Mexican
Americans are one of the most likely ethnic groups in America to develop diabetes
and obesity. In particular, the Hispanic Americans along the United States and
Mexican border are at a higher risk for developing these health issues. For this study 810 people with an age range from 35-65 were tested. One of
the leading factors in why Hispanic Americans are so likely to get obese is
they lack the income to buy healthier food. Most of the food they buy is fast
food. Fast food is high in fat and calories and very cheap. Eating fast food
three meals a day every day will also lead to diabetes.
To complicate matters, Hispanic
Americans often develop these health problems before they are eligible to use
the Medicaid system and often die before they can even start using those funds. also 80 percent of people tested do not have medical coverage. The rate of diabetes in Hispanic Americans is nearly twice that of Anglos.
Cohorts were established to collect human
test subjects to determine how often widespread these diseases are among the
Hispanic population. They were placed along the border to the United States and Mexico as well as alone rural boundary lines close to cities. different age groups and genders were tested for high likely they are to get diabetes and obesity.
The most beneficial way to help stop this
epidemic is to increase there income. It
may help to increase the minimum wage and have more healthy food available in
local food pantries that they could access when needed there also needs to be more community involvement in research and testing for diabetes before its to complicated and expensive to fix.
Fisher-Hoch, S. P., Rentfro, A. R., Wilson, J. G., Salinas, J. J., Reininger, B. M., Restrepo, B. I., ... & Hanis, C. M. (2010). Peer Reviewed: Socioeconomic Status and Prevalence of Obesity and Diabetes in a Mexican American Community, Cameron County, Texas, 2004-2007. Preventing chronic disease, 7(3).
I think you point to a lot of the contributing factors. One that could be added would be education levels. With higher levels of college educated individuals, we would likely see changes. Another social factor that might be at play here is the age of becoming a parent which affects your educational and work opportunities which impacts food choices. This is not a simple issue.
ReplyDeleteI think another factor that isn't mentioned is that it's much harder to cook healthy meals if you're working more than one job to keep your family afloat. It's much easier to go along with conveniently pre-made, pre-packaged foods that are readily available for you. By working on policy to include more food benefits for folks who need it and by making sure that fresh food is available (and that cooking classes are offered in schools, perhaps) there would be less diabetes, more locally sourced foods used and maybe a decline in food deserts.
ReplyDeletePossible map: schools that offer cooking courses and diabetes rates in the surrounding areas.
I definitely agree with Joey and Jess. Perhaps another map of the area that highlights what food options are even available would be the next step in resolving the problem. It might also just be the location itself. I have read studies that correlate stress to weight gain so perhaps it would not be unbelievable to assume living on the border would be a bit stressful.
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised if there was some correlation between events in the area, levels of mental security, and food prioritization. Though it's impossible to measure.