Access to grocers doesn’t improve diets, study finds, By Daniela Hernandez, July 12, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Better access to supermarkets – long touted as a way to curb obesity in low-income neighborhoods – doesn’t improve people’s diets, according to new research. The study, which tracked thousands of people in several large cities for 15 years, found that people didn’t eat more fruits and vegetables when they had supermarkets available in their neighborhoods. Instead, income – and proximity to fast food restaurants – were the strongest factors in food choice. The results, published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, throw some cold water on the idea that lack of access to fresh produce and other healthful foods is a major driver in the disproportionate rates of obesity among the poor, or that simply encouraging grocery chains to open in deprived areas will fix the problem, said study lead author Barry Popkin, director of the Nutrition Transition Program at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill…”
Tag: Obesity
State Obesity Rates
- Income may have impact on waistline, By Danielle Cintron, July 8, 2011, Fargo-Moorhead Forum: “Could the poverty line be affecting the U.S.’s waistline? Those with less education or who make less money continue to have the highest overall obesity rates, according to a study released Thursday by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. ‘One particular factor is poverty,’ said Jeff Levi, executive director of TFAH. ‘Lower income is associated with higher rates of obesity…'”
- Southerners, poor have highest rates of obesity, By Nanci Hellmich, July 8, 2011, USA Today: “People may still be tightening their belts because of the economy, but too many continue to let them out because of weight gain. The percentage of obese adults increased in 16 states over past year and didn’t decline in any state, a report says. In addition, the number of adults who say they don’t do any physical activity increased in 14 states this past year. ‘The bad news is the obesity rates are really high,’ says Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, a non-profit group that prepared the report along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. ‘But if you are looking for a silver lining it’s that only 16 states showed an increase this last year, and in the past, more states had increases,’ he says…”
Childhood Obesity – Ohio
30 percent of Ohio kids overweight, study shows, By Catherine Candisky, March 3, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “Despite increased efforts to combat childhood obesity, the percentage of overweight children in Ohio remains at more than 30, virtually unchanged in the past five years, a state health department study released yesterday found. State officials said the findings mirror national data for all states. The causes are no surprise: lack of exercise, poor diet, poverty, lack of access to healthy foods. The study included some alarming statistics. For example, 40 percent of third-grade students drink more than two sugar-sweetened drinks a day, and youngsters who watch three or more hours of television a day were more likely to be overweight and obese than those who spend less time on the couch. Still, officials say the good news is that childhood obesity has not gotten worse…”