Students at the Starbucks located in the University Memorial Center (Courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder)
This piece is from the CU Independent’s opinion section. Any opinions or views do not represent the CU Independent.
As Beyoncé once said, “America has a problem.” She was probably referring to racism, but in this piece, I’m referring to obesity.
This country has had a growing problem with obesity in recent decades; according to the Center for Disease Control, 40.3% of American adults over the age of 20 are obsese. If obesity has been linked to issues like hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes and strokes, then why is there little outreach to find solutions to this epidemic?
The answer is the same as always: money. There are so many businesses that thrive off the suffering of the people affected by the obesity epidemic. Corn lobbyists make money selling their corn products like high fructose corn syrup and aspartame. Some say that pharmaceutical companies want Americans to have diabetes, as they’d have to pay for insulin and painkillers.
The obesity epidemic also contributes to a class divide. Oftentimes, underprivileged communities are in food deserts. Food deserts are characterized by poor access to healthy and affordable foods. Healthier food options, such as places like Whole Foods and farmers markets, are often placed in areas that are wealthier for profit purposes. That said, even if they were placed in underdeveloped areas, they wouldn’t last long; stores like those are typically expensive.
It becomes more difficult for people in lower income communities to get healthier food options when these places are located far away. In the US, it is rare that there are adequate bus routes or train routes, and when there are, they may be dangerous or inconvenient. This furthers the class divide because it makes it much easier for the wealthy to eat healthier than those who do not have those same food options.
According to the New York Times, “The median family income of a student from Colorado is $133,700 and 59% come from the top 20 percent.”
Furthermore, Boulder has one of the lowest obesity rates in the country: 12.4%.
“There is actually no one reason (for obesity), but I can say that it is a complex interplay between genetics, our environment, behavior and our society,” said Mary McQueen, the medical manager at the University of Colorado Boulder’s medical clinic.
Some of these reasons may be that wealthier communities have access to healthier, more expensive food options, their towns are more walkable and they encourage health throughout their neighborhoods.
The CU Boulder community is a perfect example of that: we have many healthy food options on and off campus, and Boulder is very walkable.
Obesity is a growing problem in this country, as well as a class issue – it can be seen before our very eyes if you compare the way health is thought of at a place like CU Boulder compared to a lot of our hometowns, especially from smaller or less privileged communities.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Grace Moore at grace.moore@colorado.edu.
