USA Today reports five of the poorest states were in the top ten most obese states (Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia and Alabama) in America. In 2006 Mississippi was the first state to have 30% obesity among its population according to WebMd.com, it also has a high rate of poverty. USA Today also explains, poverty areas are generally unsafe which discourage children from playing outside, have few grocery stores which offer fruits and vegetables, and many housing developments in these areas are not built with sidewalks for exercise. All of these problems contribute to obesity, the poor are set up to fail to achieve a healthy lifestyle.
The average family of four can get up to $542.00 a month in food stamp assistance according to fns.usda.gov. On this kind of budget, adults need to be smart shoppers. The logical thing is to buy whatever is on sale, use coupons, buy in bulk and get as much generic as possible. What this doesn’t allow for is healthy food items.
A typical middle class family of four spends roughly $600.00 per month on food and more if the foods are organic, low fat, soy based or trans fat free. Many middle class shoppers do not think twice about spending a $1.50 for low sodium soups, or other healthy low fat, trans fat free or soy products. For a poor family, the only thing that matters is how much can they get for their government assisted buck. For example, Ramen noodles are about ten cents a package which means a child can have one a day for a month for around $3.00. While parents are thinking this is a brilliant food item, they are not bothering to look at the nutritional values. One package of Ramen is equal to two servings. Each serving has 194 calories in it and 1960 mg of sodium (82% of our daily value). When it is all said and done that one package of Ramen is really 388 calories and 3920 mg (164% daily value of sodium) of sodium. For many food stamp shoppers, fresh produce is a waste of money. If the item is not eaten right away it will go bad which means money was wasted. So instead they buy fruit snacks packed with sugar, pasta, rice, tacos and greasy chips. These are all things which can be bough for cheap and on a food stamp program and they will not go bad quickly.
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and his wife decided to raise awareness about hunger and poverty. So they tried living on $21.00 a week (the food stamp budget in Oregon for a family of two). The governor was in for a rude awaking. Gone were his organic foods, Swiss cheese, and lunchtime favorite Progresso low sodium soups. He would learn to make do with some cheap junk foods such as Cup O’Noodle, generic peanut butter and a half of banana. Workers from the Department of Health and Human Services offered him strategy, buy cheap staples such as Ramen, Cup O’Noodle, macaroni and cheese, beans and rice. All of these choices lacked nutritional value.
The Federal Nutrition Assistance Program brings nutritional education and a helpful diet for those on food stamps but it does not give more money to families to buy healthier products all it does is educate them which will hopefully help them make better nutritional choices. Dietary changes in schools have made it possible for children of low income families to at least get one healthy meal a day (lunch) and for those who qualify two healthy meals (breakfast and lunch), while they are at school.
There is no denying poverty and obesity are linked. It is difficult to fix one problem without fixing the other. Each problem also snowballs into other problems such as healthcare costs, disability cases, and unemployment. Obesity is not just one problem requiring one simple solution, it is a whole mess of problems which need multiple solutions.
