I once heard someone claim that Americans, due to the obesity epidemic, didn’t deserve universal health care. This argument is clearly illogical, but it caused me to reflect on the role of obesity in America and how it affects our healthcare system. Obesity-related illness costs the government $173 billion a year. Does this cost reflect the American stereotype of being lazy and lacking self-control with food, or is it a product of a deeper problem?
I used to believe that a person's susceptibility to obesity was completely under their control. I exercised and ate nutritious food and figured everyone could do that too. My naivety to my own privilege of being from a suburban and wealthy area was clear. It was only by living in rural Georgia that I transformed the way I viewed the obesity epidemic in the United States.
I lived in southwest Georgia, where the closest supermarket was about an hour away. I would have to bring a cooler with me to the grocery store, and I could only make the trip once every two weeks. The only other options were gas stations and Dollar Generals, which exclusively offered frozen meals and other highly processed foods. I was living in a food desert.
Georgia has one of the highest concentrations of food deserts in the country. Food deserts are most likely found in rural areas in the South, Midwest, and West and are characterized by inaccessibility to healthy food. These communities further suffer from food insecurity.[1] Because these people cannot afford or access healthy food, their susceptibility to obesity increases. Those living in food deserts are more likely to be obese, have diabetes, suffer from other weight-related conditions, and develop conditions because of long-term nutritional deficiency.[2]
Food deserts target specific demographics. The USDA found that those living in food deserts are more likely to be a racial minority, live in poverty, have low education, and be unemployed. Racial minorities and low-income groups are already correlated with less access to fitness centers and healthcare, and living in food deserts deepens existing inequalities. Those living in food deserts were also less likely to have access to transportation, making these convenience shops their only options for food.[3]
By failing to meet the needs of already struggling communities, we forfeit the right to place blame completely on their shoulders. Universal healthcare could help deal with the consequences of our poor infrastructure. However, creating policies to alleviate the effects of food deserts would lessen the strain on our healthcare systems and allow for a higher quality of life among these communities.
One solution is to have better public transportation that reaches rural areas. This would better cater to the needs of people who don’t have access to transportation. Potentially, better public transportation could help lower unemployment rates by giving folks a way to work, targeting another struggle of people residing in food deserts. Policies that incentivize convenience stores to carry healthy products and encourage infrastructure investment in food desert areas could also alleviate negative health outcomes.
Obesity is not exclusively caused by food deserts, of course. Several factors contribute to obesity, and many of these factors are within a person's control. I offer this argument, however, to show how the most vulnerable are further marginalized by inadequate access to food. One of the great injustices in life is that inequalities overlap. If you’re poor, you’re more likely to live in a food desert. If you live in a food desert, you’re more likely to be obese. If you’re obese, you are more likely to have high medical costs, which makes you poorer. When we fail to intervene in any of these existing inequalities, we are an active barrier that stops people from achieving upward economic and social mobility. We don’t live in a zero-sum society where helping one group harms another. Implementing policies that improve these communities is better for all of us. Improving access to quality food would decrease government costs caused by obesity and nutrition-related illnesses. Further, healthier people can contribute more to our economy and communities.
We need to do something. Whether it’s striking at food deserts directly as suggested, improving healthcare access, investing in education in low-income areas, or creating policies that alleviate income inequality, something has to change. Until then, we punish the poor and, in this case, deprive them of the basic human necessity of food.
