Food Disparities between Classes - Essay Example

Food Disparities between es One of the most evidentfeatures of the society that we live in today is that it is unequal. This is simply because we are a capitalistic society rather than a Marxist one. Inequality exists in terms of races, genders, social classes, cultures, economy and even food. World history tells us that this feature of inequality is not new and has been existent throughout man’s existence. For example, the Vedas, a Hindu religious book tells us about the different classes of division of people. Even in the Western society we have had feudal lords and merchants as a part of the hierarchical division. Nutritional disparity is largely dependent on the economical status not only of an individual but also of different countries as well. Nutritional disparity is primarily important since it has a direct effect on the health and nutrition of the society. The richer classes who have more money in hand therefore have more food choices available to them while the poorer classes have lesser choice and thus nutritional disparity sets leading to health problems especially among the poorer classes. The case is also the same in countries where several food options are available compared to others in which such options are limited. Thus, social disparity leads to nutritional gap which subsequently results in problems with health and well being. In the present economy, the rich have more money to spare while to poorer live under constrained conditions. This gap in the economic conditions also has an immediate effect on the eating habits of the people. According to a study conducted by researchers in Harvard who studied the eating habits of 29,000 Americans in the last decade, the quality and the quantity of the diet consumed by those who are of higher socioeconomic classes improved over this period whereas that of the poorer sections reduced (Weiss, 2014). The Poor and the Rich It is well known that eating habits of people is dependent on his socioeconomic status, level of education and income since the diet of a person is directly related to diet costing. The richer populations, i.e. the population who have more money to spare on food and have the ability to invest the money on good food are given the power to select their diet. They are in fact spoilt for choices because of this economical advantage. They can purchase nutritional food and even healthy foods including the more costly organic ones. They can also afford to purchase different kinds of proteins for their diet and wide array of vegetables along with other healthy food products. Being wealthy, they can select among wide choices of restaurants that serve delicacies from around the world and also ensure nutrition as well. The main focus of such people is quality rather than quantity. But, in stark comparison to this people hailing from lower economic groups have limited food budget and have less money to spare for their everyday food. Within the set budget, the poor classes try and accommodate more food. In order to do this they focus on high calorie foods such as burgers, cheese etc which fill the stomach and are not heavy on the pockets either. They primarily do not purchase much green vegetables, healthy products and lean meat options simply because they do not have enough money to do so. The poorer people barely have the choice of restaurants and depend largely on shops such as Burger King or McDonalds that serve fast food with high calorific value. For such people, the main focus remains on the quantity of food rather than the quality of the food consumed. Here, I would like to also highlight the fact that in poor countries, which have low GDP and most of the population belong to lower economic backgrounds, gender inequality is present even in distribution of food. That is not only the poorer households have less nutritious food but majority of the food is given to the male of the household while the women and the girls are given lesser amounts of food. However, such gender inequality at the intra-household level is less persistent in the U.S. Lower Food Choice and Nutrition Economic position has a direct affect not only on the dietary choice of a person but also on the nutritional availability. Studies have shown a direct relation between income of a household and persistence of different nutrients in the body where higher income groups showed more nutrient in the blood stream compared to those who hailed from lower income backgrounds (Ricciuto and Tarasuk, 2007, 186). Lower income groups suffer from the problem of food insecurity. Owing to the lack of intake of vegetables or nutritious food products such as dairy products, the bodies of people from the lower income groups do not have adequate nutrients such as fiber, potassium, calcium etc. The nutritional disadvantage had severe implications of the health of the economically and nutritionally disadvantaged groups. Food Choice and Health Health and well being is the prime focus today where advances in medicine and food technologies are being made to ensure better health and better quality of life. However, since food has serious implications on one’s health it is well understood that those groups which have less number of food choices to select from tend to suffer from more health problems right from the childhood. This makes childhood poverty a major concern since this affects development of the childhood over the years. Casey et al, conducted a study on children from different economic backgrounds in the U.S. and found that children from lower income households had higher percentage of obese children who consumes lesser amounts of nutritious food such as vegetables and fruits. These children showed lesser amount of micronutrient and macronutrient or carbohydrates compared to children hailing from food sufficient households but showed high levels of cholesterol (Casey et al, 2001, p.508). In fact obesity is one of the most prevalent problems of people coming from lower income groups since they tend to indulge in eating high calorie food and intake high cholesterol. Poor people who do not have the ability to consume good food suffer from other diseases related to nutrition. Owing to lack of nutrition, individuals from these groups become more susceptible to diseases since their immune system loses its ability to fight against diseases and diseases causing pathogens. According to a study conducted in North Carolina on Americans hailing from different socio-economic backgrounds, those with poor diet were either already ill or had high risks of developing chronic illnesses especially heart problems (Gaskins et al, 2007, p.124). The richer sections have higher ability to fight diseases Support for The Poor The American government recognizes the affect that food choices have on the public health and also the need to contain the disparity in nutrition. Several support programs exists today that focus on nutritional assistance that help the poor purchase nutritious food. However, even today owing to lack of education the incentive is spent by most on junk food rather than nutritious food. Conclusion The growing disparity between the classes has serious implications on the food choices of the classes which subsequently affect their health and well being. The poorer sections of the society suffer from several diet related problems and diseases. The overall food choices also show that the nutritional value of the lower classes is not healthy at all. The prime focus of the U.S. government needs to be educating the masses about the need for nutrition and lend support to purchase only healthy foods rather than junk food. It is true that ours is a capitalistic society but it is also a humanistic one. I am not saying that equality can be achieved but nutritional disparity can be reduced to ensure a better health for the country as a whole. REFERENCES Casey, P.H. et al. “Children in food-insufficient, low-income families: prevalence, health, and nutrition status.”Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 155 (4), p.508-514. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11296080 on 13 October, 2014. Gaskins, N.D. et al. “Poor nutritional habits: a modifiable predecessor of chronic illness? A North Carolina Family Medicine Research Network (NC-FM-RN) study.”Journal of American Board of Family Medicine, 20 (2), 124-34.Retrived from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17341748 on 13 October, 2014. Ricciuto,L.E. and Tarasuk, V.S. “An examination of income-related disparities in the nutritional quality of food selections among Canadian households from 1986-2001.” Social Science and Medicine, 64 (1), 186-198.Retrived from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17030372 on 14 october, 2014. Weiss, D. “Food Gap Between Rich and Poor is Widening.” Liberty Voice, 2014. Retrieved from http://guardianlv.com/2014/09/food-gap-between-rich-and-poor-is-widening/ on 14 October, 2014. Read More