Low income neighborhoods often lack an established and quality grocery store. Residents are limited to buying healthy foods due to little transportation services and the high costs of buying healthy foods. Refined grains, added sugars, and fats are generally inexpensive and readily available in low-income communities. For example, if a family of four were to stop by McDonalds for dinner, they can order four cheeseburgers for four dollars. If that same family were to buy a pound of strawberries from Walmart, it would cost them just as much. Now, a burger is going to fill up an individual more than a couple of strawberries for the night. By ordering the four cheeseburgers, the family is trying to maximize their calories per dollar in order to stave off hunger. A lot of people say that eating a lot of calories fills a person up longer. That statement is true and false. A burger is going to fill someone up more than a handful of almonds, but the nutrition, calorie, and fat content in the almonds will be healthier than the food ingredients in the burger. Besides the unhealthy choices, physical activity is another problem with low-income people. Lower income communities tend to have less recreational space. Without parks, green spaces, bike paths, and recreational facilities, getting the physical activity needed for the day can be challenging. Within some poor communities there are small parks to go play or hang out in, but the park may not be an attractive place to exercise due to little to no trees, trash scattered over the grass, and the playground graffiti. Professor Dr. Claude Bouchard is the Sr. Endowed Chair in Genetics and Nutrition. He is an expert in relating physical activity and obesity. He says, "Regular physical activity 45-60 min per day prevents unhealthy weight gain and obesity, whereas sedentary behaviors such as watching television promote them" (Bouchard). Dr. Bouchard's research is one of many that relate back to having an hour of physical activity each day will help people stay healthy.
