Obesity Childhood Hunger And Poverty - 1146 Words

Obesity Caused by Childhood Hunger and Poverty America is a wealthy nation, yet 10.6% of households with children (4.2 million) suffer from food insecurity [1]. Low-income households are also much more likely than others to suffer from childhood hunger, caused by a recurrent or involuntary lack of food. The USDA defines food insecurity as â€Å"limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways† [2]. Yet, obesity of children in America has become a crosscutting demographic epidemic. While most Americans are affected by the social and environmental causes of energy intake exceeding energy expenditure, research has also linked poverty†¦show more content†¦However, there are other indications that low-income areas are often underserved by supermarkets and farmers’ markets, limiting access to fresh produce and low-fat food items. These low-income areas tend to be heavily populated with fast food chain s and small convenience stores [6]. Increased food consumption has a strong correlation with the growth of the fast food industry. Fast food is notably high in fat content, and studies have found associations between fast food intake, increased body mass index (BMI) and weight gain. The same studies have reported that the link between fast food restaurants and low-income neighborhoods may contribute to understanding environmental causes of the obesity epidemic in these populations. [7] In addition to the studies linking supermarket access with obesity rates, researchers have examined connections with actual dietary intake. Obesity can be an adaptive response because of a constant fluctuation in food availability. This can cause children to eat more, when food is available than they normally would, and result in weight gain. [8] A specific example of when this is demonstrated by the finding that â€Å"receiving food stamps was a significant predictor of overweight status.† This is thought to be due to the cyclical monthly fluctuation in food. Resources run scarce toward the end of each period, and