Why can’t I buy a house in Los Angeles? You do not make enough money. Why can’t I find a job? You did not attend a high ranked school. Why did I drop out of high school? Your parents were a negative influence. Why am I fat? You maintain an unhealthy diet and fail to exercise. All answers to the questions above seem simple enough; however, following are the same questions with alternate responses: Why can’t I buy a house in Los Angeles? You cannot afford to buy a house in L.A. on the minimum wage you earn. Why can’t I find a job? You are woman with young children. Why did I drop out of high school? The educational system is corrupt. Why am I fat? You are a low-income African American man who can only afford to eat fast food. Poverty, …show more content…
Some may even argue that people are born with the “obese gene” and blame the condition on heredity. However, there are several social factors which contribute to the epidemic. Studies have shown that poverty rates for minority groups, such as Blacks and Hispanics, are significantly higher. Furthermore, Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to become obese than Whites. This isn’t just a coincidence. The United States has a long history of inequality and disparities between races. The country’s economic policies tend to favor the wealthy so it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that there is a huge wealth gap between people of color and Whites in America. This gap is large enough so it defines the standard of living in the U.S. The poor population of the country is unable to live up to that standard and hence, faces many issues. Obesity is just one of them.
Today, you can practically get an entire meal for under a buck at your local fast food restaurant. Fast food chains, such as McDonald’s and Taco Bell, have sole interest: they want to increase their market share. They do this by lowering prices of their greasy hamburgers and oily fries and since consumers are broke, it sounds like a win-win situation. Customers get cheap food and restaurants make more money for their shareholders. It’s all good until somebody gets hurt, right? Well, in this case, somebody gets hurt. The poor people who can’t afford to eat
Genetics can play a role in obesity. “Offspring of obese parents are much more likely to become obese than offspring of lean parents”, according to what Kris Gunnars wrote on https://www.healthline.com. Even though our future cannot be determined by our genes, genes can have a major
Kids nowadays know the way to a fast food restaurant. Low income earners prefer to go to fast food restaurants to eat than to prepare foods themselves. This might cost a lot but people just eat it because it is fast.
Abstract: African American people have a high percentage of obesity compared to other ethnic groups. Social determinants of obesity in African American people include low socioeconomic status, limited access to affordable and healthy food, dietary behavior and food culture, lack of nutrition knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, higher exposure of marketing of less nutritious food and limited access to safe places to physically active. This research was done to see how these social determinants affect the obesity rate in African American people. Different researches were reviewed. The effects of above mentioned social determinants were observed and some recommendations are given in order to minimize the health disparities in low income African
In looking at the statistics the African American population continues to suffer through obesity because of the limited access provided as well as other barriers such as poor diet and physical education. African American is consistently one of the top ethnicity suffering obesity. Although in the African American culture they continuously keep food as their revolving globe. Food connects the African American population together socially and culturally which individuals were brought up on this mentality. Such as soul food cooked high in fats with a lot of sodium, fat, and cholesterol. Many African Americans were raised on the southern food mentality which they were uneducated about. As the numbers continue to rise in the African American population for obesity, health issues still rise as well. The barriers are a huge issue for African Americans and in order to reduce the risk the barriers need to be knocked down.
Over the years obesity has become more and more prevalent in the United States. Currently, approximately 35% of Americans are obese. The Center for Disease Control statistics on obesity are alarming. They have reported the obesity rate to be higher in Non-Hispanic blacks than Hispanics. 47% to 42%, while 32.6% of Non-Hispanic whites are obese. In addition to ethnicity, the CDC looked at obesity among age groups. Obesity was found to be higher among middle-aged adults 40-59, rather than younger adults age 20-39. As far as socio-economic groups were considered, Non-Hispanic black and Mexican American men with higher incomes are more likely to be obese than those with low income. When genders were factored in, the opposite was found. Non-Hispanic
Meanwhile with obesity black females have a higher rate than other races while mexican males have higher rates. Obesity can be linked to poverty no matter what race. The lack of exercise among races can also lead to obesity with whites at 32%, blacks 25% and hispanics at 23%. In poverty only 20.6% exercise under 100% while 34.8% over
It is no secret that obesity is huge problem in the United States. About 40% of the United States’ population is obese (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2015). According to CDC, obesity causes: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and is the second most preventable disease in the United States (2014). If that’s not enough of a public health problem, than add the 147 billion dollars spent in healthcare expenses just in the U.S. alone (CDC, 2014). According to the text, Public Health 101, “the prevalence of obesity has been steadily rising in the U.S. over the last 50 years; increasing over 250%” (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015, p. 114). The obesity percentages increase when a family is in poverty. The facts are that if you make about $30,000 a year; the children of that family is almost twice as likely to be obese than a family that is making 350% above the poverty level, which is about $136,000 a year (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015, p. 114). But, to make it even worse, the Mexican Americans and non-Hispanics black populations don’t even follow those statistics; they have a high obesity level in all socioeconomic levels (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015, p. 114).
Obesity has been projected to cause over 100,000 deaths annually in the United States. Childhood obesity is more predominant in other ethnic and racial groups than others are. The rates are known to be much higher in non- Hispanic girls. It is also common among the Whites / Native Alaskans and
According to one of my classmates where he resides Hispanic and African-American people who resides in the Bexar, Texas area obesity which is a condition that involves an accumulation of too much body fat to an extent that it will negatively affected someone’s health. There are lots of things that give to obesity like too many calories, lack of exercise and physical activity and in some cases its simply genetic. Obesity in this area is a public health problem because of cost and the effects on health. It increases the chances of getting diseases like, “hypertension, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes, sleep apnea, and some cancers. It is estimated that African-Americans 39.7 and Hispanics are 29.00 percent of
Many adults are dependent on fast food industry jobs to support their families. “More than one in four fast-food workers are raising children, according to a Center for Economic and Policy Research study” (Owens). The sad truth to the matter it that “eighty eight percent of low-wage workers are adults today, compared with seventy four percent thirty five years ago” (Owens). Large companies are able to pay their lowest, “frontline” workers a decent salary, but many don’t want to share their wealth. These large industries are more than capable of doing so and to watch as their employees have to scrape by every week, to be able to make ends meets, is very disturbing. “Boosting wages for America’s lowest-paid workers is a crucial step toward reducing economic inequality and rebuilding a strong economy” (Owens).
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
So there is a trend, but why are those with low incomes more susceptible to obesity? There are many factors. Low income areas lack in resources that produce healthy options. Residents are limited to convenience stores that have limited selection of healthy, affordable foods. Lack of transportation limits low income families because they cannot drive to the grocery store very often. In the occasional trips that they do make, they have to buy foods that will keep for a long time, until they are able to shop again. Preservatives in food generally make for unhealthy meals. “Households with limited resources to buy enough food often try to stretch their food budgets by purchasing cheap, energy-dense foods that are filling – that is, they try to maximize their calories per dollar in order to stave off hunger (frac.org, 2014).” For those who have no transportation, they may not even have the opportunity to travel to the social services office to sign up for food assistance.
Income inequality also causes obesity however; we mostly blame individuals for being obese. Being obese can have a serious impact on mental and physical health. it is an illness that is associated with stereotypes. The biggest one is “if poor people become obese they cannot be not poor”. People in this mentality also exclude the structural and social conditions that cause illnesses such as obesity. Social life affects the health of people, especially the socioeconomic level. How much you earn monthly is a factor how fit you are. The risk of being an obese is lower for the wealthy individuals. Poor people are obese because they have no money to buy healthy food, they have no time to exercise, they have stress that causes them to eat constantly, they lack education, they do not have access to the healthcare, they do not have social support and so on. It is mostly about the income inequality.
Now days, you can find a fast food restaurant every time you turn a corner. According to, Sarah Muntel, the Author of “Fast Food- Is It the Enemy,” you can choose from a variety of things to eat. You can get a greasy burger, crunchy tacos, or a drink that is filled with sugar. Why should we take the time go buy and prepare a meal when there are a variety of foods all around you? That is the problem that we are facing. Fast food is extremely cheap. You can order dollar cheeseburgers, dollar sodas, and you can even make those orders supersized just with pennies. People even claim that it is cheaper to eat at a restaurant than it is to prepare a meal in your own kitchen. Most Americans now days are having overscheduled and overcommitted jobs, which means that there is no free time in their daily lives to prepare their own meals. There is not anything easier than just going through the drive thru at your favorite fast food restaurant on your way home from work, or taking your child out for a milkshake if they do well in their baseball game. The problem is, people don’t look
In the article “Obesity” by Robert Kiener, a few issues concerning obesity that are present. Obesity was once thought of as a disease that only affects the rich however, now it is one that affects people from all socioeconomic statuses. That amount of people that are or that are becoming obese has increased rapidly since the 1980s. It is thought the rise is due to “an oversupply of unhealthy food” or even for a huge demand who want cheap food fast. Although many medical experts believe that obesity could be caused by heredity or even the environment. The drive to want to eat more could actually come from genes passed down from parents rather than it coming from a lifestyle choice. In a recent study it is shown that teens who are under