Childhood Obesity LEADS to Adult Obesity!
In the article, How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011, it compares adult obesity and childhood obesity. In the past year, 2011, adult obesity increased in 16 states and did not decline in any of the 50 states. Four years ago, not one of the states had a rate over 30%, but as of now 12 states have obesity rates over 30%.
I was very interested in this article because I know that I am researching obesity in children, but if these obesity rates increase then it will only contribute to the adult obesity rates.
Here are some facts:
- Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40 percent in 15 states, 35 percent in 35 states, and 30 percent in 42 states and D.C.
- Rates of adult obesity among Latinos were above 35 percent in four states (Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas) and at least 30 percent in 23 states.
- Meanwhile, rates of adult obesity for Whites topped 30 percent in just four states (Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia) and no state had a rate higher than 32.1 percent.
- Nearly 33 percent of adults who did not graduate high school are obese, compared with 21.5 percent of those who graduated from college or technical college.
Here is one fact that I find not so surprising:
More than 33 percent of adults who earn less than $15,000 per year were obese, compared with 24.6 percent of those who earn at least $50,000 per year.
The reason I think this is not surprising is because as I have shown in previous articles, healthier foods tend to be more expensive. Obviously this is not true in all cases, but produce is generally more expensive than chips or cookies.
Question: What are your feelings about how ethnicity affects obesity? Also, did you think it was interesting that graduating high school has something to do with obesity? Why do you think that is?
Bibliography
Health, Trust For America's. F as in Fat: How
Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011. 2012. 12 March 2012
<http://healthyamericans.org/report/88/>.
Post, The Nutrition. Is Child Obesity an
Infectious Disease? 12 March 2012. 12 March 2012 <http://www.thenutritionpost.com/kids/is-child-obesity-an-infectious-disease.html>.
I do think that ethnicity affects obesity because in the research I have done for my blog I have found that statistically African-American and Latino people tend to have lower success rates therefore meaning they don't get as high of paying jobs, which means they don't have the money to buy higher priced foods and in turn they end up buying fast foods, which are unhealthy, as opposed to fruits and vegetables. I found the statistic about obese people not graduating high school very interesting, but it makes complete sense. If people aren't getting a higher education, they will not be able to receive the high paying jobs and like I said above then they cannot eat healthy. Creations like the Dollar Menu at Mcdonalds are just contributing to the problem. Making this food even cheaper will just increase the problem of obesity! AND we have already seen this increase in the stats. The government needs to do something to even out the prices of these fast foods vs. fruits and vegetables or our country will continue to get fatter, giving us a bad image. Something just needs to be done!
ReplyDeleteI don't think ethnicity is the question here. People are people. I think the largest issue here is economic break down. If you look at the economic situation of each ethnic group in the U.S you will find that obesity falls more inline with how much money someone makes. This goes back to the cost of food, the amount of time it takes to make food, the ability to prepare food, and access to healthy food. Many minimum wage workers live in areas that do not have grocery stores which results in no produce. Finding an apartment that you can afford on minimum wage is VERY difficult and often will just be a room without a kitchen meaning your food would need to be prepared in a microwave. Lastly remember time, if you are only earning $7.00 an hour and trying to support children you will probability we working two jobs - which means were do you get time to prepare healthy meals. I think the economic break down is a MUCH larger issue. It just happens that in the U.S. ethnicity and income are often linked.
ReplyDeleteIncome and Obesity