The Link Between Poverty and Obesity

With the rising obesity epidemic, many researchers have turned their attention to who obese people are. From their research, we can draw a few conclusions. In a general, people living in poverty are more prone to obesity than their financially better off counterparts. However, gender, ethnicity and education also play a significant role. Socioeconomic status can predict obesity in women, but cannot reliably predict obesity in children or men. Female children follow more of a predictable track with obesity than male children. (National Institute of Health) This is because there is no significant difference in men with obesity across the various socioeconomic statuses. Ethnicity also plays a significant difference in obesity rates, with minorities having higher rates of obesity. And people with a college degree are less likely to become obese than people with a high school diploma or less.

Even with these factors in place, there’s still a general trend of higher obesity rates existing in poor communities. Why? It’s because low-income communities are more