...Food Deserts in Chicago Food deserts are defined as parts of an urban area which are deprived of stores that provide fresh fruit, vegetables, as well as other healthy foods. These “deserts” can usually be found in the southern parts of the U.S. where poverty is more of an issue. For the past few decades, the consumption of unhealthy meals has increased. Social media plays a huge part in this recent spike of bad diets; Trends are set using social media, which influences many day to day decisions made by today’s youth. Education can also be considered a reason for such poor dieting. Children in the inner city are not taught about healthy dieting from elementary through high school. Instead, children are taught how to say ‘a’ for ‘apple’, but not that apples are a healthy alternative compared to McDonald’s French fries. As time progresses, these same children grow older and carry their bad eating habits along with them and completely disregard healthy eating. The fact that food deserts are practically abundant in their neighborhoods does not make this any better. In Chicago alone, minorities make up the majority of low-income neighborhoods, and in these neighborhoods, grocery stores are miles away from homes where fast food restaurants are thriving. The city is purposely constructed this way as a scheme to keep the health of minorities down, especially African Americans. This way, the minorities become dependent upon the system. African Americans who are faced with poverty...
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...African Americans and Unhealthy Eating There is no secret that the African American community is known for unhealthy cooking. There are generations of recipes that are consistently passed down from family to family and often Sundays are set aside to display the misguided teachings of generations past. Foods like, pork chops smothered in gravy, mashed potatoes with high concentrations of butter, fried chicken, collard greens seasoned with hammocks or bacon fat, macaroni made with two pounds of cheese, potato salad drenched in mayonnaise are all examples of unhealthy foods. Also, this style of cooking leads to poor health. For this reason, education, frequent check-ups, and changes in eating habits, will reduce unhealthy eating. The harmful eating practices of African Americans are taught at early ages. This unhealthy trend has lead to African Americans being the leader among those who die from attacks such as strokes and heart attacks. With this in mind, education is imperative to this ethic group. Education on how to properly prepare meals will increase the knowledge of making better food choices. Also, it will introduce how unhealthy eating is really harming the body. Schools can introduce breakfast and lunch foods that teach young African Americans the difference between unhealthy and healthy foods. For the adults, grocery stores can offer information on the product of choice to show if there is a healthier version along with healthy recipes. Educating on better food choices...
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...1 The traditional and contemporary food habits of African Americans compared with the typical American majority diet Introduction I have chosen to write on African American food habits because I believe their food tells a story of endurance and adaptability during hard times. I’ve heard the word ‘soul food’ bandied about without actually knowing what the essence of it was. I would like to see what it’s unique features are and to know more about the possible cultural, social and other factors that informed early food choices. There are 41.6 million African Americans which amounts to about 13 percent of the total population. Traditional Food Habits The basis of African American food is ‘soul food’, a term that relates to the ingredients and method of cooking (Airhihenbuwa, Kumanyika, Agurs, Lowe, Saunders, & Morssink, 1996). Traditional soul food was made up of unwanted food given to the slaves by their masters such as the discarded parts of animals, such as pigs’ feet, head, ears and intestines. They were not allowed to consume fresh meat at first. Frying of food and discarded meat without trimming it or removing the skin was a popular preparation method (Bovell-Benjamin, Dawkin, Pace, & Shikany, 2009). African Americans were not allowed to eat the best foods and meat. Later chicken became the essence of this diet. Fried chicken, fried cornbread and cracklings (fried pork skins) were popular and sweet potatoes too. There were lots of meals around fatbacks, beans and chitlins...
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...Today one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese.Obesity has become an epidemic in this country over the last decade. It is especially an issue in the impoverished areas of the country. The obesity rates in many similar countries have not grown nearly as rapidly as that of the United States. The rate of obesity in impoverished American children may be rapidly increasing due to the influence of their caretakers, low income, poor access to healthcare, lack of physical activity, deprived living conditions, and a lack of access to resources due to their location. Obesity is more prevalent in minority communities, but obesity rates and race do not actually have any direct correlation. “For a long time researchers have tracked...
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...disease, type 2 diabetes, gall stone, breathing problems and certain cancers. Preventing over weight and obesity will in effect reduce or eliminate these conditions from the population. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in United States. Obesity affects 97 million Americans that are over 30% of the population. It cost about $100 billion a year to manage obesity related disease. (NIH publication 98-4083). Overweight and obesity is very common in minority groups, but affects people of all ages, but the number rises with age, and has a particular relationship to socio-economic status. The lower the socio-economic status the greater the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Rational: We chose this health indicator because as nursing students, we think it is important to live a healthy lifestyle and also educate the public about healthy eating to prevent overweight and obesity. We believe obesity is a preventable disease. Too much time is spent by Americans sitting in a couch and watching television and playing video games than in the gym. Objectives: Since overweight and obesity is a “lifestyle” health issue, it is preventable. Obesity among Africa American is higher in relation to the general population. Genetic and environment factors play a major role in overweight and obesity. About 25-40% of BMI of individual depend on genetics. Age: According...
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...Healthy Tips for the African-American Woman If you’re an African-American woman who is a little bit of on the heavy side, the good news is, you don’t have to deprive yourself from your favorite food. The most effective way to change your lifestyle is to take baby steps. Over time, you’ll notice that small changes can actually be more effective rather than making a bold and drastic decision that is harder to maintain. These small changes in your eating and drinking habits can help you control your binges better. But first, get to know your body first. It is a fact that three out of four African-American adults are diagnosed as overweight. Measuring your Weight If you want to check your weight, a body mass index or BMI tool is often used to identify your weight condition. So why is it important...
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...overweight increased, but the heaviest children in a recent NHANES survey were markedly heavier than those in previous surveys (ASPE, 2012). Obesity disproportionately affects certain minority youth populations. NHANES found that African American and Mexican American adolescents ages 12-19 were more likely to be overweight, at 21 percent and 23 percent respectively, than non-Hispanic White adolescents (14 percent) .In children 6-11 years old, 22 percent of Mexican American children were overweight, whereas 20 percent of African American children and 14 percent of non-Hispanic White children were overweight. In addition to the children and teens who were overweight in 1999-2002, another 15 percent were at risk of becoming overweight In a national survey of American Indian children 5-18 years old, 39 percent were found to be overweight or at risk for overweight. Being overweight during childhood and adolescence increases the risk of developing high cholesterol, hypertension, respiratory ailments, orthopedic problems, depression and type 2 diabetes as a youth. One disease of particular concern is Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to overweight and obesity and has increased dramatically in children and adolescents, particularly in American Indian, African American and Hispanic/Latino populations. The...
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...United States were African American (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). The Center for Disease and Prevention (CDC) reports that 14.6% of African-Americans are in fair or poor health, as compared with the national average. 48% of African Americans, suffer from a chronic illness that results in premature morbidity and mortality, as compared to 39% of the general population (Brandon & Proctor, 2010, p. 590). This population has a higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, hypertension, and diabetes. According to Health Statics of U.S. Adults, African Americans were more likely to have been diagnosed with diabetes compared to non-Hispanic white...
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...culture. In her "How It Feels To Be Colored Me", Hurston speaks about the culture of the Americans and the African Americans. She mentions how people believe that these cultures differ, yet she thinks otherwise. In her Size 6 : The Western Women's Harem, Mernissi believes that men dictate all the judgments surrounding what women's size should be. In her Excerpt from On Seeing England for the First Time, Kincaid displays her own biases towards English culture because she is originally from Antigua. Hurston speaks about how white Americans believe that they and African Americans are different, yet she believes that they're the same. She does have her doubts however, for example when she was in the bar and saw a white person, she noticed the difference between herself and him. "He is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored" (197). She speaks of the cultural biases that are placed on her and her family because she is of color. She states, "at certain times I have no race, I am me"(197). She states this to oppose what other people think about white Americans and African Americans. She says that she has no race and is only herself, to show that she is nothing more than a human. She also emphasizes that she only feels American, neither white or black. "I have no separate feelings about being an American citizen and colored"(197). To make a point that African Americans and white Americans are not different, she states that she doesn't feel a difference between blacks and...
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...it can be counterproductive and actually impact the child negatively. In a study concentrating on a bunch of 5-year-old girls pressured to eat fruit and vegetables, it was shown that it led to a decrease in the consumption of such foods. According to Birch, even though the enforcement of such practices can make them eat more vegetables in the short run, in the long run, it can have negative effects on the diet of children by decreasing their desire to eat such foods. In fact, those practices can be so detrimental on children that it can actually increase their preferences towards high-fat and energy-dense foods and decrease their acceptance to eating a variety of foods and affect their energy regulation intake by decreasing their “responsiveness to internal cues of hunger and satiety.” Most parents believe that children need help in deciding upon food choices, however, this is actually far from the case. Infants and young children are able to self-regulate total energy caloric intake. They know how to satiate their hunger perfectly fine without any parental involvement. In fact, when parents regulate the food consumption of their children it can be extremely detrimental since it may decrease or negatively impact their ability to self-regulate their food consumption. Clearly, mentality and knowledge towards childhood obesity influence parental feeding...
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...Another aim we will address is to increase by 10% the number of African Americans in Washington D.C. who are able to cook a healthy nutritious meal per day by 2020. Activities that will support this objective include teaching our target population ways of consuming nutritious meals among family and community members in a form of cooking demonstrations. Additionally, they will learn to create healthy recipes based on nutrition education materials, and these recipes can be utilized for cooking in the future. The first activity will be a 10-week culturally specific obesity prevention program based on Know Your Body program, a program in which once culturally adapted is effective among African Americans especially, in an inner-city population. The participants will consist of African American mothers and their teenage daughters. Mothers are chosen because they are primary in shopping for groceries and cooking in the household and can promote healthy cooking and positive eating behavior among their daughters. Mothers and daughters will be recruited through newsletters...
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...Consultant Title: Obesity, Lifestyles and African-Americans – What are the Correlations? Publication / Internet Site: http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/african/family_lifestyle_traditions/bpr_obesity1127.asp Date: N/A Issue: IMDiversity Body: Makeisha Lee, Black health consultant in this article speaks to us as African-Americans about having the right balance of foods in our lives. The article goes on to explain that eating is one life’s greatest pleasures. We human beings enjoy the smell of good food, the taste of good food, the texture, as well as how it makes us feel when it goes down, so food can be very pleasurable but it can also be very dangerous if not kept in its proper balance. As Ms. Lee said earlier we can enjoy food but the primary job for food is to nourish our bodies. The nutrients that we get from the foods help our bodies to sustain life, health as well as strength. When we don’t have the right balance of foods that are bodies, ( mind-body and emotion) gets all a lot of whack. If you don’t have the right balance of food and have adequate exercise you end up with, “Obesity”. A definition for obesity is the intake of food overpowering the needed exercise in order to keep the weight down. Obesity is more common in African Americans than any other ethnic group. Let’s take a closer look to see why this is. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of vital health statistics, 16.1% of African-American males are overweight and 78% of black...
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...Obesity is a person’s weight in excess of its biological needs. In other words, excessive fatness. Obesity is not just being overweight, physicians consider someone obese who is 100 or more pounds overweight. Obesity is a scarily increasing epidemic in the United States. Obesity is the 2nd leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Obesity results in a little less than 300,000 deaths per year in the United States. The obesity numbers have steadily increasing since the early 1990's in to the 2000's. European industrialized countries such as France, England, and Germany have half of the obesity numbers that we have here in the United States. The United States has 129.6 million people whom are obese. That accounts for 64% of our population. Foe example, in 1962 there was an obesity rate of 43% in the United States. In 2004, there was an obesity prevelance of 64%. Of that, 31% are obese adults. Most obese are males, minority and under educated. Obesity is a problem that is currently affecting the children of America as they live their sedentary lifestyles. Most kids growing up today do not eat a heathy diet, do not go outside and exercise, rather they sit in front of the tv or play video game. This a problem that needs immediate attention. There are many different theories on how obesity starts. Most doctors think that obesity is due to genetic influences, however other doctors believe that obesity is due to a person’s sedentary lifestyle and environment. Dr. Riden...
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...anemia. She is often tired, and does not have good eating habits. Her mother cannot afford many nutritious foods, and Amy is often eating foods that are processed; and not really nutritionally balanced. She is not getting adequate nutrients from the consumption of fruits and vegetables. The fact that she is a teenage girl would also lead me to believe that if she is not already menstruating, that she will be soon. This can deplete the body as well; and if the iron supply for the body is not replaced with nutrient rich foods Amy has a higher likely hood of being anemic. Amy is also a picky eater, so given the choice she may not make wise eating choices. Amy’s eating habits need to be redirected to healthier foods that would give her the proper amount of iron. Amy could also take an iron supplement; but should really see her doctor, iron is important to the body because it helps get enough oxygen throughout the body. Diagnosis is done through a physical exam, as well as a complete blood count; and an iron test to see how much iron is in the blood. Treatment is usually an iron supplement that is monitored by your doctor. Prevention can be through a healthy diet with foods rich in iron such as; meat, eggs, whole grain, and iron-fortified foods. (Web MD) Marcus is getting ready for kindergarten. His mother is concerned, and wants Marcus to be screened, because she carries the “trait”. Being that Marcus is African-American, he has a high likely hood of inheriting this trait from...
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...20 Habits That Make You Fat http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/20-habits-that-make-you-fat Yahoo! Search Mail Web Search HOME HEALTH TOPICS A-Z HEALTHY LIVING CHECK YOUR SYMPTOMS Customize Your Mammogram DRUGS & TREATMENTS FIND A DOCTOR Power Up Your Brain Featured on Yahoo! Health: Understanding Bipolar Disorder Satisfy Your Ice Cream Cravings The Importance of Affection Health Search 1 of 6 7/26/2011 5:55 PM 20 Habits That Make You Fat http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/20-habits-that-make-you-fat 20 Habits That Make You Fat By David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding Jul 15, 2011 846 Health Experts Main Send Share Print Decades ago, around the time of Steven Tyler's last haircut, a completely wrongheaded idea started being passed around America's dinner tables: Eating fat makes you fat. Wrong. Eating fat won’t make you fat, any more than eating money will make you rich. Calories make you fat, and most “low-fat” or “fat-free” foods actually have just as many calories as their full-fat versions, because of added sugar and chemicals. And there’s no debate on this one: Since we made “cut down on fat” our favorite food Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding craze roughly 30 years ago, the U.S. obesity rate has doubled. Among children, it has tripled. That’s a failed food policy if ever there was one. But it’s just one of many “get fat” habits that can be turned into a “slim-down”...
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