It is well known that America is dealing with a nutrition crisis as underserved communities deal with poor diets and health concerns such as diabetes and obesity. While some communities have access to fitness and nutrition resources, many do not have such luxuries. The imbalance in resources has resulted in a disproportionately high rate of obesity in poorer areas. However, many politicians, lobbyists, and policy organizations have debated over what factors are causing the imbalance and how food health concerns should be addressed.
Many policies have been put in place, such as food stamps and systems to entice grocery store corporations to open in underserved areas, but there is still a question if these policies are addressing the correct factors. Are the impoverished communities able to access the grocery stores? Are they purchasing the right foods? Should their food choices be controlled? The problem is that many policies only address one or two factors that might be affecting the nutritional health of underserved communities, but the issue is actually more complex. In reality, there are five factors that have been identified as affecting the nutritional health of underserved communities, and all five factors need to be addressed for effective policymaking. The factors are food insecurity, food deserts, food swamps, mobility, and nutritional education.
Food insecurity addresses the affordability of healthy food. Research has shown that a person's ability to afford healthy food, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, plays a large role in the person's nutritional health and risk of obesity and diabetes. Communities that cannot necessarily afford health food have been found to have higher obesity rates, higher glucose levels, and higher rates of uncontrolled diabetes. Researchers have concluded that for food insecurity to be addressed, healthy food costs need to be closer to the cost of junk foods to make the healthy food more accessible as well as entice the buyer to buy the healthy food. As long as junk food is less expensive, the junk food will be considered a smarter economic choice to the buyer, regardless of the long-term health effect. Therefore, the cost of healthy food needs to be more competitive when compared to junk food.
Food deserts are areas that have limited or no access to grocery stores. A food desert is determined based on the distance to the nearest grocery stores. Food deserts typically affect impoverished communities because grocery stores, like many businesses, do not want to be located in lower-income areas. There is some debate as to how much food deserts affect the health of impoverished communities, but there is a general consensus that there is an effect. Researchers have found that communities that are in food deserts have higher rates of obesity. Limited access to grocery stores means there is limited access to healthy food, and the communities become more reliant on stores that sell higher-calorie, less-nutritional food. Therefore, to help improve the health of impoverished communities, geographic access to healthy food needs to be addressed.