11 Reasons Americans Are Obese—It's Not About Personal Choice
March 2, 2014 |
PERSONAL HEALTH
Thought Catalog / By Chelsea Fagan
11 Reasons Americans Are Obese—It's Not About Personal Choice
Everyone has allowed themselves to make an offhand comment about obesity, whether as a societal problem or on an individual level. It’s almost a reflex, and the idea that weight is entirely based on personal lifestyle choices (and maybe genetics) is deeply ingrained in our culture. But America, despite its growing problem with obesity and its related illnesses, is not simply a country of lazy people who only want to eat hamburgers. There are a huge amount of factors at play here, many of which seem to decide our fate before we even pick up the fork.
1. Obesity is deeply tied to class and race.
While obesity is a problem that can be found in every income bracket, it is far and away most likely to affect poor people living in wealthy countries. In America, poor women are the most likely gender group to be obese, and, with the exception of Asian-Americans, ethnic minorities are heavier across the board. In fact, if you are a low-income black woman in America, you are twice as likely as a wealthy white woman to be obese in your lifetime. And while it could be argued that this is coincidental, it likely has something to do with the fact that:
2. Food deserts are an extreme problem in America.
Food deserts refer to the neighborhoods and communities — disproportionally represented in urban areas like New York City or Chicago — where access to fresh, healthy, affordable food is heavily restricted or non-existent, and where the only “grocery stores” are poorly-stocked convenience shops. The USDA has even developed an interactive map to find out exactly how accessible food is in any given area. While it’s easy to point the finger at parents in these communities who feed low-nutrient, high-calorie food to their children, it’s also important to understand how difficult in can be to find alternatives within reasonable
PERSONAL HEALTH
Thought Catalog / By Chelsea Fagan
11 Reasons Americans Are Obese—It's Not About Personal Choice
Everyone has allowed themselves to make an offhand comment about obesity, whether as a societal problem or on an individual level. It’s almost a reflex, and the idea that weight is entirely based on personal lifestyle choices (and maybe genetics) is deeply ingrained in our culture. But America, despite its growing problem with obesity and its related illnesses, is not simply a country of lazy people who only want to eat hamburgers. There are a huge amount of factors at play here, many of which seem to decide our fate before we even pick up the fork.
1. Obesity is deeply tied to class and race.
While obesity is a problem that can be found in every income bracket, it is far and away most likely to affect poor people living in wealthy countries. In America, poor women are the most likely gender group to be obese, and, with the exception of Asian-Americans, ethnic minorities are heavier across the board. In fact, if you are a low-income black woman in America, you are twice as likely as a wealthy white woman to be obese in your lifetime. And while it could be argued that this is coincidental, it likely has something to do with the fact that:
2. Food deserts are an extreme problem in America.
Food deserts refer to the neighborhoods and communities — disproportionally represented in urban areas like New York City or Chicago — where access to fresh, healthy, affordable food is heavily restricted or non-existent, and where the only “grocery stores” are poorly-stocked convenience shops. The USDA has even developed an interactive map to find out exactly how accessible food is in any given area. While it’s easy to point the finger at parents in these communities who feed low-nutrient, high-calorie food to their children, it’s also important to understand how difficult in can be to find alternatives within reasonable