Obesity and Poverty: Access, Volume and Cost

Food Desert Atlas

Now you can identify "food deserts" by address!   To check out this useful tool, click here.

Ironically, inadequate access to food drives the growing problem we have with obesity.

Obesity: Sign of Poverty, Hunger

Obesity among the poor seems counter-intuitive.  But, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

Low-income families work from restricted budgets, restrictions that apply to grocery shopping and food choices.  In addition, thousands of low-income families live in areas of the city that offer limited and often unhealthy grocery purchasing alternatives. 

If you live on limited income, you will likely learn to purchase cheaper food products that will satisfy hunger quickly, choices that invariably include high percentages of high calorie and high sodium, processed products.  Fast foods, chips, sodas and high carbohydrates lead to problems with weight, as well as chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. 

Add to this the fact that many low-income neighborhoods do not offer safe, secure areas for exercise and you have a perfect formula for overweight children and adults. 

Consider:

Children experiencing homelessness are sick four times more often than other children and they go hungry twice the rate of other children.  Nutritional deficiencies in homeless children often lead to increased rates of being overweight and obese. National Center on Family Homelessness

There are much higher rates of obesity observed at every age of children experiencing homelessness than in other populations.  About one-third of U. S. adults (33.8%) are obese.  Approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese.  Since 1980, obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled.  There are significant racial and ethnic disparities in obesity prevalence among U. S. children and adolescents.  In 2007-2008, Hispanic boys aged 2-19 years were significantly more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white boys, and non-Hispanic black girls were significantly more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white girls. Obese children are more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD).  In one study, 70% of obese children had at least one CVD risk factor, and 39% had two or more.  Obese children are at grater risk of social and psychological problems, such as discrimination and poor self-esteem, which can continue into adulthood.  Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Obese children may show other signs of poor nutrition, including iron deficiency and anemia.  For low-income children, obesity may be associated with household food insecurity.  Children's Health Fund

Efforts that work to improve the health and wellness status of poor children must include nutritional concerns.  Food pantries, food banks, community health clinics, public policy leaders, economic development organizations, farmers' markets, urban farmers and neighborhood associations must work to improve access to better and more choices in food selection for poor families. 

A "food desert"

Watch for CitySquare Board Member, Dr. Mark DeHaven in this informative and concerning report on access to healthy food in South Dallas.

Private Screening of "Killer at Large"


At CitySquare, we believe in health for all. Over 600,000 residents of Dallas County lack health insurance, which means they are forced to use emergency rooms as their sole source of medical care. Often, these crises could have been prevented with proper preventative health care. A simple cavity becomes an abcess with infection. Uncontrolled diabetes becomes a life-threatening blood sugar crisis. A heart condition becomes fatal without proper medication and maintenance.

Not only does lack of healthcare affect the health of individuals in our community, but it impacts their ability to work and to be the type of parent, spouse or community member they could otherwise become.

Join us for a free screening of the provocative documentary about the correlation between obesity and poor health, “Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America’s Greatest Threat.”

WHEN 7:00 p.m. Thursday, June 23, 2011

WHERE Angelika Film Center & Cafe

(5321 East Mockingbird Lane, Suite 230, Dallas, TX 75206)

Click here to register!

Obesity rates in the United States have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that at least 110,000 people die per year due to obesity and 1/3 of all cancer deaths are directly related to it. From our human evolution and our changing environment to the way our government's public policies are actually causing obesity, Killer at Large shows how little is being done and more importantly, what can be done to reverse it.

Killer at Large also explores the human element of the problem with portions of the film that follow a 12-year old girl who has a controversial liposuction procedure to fix her weight gain and a number of others suffering from obesity, including filmmaker Neil Labute.

[Brought to you as a service of the Public Policy Department at CitySquare.]

New USDA Food Chart

At USDA, a plate usurps the food pyramid

Washington Post
By Brian Vastag
Published: June 2

After devoting decades to designing a food pyramid, then refining that design with colored stripes and steps, the nation’s nutrition experts have finally settled on what they believe is the perfect geometry to represent what we should eat: a plate.

Circular, with four colorful divisions to represent the four main food groups, the new plate looks just like a pie chart — a description experts shun because, well, pie isn’t good for you.

Indeed, arriving in the midst of an obesity epidemic, this new at-a-glance guide to healthful eating is meant to remind consumers to limit heavy foods like pie and beef up instead on the greens.

“MyPlate” promotes fruits and vegetables, which cover half the circle. Grains occupy an additional quarter, as do proteins such as meat, fish and poultry. A separate circle (looking remarkably like an aerial view of a cup) represents “dairy” and rests to the side. Desserts appear to have been banished — like the pyramid — to the desert.

The message is clear: “Make half your plate fruits and vegetables,” said Robert Post, an official at USDA’s center for nutrition policy and promotion.

The Obama administration has high hopes for establishing the brightly colored image as a ubiquitous consumer icon. Post said the USDA is targeting food producers, health insurers, restaurants and schools as partners in promoting the image.

At a media-heavy rollout Thursday morning at USDA headquarters, the famously foodie first lady presided, focusing on the obesity problem in children.

“Kids can learn to use this tool now and use it for the rest of their lives,” Obama said. “It’s an image that can be reinforced at breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

USDA will bring the image to “essentially all” schools in the country via the agency’s breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and other nutrition programs, Post said.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the new “food icon” was designed to help slim Americans’ expanding girths: Two-thirds of American adults and one-third of children are overweight or obese.

“The costs associated with obesity are enormous,” Vilsack said, adding that the image popped into his head at just the right moment during dinner recently. A steak arrived covering “three-quarters” of his plate. “I didn’t eat it all,” he said.

Read entire report here.