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Food
Published in John C. Ayers, Sustainability, 2017
Many Americans find it difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Our country is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, with 72% of men and 64% of women either overweight or obese (USDA 2011). This has caused the proportion of Americans with diet-related chronic diseases to increase to 37% with cardiovascular disease, 16% with high total blood cholesterol, 11% with diabetes, and 34% with hypertension (USDA 2011). Part of the problem is that we eat too much, and another part is that we eat unhealthy food. Americans eat too much because we often have a surplus of food, and because like most animals we are genetically predisposed to eat food when it is available so that we won’t starve when it’s not. We eat unhealthy food because it is often more convenient and less expensive due to perverse subsidies, but also because evolution wired our brains to tell us to eat calorie-rich food whenever it is available because food was scarce (Pollan 2007). Today we often have the choice to eat calorie-rich foods, and our genes make us prefer them, so we eat too much of them. For example, since 1970 the average number of calories from sweeteners in the American diet has increased 30% (Woolf et al. 2007). Most Americans need to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and less meat, processed foods, and sugar (USDA 2011).
Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: An Overview of the Clinical Outcomes and Evidence-Based Archive
Published in Bhaskar Mazumder, Subhabrata Ray, Paulami Pal, Yashwant Pathak, Nanotechnology, 2019
Manjir Sarma Kataki, Ananya Rajkumari, Bibhuti Bhusan Kakoti
Physical inactivity and excess intake of foods rich in sugar and fat are the main culprits for the obesity epidemic. Obesity further contributes to various lifestyle diseases including diabetes, hypertension, other CVDs, and osteoporosis. Many other diseases are also found to be linked with obesity. The prevention of obesity is therefore a must for a healthy lifestyle. But dealing with obesity is not easy; curbing obesity needs many diverse configurations which include increasing physical activity, reducing excess calorie intake, reducing foods high in sugar and fats, and many other social and environmental changes. Making these lifestyle changes is the only way to prevent or reduce obesity effectively (Bellisle et al., 1988).
An Assessment of the Food Retail Environment in Counties with High Obesity Rates in Mississippi
Published in Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 2021
Linlin Fan, Elizabeth Canales, Brent Fountain, David Buys
In order to combat the obesity epidemic, various local, state, and federal policy initiatives have been undertaken to increase the consumption of healthy foods, limit the purchase of unhealthy foods, and promote physical activity among Americans.9–11 One example of such effort is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) High Obesity Program (HOP).12 This 5-year program funds land-grant universities to use Extension services to expand access to healthy foods and safe places for physical activity in counties with an adult obesity rate of over 40%. Mississippi State University (MSU) is one of the grantees tasked with implementing evidence-based coalition-led strategies to increase access and consumption of healthy foods and physical activity. The MSU HOP project, Advancing, Inspiring, Motivating for Community Health through Extension (AIM for CHangE), is structured to engage community members and empower them to be change leaders in their communities, while also providing them with financial resources for community-supported projects. To achieve this goal, this paper assesses the current food retail environment in counties with high obesity rates in Mississippi. Our evaluation of local food access and affordability aims to inform strategies that facilitate healthy food purchase and consumption in Mississippi.