Holli B. Taylor
Eastern Michigan University
The Disparity Between Socioeconomic Status and Obesity
The purpose of this paper is to discuss one of the many health disparities that are common in the United States. Medlineplus defines a health disparity as health differences between groups (Medline, 2012), I will be discussing the correlation between ones socioeconomic status (SES) in relation to the prevalence of obesity. I will go into detail about the specific population being affected and how they are affected by obesity. I will discuss disease management including preventative measures and health promotion. I will discuss how the information used throughout this paper was obtained …show more content…
Obesity is not racist or biased; it will affect all individuals when given the opportunity. However obesity does seem to give preferential treatment to those of low SES. The predominate reasons for the increased prevalence in areas of low SES is lack of education, availability of healthy food choices, and cost and preparation time for healthy meals. There are many programs and policies that have been implemented to decrease to rate of obesity including legislative, state, and local policy and programs. The treatment for obesity is first and foremost prevention; if prevention has failed the next action is diet and activity modification as well as medical intervention. The problem of obesity confronts many actual and potential ethical dilemmas. As care providers we must ensure that we are caring for patients ethically and respectfully. The cost of obesity is wide stretch from the monetary cost of providing specialized care to the emotional impacts that obesity has on the individual. Obesity is a global problem but communities of low SES are the hardest hit. We must unite to battle this epidemic with an emphasis on aiding the low SES communities.
References
Braveman, P. (2012). Health inequalities by class and race in the US: What can we learn from the patterns?. Social Science & Medicine, 74(5), 665-667. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.009
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/
MedlinePlus. (2012). Health Disparities. Retrieved from www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
United States Department of Agriculture. (2010). Choose my Plate. Retrieved from www.choosemyplate.gov
Walsh, B. (2008, June 12). It’s Not Just Genetics. TIME. Retrieved from