Social Problems of Hunger and Obesity



Social Problems of Hunger and Obesity

Hunger and food insecurity have been called America's "hidden crisis." At the same time, and apparently paradoxically, obesity has been declared an epidemic. Both obesity and hunger (and, more broadly, food insecurity) are serious public health problems, sometimes co-existing in the same families and the same individuals. Their existence sounds contradictory, but those with insufficient resources to purchase adequate food can still be overweight, for reasons that researchers now are beginning to understand. Policymakers and the public need to better grasp this apparent paradox if our nation is to grapple with these parallel threats to the well-being of many children and adults, and avoid potentially damaging policy prescriptions arising from a mistaken belief that food insecurity and obesity cannot co-exist.

Hunger and food insecurity (see text box for definitions) affect more than 30 million people each year, according to national studies carried out by the Census Bureau and the US Department of Agriculture.1 Low-income households are much more likely than others to suffer from hunger and food insecurity since they have fewer resources to buy food.

Simply stated, obesity results when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure. This explanation, however, provides little insight into the important social and environmental causes of higher energy consumption or lower energy expenditures. These causes include energy-dense high-fat foods and larger portion sizes, for example, and lower levels of physical activity (at work, schools, home, and elsewhere).

Overall, the American population is growing more obese. Some low-income populations are also overweight.3 While the degree to which social, cultural, environmental, and genetic factors have contributed to the increase in obesity is not precisely known, we do know much that can help explain how low-income, food-insecure Americans can be overweight.

While most Americans are affected by the social and environmental causes of higher energy consumption or lower energy expenditures previously described, many households face the additional burdens of low incomes, which often leave them insufficient money to buy food. Through recent research, scholars now are gaining a better understanding of how food insecurity can be related to obesity. Some of the research in this area is very new, and further research is likely to provide additional insights linking hunger and food insecurity to obesity.

Food insecurity exists when people, due to economic constraints, lack access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times. They fear running out of food, and reduce the quality of their diets and/or reduce the quantity of food they consume. Food insecurity is not limited to those for whom energy supplies are always inadequate, which helps explain why those who are food insecure can also be overweight.

A lack of adequate resources for food could result in weight gain in several ways:

The need to maximize caloric intake. One factor that may contribute to the co-existence of obesity and food insecurity is the need for low-income families to stretch their food money as far as possible. Without adequate resources for food, families must make decisions to maximize the ...