The Link Between Hunger and Obesity

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Submitted by Rachael on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 9:41am

Today's article in the New York Times ( "The Obesity-Hunger Paradox" ) explains that in many urban areas, hunger and obesity are not parallel problems, but "flip sides of the same malnutrition coin".  The paradox described in the article is that  very often the hungriest people are not underweight, but obese.

Lack of access to healthy foods, an inabiltity to afford healthy foods on a regular basis, and the very easy access to fast, fried, and unhealthy foods in many urban neighborhoods are all causes of the paradox. Other causes included the many people living in poverty who are not unemployed (though unemployment is a main cause of food-insecurity) but under-employed, working several low-paying jobs in order to make ends meet, leaving less time for shopping, meal preparation, or exercise. It also leads to eating on the run and filling up on cheap, nutritionally empty calories.

The article is really worth a read, and really reminds of of why working for food justice is so important:

www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/nyregion/14hunger.html

 


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