This is a sad thing happening in the US. Many people are getting diseases from obesity not just adults but also kids. The rates of diabetes has went so high since 2008 and up to this day. Many people also can’t avoid it because of insecurities they have. I personally think this poem was very good. Kids are suffering because of their obesity, more importantly it’s going to affect their future health.
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"The videos contain rich and at times startling detail about life in communities roiled by gun violence, poverty and food insecurity." Pardon me, but when did she mention gun violence?
@Amani N. There are other videos part of the bigger picture project that addresses those issues, not particularly the one featured in this article.
But it is a problem related to poor diet and lack of exercise.
Don't try to turn it into a political cause. It is a disease, and needs medical treatment, not political activism. It could be prevented if schools taught home economics: what a good diet consists of, and how to cook beans. Not difficult.
It's not related to poverty. Poor people living on a diet of rice, beans and tortillas don't get it. It was unheard of among poor Mexican peasants. It is related to affluence: having enough money to buy junk food, even if the sufferers are called "poor".
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Beans are not a cure-all.
I'd wager that most of these people live in food deserts, with no grocery stores within distance for walking or mass transit. Grocers used to be there, but eventually all left; this happens a lot more often than you think.
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As a black man, my heart grieves daily at the statistical facts like "Black and Hispanic children have eight times the risk of developing Type II Diabetes as compared with others." This is fed more doses by the fact that I am older and healthier than many of my junior cousins, even the 7 who have passed away. I get some ostracism because I am very old but in great condition. I am also ostracized because I believe heavily in always getting more knowledge, no matter what your age.
Sadly, my main interests; good health/fitness and knowledge, just do not seem to be on the "to do list" for the majority in my sub-group. It is hard to grieve for some who have passed as they are too young for me to even have known them well, if at all, and, people, being very healthy, I think that the number that I do not even know is going to get larger.
It also grieves me that trying to urge more self discipline is frowned upon while there are now ingrown support to even get and stay obese. Contrary to what is taught in the community, fat/obesity never looks good.
Productivity contributions to national economics goes down, at a progressive rate, with each pound that a fat person adds on. Meaning- The more that you weigh, the more you hinder all other people's ability to survive. Firemen can't run down steps carrying a 400# person. Sorry to have to report these facts but they are what they are.
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A very powerful publication. The work, the young teens, are doing is phenomenal. We know diabetes is a multifactorial disease and some factors are modifiable while others are not. However, our health care system is failing in the preventive battle. We are very food a preforming q quadruple stent placement, but when it comes to public health policies, our system is weak. Lack of funding for preventive medicine is adding to the perfect strong that continues to grow and eat away our resources. Health care cost in the USA is estimated to be approximately 20% of GDP.
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A very powerful publication. The work, the young teens, are doing is phenomenal. We know diabetes is a multifactorial disease and some factors are modifiable while others are not. However, our health care system is failing in the preventive battle. We are excellent a performing quadruple stent placement, but when it comes to public health policies, our system is weak. Lack of funding for preventive medicine is adding to the perfect strong that continues to grow and eat away our resources. Health care cost in the USA is estimated to be approximately 20% of GDP.
Thank you for showcasing this important initiative and for including the work of these extraordinary young poets.
What I think would help a lot is we stop subsidizing farmers to grow corn to make cheap high calorie dense foods ( the foods in the middle of the grocery store) and start subsidizing farmers to grow more expensive low calorie foods (the periphery of the store).
I would like to see donuts selling for $4 each and a pound of asparagus for 50 cents.
It’s the only time in the worlds history where poor people are not starving but obese due to cheap caloric sugary food.
It’s expensive to eat healthy. Fruit , fresh vegetables, grass fed meat, fresh fish: No thanks I’ll take the cheap McDonald’s! It’s quick delicious and fills me up. Just kidding (kind of).
My prediction: added sugar in foods will prove to be more dangerous than fatty foods. We need to restrict this like we did with tobacco.
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Boil a pound of dry beans. About $1.50 and keeps you full for a day. If you are genuinely poor, that's all you can afford.
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Poverty of time and education exists as well. Do people working two or three jobs with zero nutritional education know how to soak beans overnight and have time to boil them for an hour? How do they learn to season them so they are palatable? How about do they have the hours it takes to meal-prep? Do they have a dozen glass containers to portion their lunches?
It's harder in modern America to be healthy. It's hard or impossible to walk to work or school as communities have been built around the car, it's even seen as ridiculous to walk or bike more than a short distance due to safety concerns. It can be hard or even impossible to obtain fresh food as few to zero grocery stores exist in food deserts.
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Will you lay off with the beans?
It takes HOURS to cook dry beans, and no working person has the time to boil an entire pound at a time.
It takes a pressure cooker to cook beans in reasonable time, and no cooker handles a pound. Man cannot subsist on beans alone; it eventually leads to malnutrition.
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Fast food restaurants promote and advertise their businesses from billboards and commercials and televisions, this is convenient for a person who's probably had a long day at work causing them to make these poor food choices, so that they don't have to get home and make a meal for their family. These advertisements also create a temptations for some people causing them to make wrong choices and intoxicating their families with these high calorie meals just so they may not have to take time out of their days to actually make something healthier to eat. There are many cheap healthy food options that are provides in stores, its just the way some of these consumers decide to spend their money. I personally believe that they're spending more money on junky or sugary foods than actually spending a weeks supply on healthier options, but I also know that many of these communities are further away or may not always have access to nearby grocery stores, so they tend to go to the nearest affordable place that they can find. Tassania Willis said "My deadly routine was to wake up hungry and walk to the bus stop, pass McDonald's, pass the liquor store, pass Popeye's, pass the first Burger King... ordered my favorite round hash browns.' This quote shows how brings awareness that their should be places established so that these communities are provided by better foods and not left tempted to have these foods that are causing them to put their bodies in danger and not have limited options.
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“Social justice” has become a meaningless catch phrase.
I’m tired of this “it’s the system” redirection of responsibility. If a parent cannot or will not prepare a child’s breakfast, it’s not a “tragic” situation to be blamed on societal inequities. It’s irresponsible and neglectful behavior by an adult who makes his or her own choices. And it’s not just poor kids of color who grab McDonalds on the way to school. I know financially solid, white folks who feed that and other junk foods to their kids. Or send them off to school with a handful of cookies for breakfast. Poor parenting happens in all social classes. So does bad eating.
We learn how to eat from the adults who raise us. If those adults eat fast food and junk snacks, so will we. This is true across the socioeconomic strata. But children can be taught to eat better. Nutrition and food preparation should be taught in all schools. So should personal finance (budgeting). This used to be called Home Economics: now I suppose it’s Life Skills.
I lived in a poor, urban neighborhood for years while I was in school. I lived on pennies a day for food, cooking from scratch. A bag of dried beans, whole chickens, tortillas, bulk vegetables. It can be done. Even now I cook that way. Yet I remember seeing people in my neighborhood spend their food stamps on processed, packaged junk food and soda. One can still buy soda with EBT points. If we’re going to talk about changing the “system,” maybe *that* system is a place to start.
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"While I was in school" is not the full poverty experience. A mom working two jobs does not have time to make breakfast. Or pack lunches. School food is part of the problem. Remember when the government declared ketchup a vegetable?
bulk vegtables on 'pennies a day'?
Vegtables bought in bulk, spoil in bulk.
Nice try.
Yet the current administration is more concerned with the opiod "epidemic."
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It IS possible to be concerned with more than one societal ill.
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I would ask a young person who’s overweight whether it somehow offers her some sense of protection, both physical and emotional, or whether it’s in emulation of an adult she respects/sees respected by others. That may sound strange, but ask before drawing conclusions.
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Ed, I have read that women who were sexually abused in childhood are statistically more likely to start putting on extra weight even before adulthood. This could be for protection (hoping to be less attractive to predators), or it could be excessive eating as a source of comfort and stress reduction...which is something we all do. I think the answer depends on who is doing the asking, and interpreting.
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