Weighing In On the Recession

Once viewed as a genetic problem, obesity has proven to be a much more complex health issue. A myriad of additional factors have been shown to play a role in whether a person is fat or slim, including metabolism, behavior, environment, culture, and socioeconomic status. Numerous studies have linked obesity and unhealthy eating habits to low incomes. Let’s face it—it’s difficult to eat right when your income doesn’t stretch far enough to buy quality foods. This leaves little choice but to opt for cheaper high-energy dense junk foods, such as chips, candies, pastries, and bakery items or the high in fat and calories low-priced menu choices at fast food chains.

In a 2007 study, University of Washington researchers found that calorie for calorie, junk food costs less than more nutritious fruits and vegetables. Based on the study, a 2,000 calorie a day diet consisting of junk food would cost about $3.52, compared to the $36.32 it would cost to buy 2,000 calories of fruits and vegetables.

The increased consumption of fast food and junk food, coupled with a more sedentary lifestyle, has undoubtedly contributed to the obesity epidemic America is now experiencing. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than one-third of U.S. adults and 16 percent of U.S. children are obese and, given the country’s failing economy, experts think it will only get worse. “People are going to economize and as they save money on food they will be eating more empty calories or foods high in sugar, saturated fats and refined grains, which are cheaper,” said Adam Drewnowski, the director of the Nutrition Sciences Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Obesity is a toxic result of a failing economic environment.”

Drewnowski’s own research has emphasized the link between income and obesity. “In Seattle, we have found that there are five-fold differences in obesity rates depending on the zip code—the low-income zip codes have a much higher proportion of obese people,” he said. For his 2007 study, more than 8,800 adults were surveyed in the 74 different Seattle area ZIP codes. The researchers then created a “poverty to wealth” scale by assigning property values, based on the median home asking price in each ZIP code. They found that for every $100,000 of property value that was added, the obesity rate decreased by 2 percent. In the worst areas, where the median home asking price ranged from a low of $10,000 to a high of $270,000, obesity ran 28-30 percent. At the upper end of the scale, in affluent Mercer Island, where the median home price averaged $1.5 million, the obesity rate dropped to a low 5 percent.

It’s likely that, as the recession unfolds and more people fall onto hard times and seek cheaper food, American’s waistlines will inflate further. “The reality is that when you are income constrained, the first area you try to address is having enough calories in your diet. And cheap sources of calories tend to be high in total fats and sugars,” said Eileen Kennedy, the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University outside Boston.

However, Drewnowski says it is possible to eat in an affordable and healthy way, partly by relying on the basic foods that saw the country through the 1930s Depression. He calls it “a diet for a new Depression” and says “the answer lies in affordable but nutrient-rich foods such as ground beef, beans, milk, nuts, cheese, carrots, potatoes, canned tomatoes, soups, and rice,”