The Poverty and Obesity Epidemic Essay -- Poor, Obesity

In the get together States, as of 2001, 34% of the population was overweight. (Townsend)Overweight and obesity would seem to be problems associated with the United States wealth andmore than sufficient food supply. Much attention in recent years has been gainful to slewbecoming more physically fit and changing their diets to become healthier. Gastric bypasssurgery has become a popular choice for people trying to overcome extreme obesity. Theoperation limits food intake by creating a narrow passage from the upper part of the stomachinto the larger turn away part, reducing the amount of food the stomach can hold and slowing thepassage of food through the stomach. (NIDDK) The presence of this emphasis on health and nutriment would seem to be the solution to our nations obesity problem. However of thepopulation with moderate food insecurity, 52% were overweight. (Townsend) Food insecurityexists when the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquireac ceptable foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain. Over half of the UnitedStates population with a threat of hunger is overweight. Why would obesity be more prevalentamongst this group of people with fewer resources? fast and surgery do not address the problems of the economic groups with the mostsevere weight and nutrition problems. Surgery is expensive, and people with limited resourcesare not credibly to buy expensive health foods when there are cheaper alternatives that satisfyhunger. The Dollar Menu at McDonalds is certainly less expensive than preparing a wellbalancedmeal. other reason for obesity in lower income groups is a theory called the foodstamp cycle hypothesis. Food stamps and most paych... ...urity and Obesity in Rural Womenhttp//ruralwomenshealth.psu.edu/s05_colson-cbove.htmltrade union movement Force for the Bishops Initiative on Children and Poverty. Community with Children andthe Poor. Nashville, Tennessee Cokesbury, 2003.Townsend, Marilyn S., Janet Peerson, Bradley Love, cheryl Achterberg, and Suzanne P. Murphy(2001). Food Insecurity is Positively Related to Overweight in Women. Journal ofNutrition, 131, 1738-1745. The American Society for nutritional Sciences.http//www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/131/6/1738U.S. Conference of Mayors Seduxho USA. Hunger and Homelessness Survey 2004. 3-5,42http//www.usmayors.org/uscm/hungersurvey/2004/onlinereport/HungerAndHomelessnessReport2004.pdfWeil, Andrew. Eating Well for Optimum Health. new(a) York Random House, 2000.Willet, Walter C. Eat Drink and Be Healthy. New york Simon & Schuster, 2001.