In my previous post on issues in public health in New York City I discussed the prevalence of obesity in New York City. 34% of New Yorkers are considered overweight and 22% are considered obese. Obesity and overweight are the second leading cause of death among Americans. The number of New York adults who are overweight or obese increased from 42% in 1997 to 61.3% in 2013.
We first have to discover the cause of the issue in order to determine an effective solution. These is a lot of debate over what causes obesity. The general consensus seems to be that diet must be the first thing to addressed prior to exercise. Therefore, my solution proposal will focus on diet.
New York is already making efforts in educated the public on this issue with advertisements that inform the public of the dangers of sugary drinks as seen below.
This is a good place to start in educated the New York City public. The MTA serves a population of 15.1 million people within New York City and Long Island. Therefore these advertisements reach a large audience. To improve these advertisements, I suggest the MTA provide information on other bad diet habits.
We have to make it easier for New Yorkers to make better eating choices. For example if healthy food was cheaper than unhealthy food, people would be more motivated to eat healthy, especially people with low incomes. A Harvard study found it is $1.50 more expensive to eat a healthy diet rather than unhealthy diet. The study found that 1000kcal of healthy food costs about $12 dollars while 1000kcal of unhealthy food costs about $4.
My proposed solution are urban farms which grow and sell fresh local produce at a low cost. Obesity larger affects racial minorities. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, non-Hispanic blacks have the highest rate of obesity at 47.8%, followed by Hispanics at 42.5%. Among non-Hispanic whites the obesity rate is 32.6%. Among non-Hispanics Asians the rate is 10.8%. Will Allen recognized this pattern and decided to open several farms across the nation. He argues “…tilling the land to grow healthy foods is one way to combat the obesity problem among African Americans, and he hopes to inspire more people to trade in their designer garb and corner offices for overalls and a plot of land to grow fresh produce in urban areas.”
This is a unique and innovative way to battle obesity in urban areas while also created jobs.
https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/obesity/
