Reasons For The Food Policy Council For New York City

The research on this matter has some astonishing numbers, NYC Hunger Exp. 2012: One City Two Realities writes: “In 2012, almost three in four New York City households with children with annual incomes of less than $25,000 (70 percent) had difficulty affording needed food. The percentage having difficulty is up 30 percent from 2011 (54 percent), representing the biggest increase since the start of the poll in 2003 and the biggest increase of any population group in this year’s poll.” Soon after the recession, the numbers have still risen, and these recent statistics have proven the dramatic need for help on an individual level for low-income families.

Obesity is an expensive and extremely common public health issue that affects more than one-third of the United States population including 17 percent

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

Obesity and weight related disease are at an all time high and continue to plague the United States.

About 40 to 50% of adults in America are at risk for diseases such as stroke, kidney failure, heart attack, heart failure and obesity. Most of these diseases are brought on by hypertension which is brought on by unhealthy eating choices, poor diet and little to no exercise which has devastating effects on the body. Approximately 7 out of 10 Americans is prescribed or takes a prescription pill daily, half of those are diet related illnesses such a diabetes and one third of those individuals is obese. Two trillion medical-care costs are because of chronic diseases most of which are lifestyle habits/choices. Obesity in America costs about taxpayers about $123 billion via Medicare and Medicaid. Now that obesity has risen at an alarming rate, in some cases obesity is considered a disability for those that are physically or mentally impaired by it. Debatably a preventable disease with proper education on food, diet and exercise

Obese- is becoming an “epidemic!” We have 44.3 million people that are either obese or over weight. In 1986, the numbers were at 1 in 2000, and they became 1 in 400 by the year 2000. Even our high school age students are at an all time high of 16% overweight and 10% obese. As that number keeps increasing, future projections for covering healthcare expenditures must figure in the obese-related

Most people think that obesity is a choice well, the New York City Health Department doesn’t think so. As of Thursday, the New York Health Department became the first in the nation to ban the sale of sugared beverages larger than 16oz. at restaurants, mobile food carts, sports arenas and movie theaters (Park). The New York Health Department feels that they need to start to make a change against how people have their diets so people aren’t as lazy and have more motivation. This is important, because if people have more motivation to do certain activities such as cleaning, playing with their children, going out of the house, as long with much more that they cannot do as an obese person. As people can see, most people who are active and eat healthy have a good life style and tend to live longer as well. This ban against sugared beverages would prevent retailers who sell prepared food from also dispensing sugared beverages.

According to the U.S news, obesity percentage in America is 32.8%, which makes our country takes the cake as the most overweight country. Nevertheless, the massive obesity rate in the citizens of America leads to a rise in numbers of people affected by the disease as well. “People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk -- risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of

In New York City, 34% of adults are overweight and with 22% are obese (CDC, 2014). Obesity can

Philadelphia is not exceptional in terms of the characteristics or poverty status from its residents when compared to other large urban areas. Yet it has the second lowest number of supermarkets of major cities in the nation. The greater Philadelphia region has seventy-two fewer supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods (Duane Perry). This shortage of supermarkets means that poor residents must travel out of their neighborhoods to purchase food, or shop at more expensive convenience stores with less selection and often-poor quality. The insufficient access to affordable and nutritious food in lower-income neighborhoods reduces the chance for a healthy lifestyle. Many low-income families in Philadelphia have limited funds from which to

During this period, a continuous reduction in underweight with a simultaneous increase in obesity has been reported (Trishnee & Jeewon, 2014). In the United States (US) alone, medical costs related to obesity have risen from 78.5 billion a year in 1998 to 147 billion annually in 2008 (Trishnee & Jeewon, 2014). If current trends in obesity prevail, total healthcare costs attributable to obesity could reach up to the range of $861 to 957 billion by 2030 in the US (Trishnee & Jeewon, 2014).

According to the statewide anti-hunger coalition website Hunger Action Network of New York State, “1 out of 5 New York City residents lives below the federal poverty level”, which means that it's about $18,300, causing families to starve. The sad thing about hunger is that the average New Yorker does not know that there are people within blocks from him starving. First, people need to become more aware of hunger and understand that the issue can be resolved if everyone contributes a little bit. The best ways to solve this imminent issue of hunger in the New York City area are government subsidies, encourage the private field to donate, and grant access to loans.

Obesity is increasing throughout the world and is a combination of poor food choices and physical inactivity. It is the second leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States and is responsible for nearly 300,000 deaths per year. An obese human body consists of it carrying an excess amount of adipose tissue. Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ that secretes many products such as metabolites, cytokines, lipids, and coagulation factors. The human body needs some body fat for insulation, storing energy, and shock absorption, however obesity causes increased levels of circulating fatty acids and inflammation. Being obese can cause numerous problematic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. According to a research article by Eric Ravussin, PhD., “Obesity is a disease that affects more than one-third of the U.S. adult population (approximately 78.6 million Americans). The number of Americans with obesity has steadily increased since 1960, a trend that has slowed in recent years but shows no sign of reversing. Today, 69 percent of U.S. adults are categorized as being affected by obesity or having excess weight.” (Obesity Society) Obesity continues to significantly impact our health-care costs in the United States. The cost of health-care for obese adults is close to two-hundred billion dollars a year.

Though the healthcare costs would have risen naturally over the years, obesity has played a big part to the increase in costs. In 1990, the federal government spent about $107.9 billion on Medicare (about 8.8 percent of total expenditures) and $43.3 billion on Medicaid (about 3.5 percent of expenditures). By 2000, those numbers were doubled. By 2010, the federal government was spending almost $800 billion on Medicare and Medicaid (28.6 percent of expenditures) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2004.243/full . Medical costs for treating obesity-related diseases are expected to rise from $48 billion to $66 billion per year if the rate of obesity continues to increase at its current

Research shows, overweight or obese adult spend 42 percent more on direct healthcare costs than non-obese adults. Also, they are far more likely to be admitted in the hospital and prescribed medications to manage medical conditions, and are more likely to be absent from work. Furthermore, ethnic and racial disparities in certain preventable diseases (hypertension, heart disease, renal disease, diabetes, and stroke, for many of which obesity is a major risk factor) cost the healthcare system an additional $23.9 billion annually (Peitz et al., 2014).