in America. Being obese causes terrible diseases and sometimes can lead to death. 18% of the deaths in the United States happened from 1986 to 2006 and were caused by the symptoms that came from being obese, these occurred mostly

She used her platform specifically to put an end to childhood obesity but also to put an end to food deserts. However, she needed a starting point that would guide her to a better understanding of the root of the problem. Food deserts would be that starting point. No one is born into obesity; there are dozens of factors that lead up to that stage. The primary factors are the food a person consumes and their environment. First Lady Obama first launched her campaign in 2010, envisioning healthier lifestyles for children starting at younger ages. On her formally active campaign page she addressed the need to make sure that families had access to the right foods, received an abundance of support (whether at a macro or micro level), and most importantly that the children stayed physically active throughout their lives. Mrs. Obama received a four-hundred-million-dollar investment for teaming up with big name supermarkets that would open stores in food deserts and in turn receive a tax break (DoSomething, 2015). Unfortunately, at the end of President Barack Obama’s term her campaign came to an end. But the campaign did not go without drawing attention to food deserts and the lack of help those infected neighborhoods were

The concept of a Food Desert is not new, “British politicians introduced the idea of food deserts in the mid-1990s… suggested a link might exist between distance to a grocery store and the diets of poor people” (Gilligan, 2014). It took many years before the idea of a Food Desert was recognized in the United States of America but it is now estimated that, “About 23.5 million people live in food deserts” ("11 Facts About Food Deserts | DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change," n.d.). The inability to obtain healthy food choices leads to, “people in low-income communities [suffering] more from diet-related diseases like obesity and diabetes” (Truehaft & Karpyn, 5, n.d.). The existence of these Food Deserts is a factor that works to keep those in poverty down and makes progress even harder for them to

Many Americans are suffering from nutrition issues. There are approximately 12.5 million children and adolescents aged 2-19 years that are obese (CDC). The proper health and nutrition for children is very critical to their growth and development. The media and its promotion of junk food is one way that affects obese children. Within this paper, I will discuss the long and short term impacts of obesity on children, their growth and development, describe a specific child who is affected by obesity, and give three ways to combat obesity that involves collaboration among schools, families, and communities.

Obesity is a big topic in American society, it has grown over the years and it has become very well known. It has become an American concern and the food industry has been an easy target to blame for this “epidemic”. The truth to this is that it can be easy to blame the fast food industry, but the real truth it is, that obesity has become what it is now because our society has let that happened; the government, the citizens, the food industry's. They have all played an important role to what it is now obese.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) atlas on food deserts shows that most food deserts in California are in highly rural (USDA, 2017). Northern California, the Mojave Desert, and the Imperial Valley all have a high prevalence of food deserts (USDA, 2017). A closer look at the map also shows a significant amount of food deserts in urban areas of highly populated cities. Large portions of neighborhoods in urban areas like Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento are food deserts (USDA, 2017). In this section, we will discuss the socio-economic characteristics of the people living in both types of food

“Food Desert” refers to an area in a rural or even urban region with little or no access to big grocery stores that provides affordable and fresh food for people to have a healthy diet. These areas are mostly composed of low-income households who are often Hispanics and African-Americans (Ploeg and Breneman et al). They are often “trapped” in a geographical location where only small convenient stores, which do not have sufficient supply of all common, fresh and healthy food, are available. Currently, there are 13.6 Million Americans who have difficulties in accessing to super markets and large grocery stores. People living in such areas with limited access to grocery stores spend 19.5 minutes more to travel, comparing to the people living in non-food-desert areas (Ploeg and Breneman et al).

Obesity is connected with an increased risk of a number of diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, stroke and several types of cancer, and with decreased longevity and lower quality of life. For example, the increased production of oestrogens in the fat of older women who are obese is associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.

Obesity can cause other health problems to occur. There is a direct like between obesity and type 2 diabetes. It also put you at higher risk of developing certain types of cancer and other illnesses