The Childhood Obesity Quandary: The Development Of A Poverty And Race Crisis

A bizarre and alarming trend is contributing to the persistent surge in obesity in the United States. A lack of nutritious food is the culprit. Fast food restaurants overwhelm us in every town and city in this country, even more accessible than grocery stores and other businesses that offer high-quality food choices.

Add into the equation the price difference between fast food and other lesser quality food items, compared to fresh produce, whole foods, and other nutrient-rich meals, and it indicates that the problem of obesity, especially in children, is specifically effecting lower income populations.

The American Heart Association’s article, “Understanding Childhood Obesity,” shows that three of the four causes of obesity deal with food directly. One cause is relative to growing portion sizes. Although value menus may be a beneficial economic technique to feed a family, the American Heart Association says this strategy is not a healthy selection.

The second cause of obesity pinpoints poor nutrition. According to the article, “Our eating habits have led us to a modern-day ‘malnutrition.’ Many of us fill up on ‘empty-calories’ or foods with no nutritional value.” Poverty is historically linked to hunger and malnutrition. Yet, childhood obesity appears to counter the concept of hunger. But both obesity and hunger indicate that a child is not receiving adequate nourishment from a meal. Malnutrition is a lack of food in general, while obesity is delegated to the overindulgence of food — neither successfully satisfies the needs of a healthy diet.

The third origin for obesity is that families eat out more, and choose on-the-go-meals or ready-made options, such as unhealthy beverages paired with foods rich in fats, salts, calories, and sugars.

Lastly, the American Heart Association indicates that moving less (the only cause of obesity not directly related to food) as the fourth reason for obesity and that one in four children do not participate in a physical activity in their free time. American children spend an average of four to five hours per day watching television, playing a video game, or operating a computer.

The statistics for the rise of childhood obesity are troubling. The Centers for Disease Control uncovers that in the past 30 years, childhood obesity has tripled. Children, ages 6 to 11, considered obese was 6.5 percent in 1980, but rose to 19.6 percent in 2008. Obese adolescents, ages 12 to 19, swelled from 5 percent in 1980 to 18.1 percent in 2008. Even more riveting than the escalation of childhood obesity are the populations most affected.

In the article, “Poverty and obesity: the role of energy density and energy costs,” Adam Drewnowski, and S. E. Specter assess the relationship between obesity and income. The article finds energy-dense foods (unhealthy meals) foster more intake because of the abundant tasty sweets and fats in the food. The article also identifies that lower income levels focus their food purchases to those more unhealthy food choices.

Drewnowski and Specter determine that, “Although obesity rates have continued to increase steadily in both sexes, at all ages, in all races, and at all educational levels, the highest rates occur among the most disadvantaged groups.” The article delineates further that the lowest incomes and educational levels had the highest obesity rates.

One study, “Fast food, race/ethnicity, and income: a geographic analysis,” by Jason P. Block, Richard A. Scribner, and Karen B. DeSalvo focused on a specific demographic. The study explicitly analyzes all fast food restaurants in New Orleans, La., and their vicinity to a range of household income neighborhoods and the percentage of African-American families in those neighborhoods.

The study found that fast-food restaurants were situated geographically closer to low-income neighborhoods with the highest percentage of black residents. According to the study, “These findings suggest that black and low-income populations have more convenient access to fast food. More convenient access likely leads to the increased consumption of fast food in these populations, and may help to explain the increased prevalence of obesity among black and low-income populations.”

So along with poorer populations being in close access, African-American neighborhoods are also specifically targeted by sellers of lower quality foods. The American Heart Association article, mentioned above, adds that “poorer and non-white areas tend to have fewer fruit and vegetable markets, bakeries, specialty stores, and natural food stores. Predominantly minority and racially mixed neighborhoods had half as many supermarkets as predominantly white neighborhoods.”

The article adds that a lower body mass index is related to a higher availability of supermarkets and other healthier food outlets.

Another issue of obesity is the concept of food insecurity or an uncertain or limited access to nutritionally-rich food. Women are distinctly vulnerable to food insecurity, causing a greater percentage of obesity in one-parent households. Drewnowski and Specter report that 57 percent of food insecure women was more likely to be obese when compared to the 47 percent of food secure women being obese. Restricting consumption when food is insufficient, women then maximize their intake when food is plentiful, known as an up and down of food intake, leading to obesity in poor women. These eating habits are then learned by the children.

The psychologically harmful effects of obesity, chiefly in children, consist of depression, low academic performance, troubled friendships, behavior and self-esteem issues, all of which can lead to additional overeating. The physical consequences include premature heart attack, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, liver problems, some cancers, asthma, and sleep apnea. The American Heart Association article defines obesity as more harmful than excessive drinking or smoking.

Once obese, children have a 70 to 80 percent chance of being overweight throughout their entire lives. The consequence of a high consumption of processed foods and their effect are suspected to also cause adverse health conditions, but conclusive studies have yet to be completed.

A public policy to fight against childhood obesity was passed (in the last week of the lame-duck Congress in 2010) through the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act, which provides low-income kids healthy meals and snacks. This act ensures that the nutritional needs are met at school where children can receive up to one-half of their daily calories. Supplying children with healthier meals at school, which targets students on the free and reduced meal programs, helps students learn and then helps to educate their parents on well-balanced meals.

Education to lower-income families of healthier food choices is vital. Drewnowski and Specter explain in their article that there was no conclusive evidence that unhealthy meals cost less than more nutritious foods. They determine poorer families may only have a perception that “better-for-you-foods” are more expensive.

The proliferation of lesser nutritious food options is not likely to lessen until non-whites and lower income families, stop purchasing the easily accessible highly saturated fat and sugar foods, and travel to where the healthier food options are available.

Studies show businesses target poor families, particularly African-Americans on selecting unhealthy food choices. But educating everyone on healthy food options, and understanding the power of selection, is the ultimate control affected populations have over their food consumption. Once disadvantaged populations opt out of convenient unhealthy meals, it would force businesses to secede the persistence of poisoning the poor, and provide healthy alternatives absent of excess fats, sugars, processed foods, salts, calories, and sugars. Only then will the meaning of a “poor diet” signify unhealthy food choices, and not a meal chosen by less financially advantaged families.

Sources:

Block, Jason P. Richard A.Scribner, and Karen B. DeSalvo. “Fast food, race/ethnicity, and income: a geographic analysis,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, Vol. 27, Iss. 3, 211-217, (October 2004), http://www.ajpm-online.net/article/PIIS0749379704001394/fulltext.
Drewnowski, Adam and S.E. Specter. “Poverty and obesity: the role of energy density and energy costs,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 1, 6-16, (January 2004), http://www.ajcn.org/content/79/1/6.full.
“Healthy Topics: Childhood Obesity,” Centers for Disease Control, (June 3, 2010), http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/.
“Understanding Childhood Obesity,” American Heart Association, (2010), http://www.heart.org/
idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@fc/documents/downloadable/ucm_304175.pdf.