Barriers To Healthy Eating

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Running Head: BARRIERS TO HEALTHY EATING Literature Review Assignment 1 - Problem Formation Barriers to Healthy Eating in Poor Neighborhoods Introduction Identifying and collapsing barriers to healthy eating in poor neighborhoods in America have been the focus of many social reformers. The Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2009) reported in 2009 that 23% of respondents who earned less than 15,000 a year consumed fresh fruits and vegetables more than 5 times a day. Some researchers have found that there are racial disparities in this statistic, while others conclude this problem is economically motivated. This review of the literature provides some insight into the inequalities of accessibility, availability and affordability of healthy food choices and how it contributes to the increasing health disparities in a particular population, whether racial or social economic status (SES). Problem Overview Food insecurity is limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (Anderson, 1990). Food insecurities in the U.S are determined in part by access to food because it establishes the cost of food in low income neighborhoods (Rose, 2010). In situations where access to healthy foods are present, food securities still remain as the available supply of food is not affordable to low income families. Rose (2009) explains that costs involved in attaining healthy foods also include the price of transportation to and from grocery stores that offer adequate sustenance. Lack of fresh produce in stores that are close to low income neighborhoods affect the food choices residents make. Brown et al. (2008) found that living in a poor neighborhood is associated with poor access to healthy foods. They examined neighborhood food resource environments and self

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