Poverty Causes Obesity? Can We Blame The Teachers?

For a long time, fast food has taken the blame for obesity in our country.  Now a new study has shown that the real culprit is poverty.

Image from Science Daily

The study, titled "The association of fast food consumption with poor dietary outcomes and obesity among children: is it the fast food or the remainder of diet?," was produced by researchers at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health and published in the latest issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  According to the study, "children who rely on fast foods may tend to have parents who do not have the means, desire or time to purchase or prepare healthy foods at home.  This is really what is driving children's obesity and what needs to be addressed in any solution."

The study backs up results from other studies, such as one by James Levine at the Endocrine Research Unit, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota:  “It has been suggested that individuals who live in impoverished regions have poor access to fresh food. Poverty-dense areas are oftentimes called “food deserts,” implying diminished access to fresh food. However, 43% of households with incomes below the poverty line ($21,756) are food insecure (uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, sufficient food) .Thus, in many poverty-dense regions, people are in hunger and unable to access affordable healthy food, even when funds avail.”

 

So it seems like the health gap, just like the educational achievement gap, is a result of the 46.5 million Americans now living in poverty.   No. doubt they are still waiting for President Reagan's 'trickle down' economics to reach them.

 

Let’s see how politicians connect the dots and blame teachers for obesity also.