A Growing Challenge: Environmental Links Between Impoverished African-Americans and Obesity (2012)

Undergraduate: Asia-La'Rae Walker

Faculty Advisor: Fatimah Jackson
Department: African, African American & Diaspora Studies

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The United States obesity epidemic is a progressive problem that is higly prevalent among the African American demographic. More specifically, areas containing a high concentration of impoverished African Americans endure tremendous diagnosed obesity. In examining the amount of clinically diagnosed obesity, there has been an established correlation between it and the soaring elevation of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which African-Americans are predisposition to. The purpose of this research is to focus on the social and environmental factors within and surrounding African American impoverished neighborhoods that have contributed to the significant rise of obesity. Despite the extensive literature that addressed poverty’s relationship to the obesity, information seldomly gives consideration to the social history of African- Americans subjection to poverty in explaining prevailing health issues within this demographic. The heavy concentration of African Americans living in segregated impoverished communites are prone to inaccessible and unaffordable low-energy dense food, ineffective physical activity places, and lack safety and security in their neighborhoods. Findings from this research are critical to help improve this social inequality and will be instrumental in implementing programs that address this social dynamic disparity.