NYC children struggle with hunger, obesity: report

[deadparrot]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - One quarter of New York City's 1.9 million children live in poverty -- 50 percent higher than the United States average -- and many of these children are overweight, a food supply group said on Tuesday.

The Food Bank for New York City said more than 40 percent of children in the Head Start program, which fosters healthy development of children up to age 5 from low-income families, were overweight or obese.

A Food Bank report titled "Growing up hungry in New York City: An analysis of hunger among children" also showed nearly one-fifth of New York City's children rely on free food to survive, and 40 percent of families with children experienced difficulty affording food in 2005.

"They don't have very much money available to pay for their groceries and so they must buy the cheapest food available in order to keep their children fed," Aine Duggan, the group's vice president of government relations, told Reuters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/nyc_children_dc

[crikkett]

1. Sadly in poor areas the cheapest food = the kind that makes you obese.

High Fructose Corn Syrup
Processed Flour
Monosodium Glutemate

[CanuckAmok]

2. No to mention....

The fast-food outlets are more numerous per capita in poor urban areas. If you have $5 to buy dinner for your kids, what are you going to get; a half-lb of fresh produce or five cheeseburgers?

[sandnsea]

4. Actually

If you have a little bit of luck with a sale

Hot dogs 2/$1.00
mac 'n cheese 4/$1.00
white bread 2/$1.00
milk $2.00

They'd probably be better off to buy the 5 burgers with lettuce, tomato, but sans the cheese. Although my list will last longer.

But just you wait, somebody is going to come along and tell us we can eat for a week on a chicken. I'm not going to go there again.

[don954]

5. I dont know how much they are now, but about 8 years ago

chicken legs and thighs were only 4# for a 1$ in most Texas grocery stores, its what my family mainly ate as we had no $$$....

[NYC]

6. I guarantee there is no chicken in NYC for 25 cents a pound.

There just isn't. Supermarkets pay high rents to landlords, too.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

8. I live in NY

And I could go down to my local produce stand and get enough produce for $5-6 to make a giant salad for several people. I do it frequently.

[CanuckAmok]

9. But you also know *how* to...

But I get your point.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

11. I know

It's just that I frequently see the contention that it's so much cheaper to eat food that's bad for you.

I recently made some rather major modifications to my diet (trying to eat healthier, avoid fast food, etc.), and it seems to me that my food bills are much less than they used to be. Granted, it takes more time to prepare and to keep on top of the fridge so the produce doesn't spoil, but still...

I'm not sure that price points are necessarily the issue here; as with most things, I think that education is probably the solution.

[KurtNYC]

12. I suspect feast-and-famine plays some role also

When the body doesn't have a steady food supply it triggers more storage. Instability in housing and homelife may be driving kids to eat as much as they can when it is available.

Food is now cheaper than it has ever been. The whole dynamic has inverted. Poor people are heavy; rich people are thin.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

13. That is bizarre

I was in Mexico a few months ago, and one of the locals was explaining to me that being overweight is a status symbol down there. It means that you're a good provider, have a decent job, etc.

That seemed so bizarre to me based on the way things are in America -- until I realized that that should be the natural order.

It's a strange society we're carving out here in America.

[KurtNYC]

14. Seems like 2 different cultural standards of what looks healthy

btw, found a great piece on how to eat cheap and healthy. It was produced by the WHO (world health org) and is not country specific; just a general overview of how to insure intake of key nutrients:

http://libdoc.who.int/publications/2004/9241546123_chap17.pdf

Thought the graphs starting on page 4 were especially interesting. I found this while arguing with someone that real food is a better and more economical way to get nutrients than vitamin pills. And I think it makes that case very well.

[Drum]

3. And diabetes is right down the road...

a big problem with many poor people here in NYC, and the available diet does anything but help the odds.

[zalinda]

7. I've found another interesting tidbit

while talking to my son's friends, (they are all around 30 or slightly younger) no one knows how to cook. Not only don't they know how to cook, what they will eat is very narrow. Very few of them eat any vegetable that is not corn or green beans, maybe they'll eat a salad when they go out to dinner.

What happened? Was it the Reagan moms who had to go out to work and had less time to cook, that changed the tastes of these "kids". And, they are bringing up another generation of kids who can't get past Hamburger Helper or mac and cheese, to eat anything that is fresh and nutritious.

zalinda

[kineneb]

10. the middle class does not get it

and those here at DU are some of them.


1. That free food: most of it is canned goods, pasta, rice and mashed potato flakes; sometimes we get beans, powdered milk and very ocasionally, meat. The sodium content is high, and there are no fresh foods. Food pantries give out a few fresh things with their boxes, but they don't go very far. I felt really lucky today - the commodities give-away had 10 lbs of frozen chicken, and bag of powdered milk in it! Trust me, it won't be wasted. The rest was, as usual, canned stuff. Nothing fresh.

Fatty stuff fills you up when you are hungry, unlike rice or pasta (or even beans). And it is cheap. In the days before TV, cars and mass transit, those fat calories would get burned off by exercise. Not anymore; as most people, even the poor are more sedentary.

2. Access to fresh food: unless one has access to a farmers' market or good grocery store, the offerings of fresh fruit/vegetables in inner cities or rural area "corner stores" are sparse and expensive. I am lucky to have a garden, but it costs me in water bills. Others don't have the space, energy or knowledge to care for a garden. The staples of onions, carrots and apples are fine, but they lack a lot of the minerals that one needs to have a healthy diet (and apples are expensive out of season).

3. Food costs money: if all your money goes to paying the rent and utilities, there is not much left to eat on. And if there is no place close by to purchase good, inexpensive foods, you are screwed. I have a friend who has a $50/month food budget; that is all that is left from her SSI after fixed expenses. She does not drive and must carry all her groceries, so buying in bulk, unless she has a ride, is not possible.

Yes, obesity is a problem, but before you condemn someone, walk a mile in their shoes.

[just a girl]

15. I have a friend in a similar situation

SSI leaves little for food after the bills are paid (usually $20-$50 a month for food), and top-ramen is $0.09 per serving. She can feed her family of 3 for $0.27.