Although obesity rates across all demographics continue to climb annually, when separated into income levels, the prevalence of obesity in poor adults and children are rising at a greater rate than middle class individuals. A recent publication by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) compiled a list of data points that indicated that, while the trend is gradually slowing, rates of severe obesity are about 1.7 times greater in children coming from families whose incomes fell below the poverty line than equal counterparts in the middle class income bracket. High fat, high carb foods are often the staple of a lower income family based on the assumption that they are more affordable, easier to prepare, and more time effective to gather, prepare, and consume. Because the cycle of poverty can be hard to escape, the cycle of high fat, high carb consumption is also passed on to subsequent generations. Unfortunately low income residential areas have a record of being "food deserts" where nutritious and fresh food is hard to find or overly expensive.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Medical Education | Primary Care
Willis, Cornelia, "Using Local Resources to Build Strong, Healthy Families" (2014). Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects. 35.