Poverty And Poverty Essay

“Poverty is a lifelong sentence to ill health and socioeconomic disadvantages.”(Author name) Poverty is one of the major leading causes of obesity in America today. Less fortunate families have a limited food budget and sometimes less access to healthy food choices. Many causes that come from poverty contribute to child obesity for example many find it difficult to support extracurricular activities so children sit in front of the T.V. eating. Economic insecurity can lead to stress and people often handle stress by eating high fat or sugary foods. Parents and children both have problems that steam from poverty and if the parents don’t have a lot of education they will stay in poverty because jobs are hard to find. A professor at Western Reserve University found that obese women make 9% less money, have 1.5 fewer years of education, have an average 3 fewer years of work experience, and are less likely to get married. Anyone in poverty is more likely to become fat then in turn sick and unless their children break the cycle it will continue to happen. (Engber)(Hunnicutt)

Many working Americans work long hours for little pay. If people work long hours they may not have time to cook their own healthy meal causes them to order out. The little money they get each month goes to housing and food, they don’t have extra money or time to join sport clubs. If they work as a receptionist or a cashier they don’t have a high active job so they don’t even get any exercise at work. After they work day is don’t they don’t have any time to go out for a jog if they have kids or they might live in an unsafe neighbored so going out jogging isn’t safe. Also living in a poor neighborhood it is easier to find bad cheap junk food then fresh fruit and ve...

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...er poverty from health difficulties it becomes a major problem. (Davis)

Obesity is a risk for all groups of Americans, but what is often forgotten is the exposure most of the needy groups have. Obesity is especially widespread among Americans with the lowest levels of education and the highest poverty rates. Given the growing economic insecurity many people in America are dealing with, it is important to understand poverty and how it improves the increase of obesity among youth. Less fortunate families mostly have fattening foods that supply more energy like sugary cereal, potatoes and processed meats. This is because these foods are more affordable and last longer than fresh vegetables and fruits and healthy meats and fish. Only if we understand the causes at work can we effectively design strategies to reduce this major health risk to already vulnerable people.