December 2012 Question 2
Explain, in your opinion, why household food insecurity without hunger would be more attributed to obesity in children than either food insecurity with hunger or food security.
posted by Emily @ 11:39 AM
13 comments
13 Comments:
Household food insecurity without hunger could be attributed to obesity in children due to the pressures of feeding the whole household. If the parent or guardian is able to afford food at any given time they will encourage and maybe even force the children to eat when they are not hungry. This in affect would develop patterns of eating without hunger cues and simply because food is available. Also, from the child's point of view they may eat without hunger cues simply because they don't know when their next meal will be. This kind of cycle or pattern is detrimental to healthy eating and fosters obesity. When you ignore you eat when not hungry and ignore hunger cues when, you are disrupting the healthy normal cycles of the human body. Going against the force of nature such as hunger can only be detrimental to a growing mind and body.
As the article states, food insecurity without hunger does not necessarily have to do with the quantity of food available, but the quality of food. If nutrient-dense foods are not available, including protein and fiber-rich foods, children may never feel full and will continue to eat refined carbohydrate foods that don't contribute to satiety.
Food insecurity without hunger would lead to obesity more likely than food insecurity with hunger or food secure families for several reasons. The first is that food insecure with hunger are most likely lacking enough food and therefore simply lack enough calories to become obese. Food secure families may be eating a more balanced meal and with no fear of needed to "eat for the week" would most likely eat until they are full and then stop. Also, families that are food secure are more likely to have enough money to live more comfortably and are more likely to have more education which has been shown to reduce the rate of obesity. However, in food insecure without hunger these families are eating high calorie foods, most likely in excess, which leads to too many calories. Having this mess with hormones and other cues for eating these families may overeat on high processed high calorie foods and lead to obesity at a greater rate than the other types of families.
Alana makes a good point and is kind of the point I was trying to make with my comment. Since the kids don't have the right nutrients present in the food (ie. pro/fiber) they mess with their bodies ability to regulate food intake. These are the families that I think could benefit from education on how certain health foods can be equally cheap and provide nutrition but often take more work to prepare which these families usually are not willing or unable to do.
Food insecurity without hunger means that there is enough food but not nutrient-dense food. The reason parents don't often choose nutrient-dense foods can be attributed to a couple of things. One is that they lack the knowledge/education about making healthy food choices. Even if they do know what the healthy choices are, many are on a tight budget and need to make the food dollars stretch. This leads to a more constant intake of unhealthy foods whereas the food insecure with hunger would be limited in caloric intake (but still at risk of obesity for other reasons). The food secure are typically more educated and financially stable so the purchase of healthy foods is not an issue.
Food insecurity without hunger could be more attributed to obesity in children due to the fact that food quality suffers more than the quantity aspect, as the definition states. The absence of vitamins, minerals, whole grains, and the overall consumption of low satiety foods can lead to health issues and patterns of overeating. Not having a structure of meal times and variety of nutritious foods combined with the high level of consumption of highly processed, high fat, high calorie foods could be a larger contributor to obesity than food insecurity with hunger or food security.
I think people go for the quick fix and purchase the cheap, energy dense, nutrient poor foods. I think it all goes back to the misperception that healthy foods are expensive, that the essentials do not include fruits and vegetables and that there is a lack of knowledge of what is nutritious. Food insecurity with hunger implies the child is not receiving enough food/energy. Food security may imply more education and more knowledge of nutrition and more funds to purchase healthy foods.
Molly brings up a good point when she discussed the lack of listening to the body's hunger cues, especially eating when not hungry. Not allowing your body to dictate when meals should take place, either ignoring hunger or satiety, can lead to unhealthy eating habits.
You all have some great points above. I have been reading up on this topic and have found that it is not only what people are putting into their bodies that matters but also what their bodies do with that food. In many cases the parents may go through periods of famine because food is scarce. Because of the reduction in calories the body then converts to work on those allotted amounts. When food become plentiful again they eat the same amount of calories that was normal for them prior to the famine. The build up and cycle of starvation and over eating can wear a body down and wreck havoc on their metabolism. Another factor is the stress many who go through food insecurity without hunger go through, stress. It has been said that stress can also go against a healthy diet and exercise regimen due to it's devastating effects. Stress in essence tells our body to eat more and instructs our bodies to store extra abdominal fat as well.
Food insecurity with hunger would lead me to believe that there is simply not enough food at times. It's hard to be overweight if you don't have access to food. On the other hand, those that are food insecure without hunger probably have access to the inexpensive, refined foods many have mentioned. These foods do not provide the satiety or nutrition that individuals need and lead to overeating.
We all are saying the same thing, food is available for those that have food insecurity but do not have hunger, it is just the overly processed, energy dense and nutrient poor foods.
Households that are food secure do not need to worry about where their meals are coming from, and therefore don't feel a need to stock up on cheap, high calories foods. Households with hunger have to eat what they can, when they can and often go without foods, so they don't meet their calorie needs. Those households without hunger are most likely buying the cheapest, least nutritionally beneficial foods to have at home.
This question is pretty simple and has been answered from almost every angle. Food insecurity without hunger is more apt to produce obesity than food insecurity with hunger because there isn't hunger, it's that simple. If there is hunger, there is a calorie deficity, and that mathematically should not produce obesity. As we addressed in question 1, food insecure people without hunger typically consume high kcal, low-nutrient dense foods. Which leads into why food insecurity without hunger is more likely to produce obesity than food security--those that are food secure typically consume more nutrient-dense foods than those that are food insecure without hunger, and a lower number of kcal. The PERCEPTION is that "healthy" food is more expensive and that it actually costs more money to be thin in this country than it does to be obese.
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