Obesity And Class
Obesity is apparently becoming more prevalent among higher-income people, according to a new report. But the article also reinforces the challenges facing the lower income population:
"For years, doctors have known that the people most likely to be overweight have the lowest incomes. Fresh produce and other healthful fare can be expensive as well as less accessible in low-income neighborhoods than fast food and other high-fat options. Just last week, a report criticized the government nutrition program that helps feed millions of low-income women and children for, among other things, providing hardly any fresh produce and favoring high-calorie juice over whole fruit... It can be hard to exercise in inner cities, where the streets may be too dangerous after working hours. Many groceries in low-income neighborhoods don't stock expensive fresh produce. And people who work two or three jobs have little time to make home-cooked meals."
"For years, doctors have known that the people most likely to be overweight have the lowest incomes. Fresh produce and other healthful fare can be expensive as well as less accessible in low-income neighborhoods than fast food and other high-fat options. Just last week, a report criticized the government nutrition program that helps feed millions of low-income women and children for, among other things, providing hardly any fresh produce and favoring high-calorie juice over whole fruit... It can be hard to exercise in inner cities, where the streets may be too dangerous after working hours. Many groceries in low-income neighborhoods don't stock expensive fresh produce. And people who work two or three jobs have little time to make home-cooked meals."
3 Comments:
Every month my agency sends us caseworkers out to help with a food distribution project coordinated by the local food bank. God bless them for giving out free food to needy families, but I've been a bit perplexed by the items given out (which are donated by a local grocery store). The two times I've gone, all the items were bulk items (i.e., cases of stuff). These are the things we have given out:
two bags of potatoes
two huge boxes of powdered milk
a box of canned tomato sauce
a case of vermicelli
a case of a fruit flavored drink
a case of salsa
a case chocolate pudding
a case (12 one-quart containers) of ice cream
Thanks for the post! Very interesting link!
and to Megan: I used to volunteer at a Food Bank and they did do great things. They also got a lot of complaints from both helpers and recipients that the food was super high in sugar, empty calories, preservatives etc. Unfortunatly there was nothing they could really do. Like you said, much of the food came from the local grocery stores and canned food drives so the Food Bank gave away what they had. Summers were great though - they did a "plant a row" campaign that brought in lots of fresh veggies to distribute.
Was that vermicelli as in the pasta, or the chocolate sprinkles?
Much as I like chocolate sprinkles (still known as "hundreds and thousands" in our house) they don't really seem like the basis for a balanced meal
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