With two out of three adults in the U.S. considered to be overweight or obese, the obesity epidemic is threatening the quality of life of Americans. To reduce obesity and illness, and promote greater overall health, the Surgeon General is promoting at least one hour per day of physical activity and looking at business incentives to bring fresh fruits and vegetables into rural and urban areas that are barren “food deserts.”
“Some communities, the only place they can find food is in a convenience store or a gas station, and so you need to be able to get some supermarkets in communities,” U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said. “And when you can’t get grocery stores there, you can do some little things, like in the gas station or the convenience store, like putting in refrigerated unit that has vegetables and some fruits there.”
On a national scale, tax incentives for small businesses a possibility Benjamin is considering to offer sanctuary in food deserts. By offering fresh foods where currently there are none, the hope is for better overall nutrition for families, and healthier eating may help curb the nation’s obesity epidemic.
What exactly are food deserts?
“Food deserts are areas within a neighborhood or a community that lack access to healthy options,” said Cheryl Kelly, Ph.D., assistant professor of community health at the Saint Louis University School of Public Health. “In some cases, people define it as if the individual residents have to go further than a mile to reach a grocery or supermarket that sells a variety of healthy options.”
Unlike more affluent neighborhoods where family members can easily drive more than a mile to a grocery store, Kelly said transporting groceries more than a mile on foot or with little or no reliable transportation can be a challenge.
Language in the 2008 Farm Bill defines a food desert as an “area in the United States with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, particularly such an area composed of predominantly lower income neighborhoods and communities.”
A proliferation of fast food restaurants in urban areas is another factor in food deserts and in obesity.
“It’s not that there is no food; it’s really about access to healthy food,” Kelly said. “They tend to have access to quite a bit of food; it’s just not healthy options.”
Instead, a variety of fruits and vegetables and a variety of types of fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables available are important, Kelly said.
“We also think to have healthy options, you should also provide lean cuts of beef, skinless chicken, low-fat dairy products,” she added. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that everything in the store has to be fat-free. But it’s more around providing some of the lower-fat options for people to make the healthier choice.”
St. Louis may not be as nutritionally-challenged as other cities or rural locations for healthier food options; however, Kelly said food deserts do exist in the Gateway City.
“Old North … right around by Crown Candy – they are most certainly a food desert and have been for years,” Kelly said. “They are working on other solutions though, instead of bringing in a big supermarket. They’ve opened a farmer’s market. They are working on bringing in a food co-op. It’s being led by the Old St. Louis Restoration Group in partnership with University of Missouri Extension office.”
An oasis is also in sight in a food desert in St. Louis County in an area that will get its first new supermarket in recent memory.
“Up by St. Charles Rock Road and Pagedale; that little pocket – they are getting a grocery store this summer. It’s going to fill a huge gap in food in the Pagedale community,” Kelly said.
A deal put together by Beyond Housing (which serves the needs of low-income families) made the 17,000 square foot Save-A-Lot store a reality. They broke ground last November and the store is slated to open in July.
SLU is evaluating food deserts and is involved in planning for improvements to the neighborhoods to affect health outcomes. Kelly said they are also working closely with other organizations on developing a Food Policy Council.
“The Food Policy Council it not just going to address the access issue. It will go at it at all different angles – bringing local produce in schools; bringing grocery stores into neighborhoods or into healthy corner stores; working with subsidies for farmers that produce more to bring it into the city; waste recycling and using more of the composting; working on land use issues so that we can do more gardens – community gardens for folks,” Kelly described.
Obesity has its role in areas that lack grocery stores. Unlike underdeveloped countries, where vivid images of thin, swollen-bellied, malnourished children who live in poverty due to lack of food can be found – in the U.S., malnourished people also take the form of being severely overweight and obese. There are things to eat in low-income communities, but it’s too much of the high fat, high-calorie food. Saint Louis University Registered Dietician Lori Jones says it is the “obesity paradox.”
“Part of that is wrapped up in when you are trying to stretch those limited dollars and you go to the grocery store and you are looking for food choices that help you stretch your dollars, the cheapest foods are usually those that are the most unhealthy for us,” Jones said. “Couple that with living in an area where you can’t be physically active or safely walk your streets or play outside – you’ve got a recipe for overweight or obesity.
Poor eating habits take its toll on overall health.
“Not only are they eating poorly because of the selection, but they are putting themselves at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancers, stroke – all those things,” Kelly said. “People on the outside looking in don’t understand that’s part of the issue.”
Kelly said working with neighborhood small mom-and-pop corner stores is one way to bring in fresh and healthier food selections in communities with limited options.
“A lot of those stores don’t provide healthy options because of simple cost measures, so they don’t think people will buy them or they don’t want to lose money on them,” Kelly said. “Getting your community together and talking to owners of corner stores or businesses in the community and say, ‘We’ll buy those. This is what we want.’ Advocate for yourself.”
At a bigger level, Kelly suggests talking to your alderperson if you are in the City or to your councilperson if you are in the County about bringing a full-fledged supermarket into your community.
Obesity is also a serious health concern for children and teenagers. The government estimates that 17 percent of children and adolescents ages 2-19 years are obese. An obese teenager has over a 70 percent greater risk of becoming an obese adult, and other risk factors for illness associated with weighing too much.
Source: 2007-2008 National Health & Nutrition Survey (NHANES)
