Our health is closely related to our life. Whether we eat or live in, it can affect our health. However, few people know that our social status is also strongly related to our health. While I was making the SNAP Food Challenge, I found myself by $11.00 to cover the weekend meal, even including the dinner on a Friday. I knew from the beginning that it was an impossible task, but I tried. When I was trying, I realized that it was impossible for me to eat healthily. Because if I want to eat healthily. You have to go to the supermarket and buy any fresh ingredients, and you need to cook it at home. In another way, I can eat healthy sandwiches. But I found out that getting a sandwich, it needs to cost $3. So the most likely way to get full is to eat fast food. But fast food is an unwise choice. Because it’s not a healthy choice. So health and food are closely related. In this challenge, I found that people with low-income are more likely to be obese. It is also possible that their mental stress is so great that they become unhealthy.
For people who are low income, they have no choice, because they can’t get healthy food by their low income. In the article I read, ” Socioeconomic status is the most powerful predictor of diseases, disorder and injury, and mortality we have,” says Tom Boyce, MD, Chief of UCSF’s Division of Developmental Medicine within the Department of Pediatrics. So people who are low incomes have no less stressed than others. Especially women, for them, they need additional time to work, they need to maintain a certain income. They need to take care of their families or themselves. They need to pay for the food and housing, they have to pay any other kind of expenses, it must be taken out of her wages. Especially now there are many single mothers, they need to work harder. Because of any payment need to pay. it casing any these pressures come from different sources, and a lot of women get depressed. In fact, there have 1 In 8 women experience depression In their time life. Besides, they don’t have extra time for any other activities except going to work. Even if they have a little time, they may choose to rest at home. Because usually go to work is already too tired for them. After all, it’s a waste of time and money to go somewhere else to relax. For low-income women, they have to spend more time to work, then they can both to survive and to take care of their loved ones.
Therefore the government is slowly changing this situation. Now they provide some fund for low-income people. They can eat more healthy, and having more healthy options instead of cheap, time-saving fast food. Moreover, when I was doing the Walking Assessment, I found that the environment for people live in is also closely related to health. From the same article, “The same socioeconomic status: Two. To three times fewer supermarkets with fresh produce, two to three times more fast-food outlets three times more likely to lack outdoor recreational facilities “. As a result, low-income people are able to eat fast food in a more convenient way. But it’s also an option for what they want to eat outside. It’s cheaper, after all. However, where they live there don’t have that much opportunity for them to exercise. They don’t want to waste time to go to a specific place to exercise. So the government can begin to get a little change by the living environment.
Reference
Cooper, J., K., Cooper, & J., K. (2010, October 20). Segregation Sickness. Retrieved from https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-241515051/segregation-sickness
Conway, C. (2016, January 06). Poor Health: When Poverty Becomes Disease. Retrieved from https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2016/01/401251/poor-health
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