What if I told you there was an epidemic killing off the equivalent of the population of Pittsburgh every year? \u00a0This epidemic affects poor and minority communities at a disproportionate rate, particularly children. \u00a0The odd fact about this epidemic is that, unlike other diseases, it is entirely preventable. \u00a0Yet the government has taken relatively little action in addressing it even as myriad Americans suffer physically and financially crippling injuries or death as a direct result of the condition. \u00a0The epidemic I am describing is the obesity epidemic and it is time that our society took substantive action in addressing it. \u00a0The scourge of childhood obesity is particularly egregious because it is both the most devastating form of obesity and the most preventable. \u00a0 It represents a matter of civil rights that our society ought address.<\/p>\n
Childhood obesity is probably not the first scourge in society that comes to mind under the banner of civil rights. \u00a0One could make the argument that although childhood obesity vastly increases the chances of an early death<\/a>, this alone does not make it any more of a civil rights issue than any other condition. \u00a0Yet the unique effects and disparate impact of obesity render it a civil rights issue. \u00a0The medical consequences of childhood obesity are severe and can present a devastating handicap for children throughout their lives. \u00a0It often results in depression, stigma, and outright discrimination<\/a>. \u00a0Additionally, the spread of childhood obesity is largely tied to class, as those children living in lower income communities are far more likely to suffer from obesity. Unfortunately, since children in minority communities are three times more likely to grow up in poverty, they are likely to\u00a0grow up in these food deserts.<\/a>\u00a0 As a result, they\u00a0disproportionately bear<\/a>\u00a0the costs of childhood obesity.<\/p>\n Some may counter that obesity is a\u00a0choice and not a disease<\/a>. \u00a0While the science appears to be\u00a0turning soundly against<\/a>\u00a0this superficial viewpoint, this frame could not possibly apply to children anyway. \u00a0Children do not choose where they are born or what resources they have access to. \u00a0They are dependent on their parents to provide them with food and guidance as to what constitutes good nutrition. \u00a0In impoverished areas in which parents often have to work several jobs just to make ends meet, there is little time to cook nutritious meals and far too little money to afford nutritious foods. \u00a0As a result of this situation, parents turn to fast food or whatever they can find in the local supermarket (which is often not all that nutritious due to the food desert effect). \u00a0Meanwhile, it is incredibly difficult to escape from childhood obesity. \u00a0Children that become obese are\u00a0likely to remain obese<\/a>\u00a0throughout the rest of their lives. \u00a0Hence, when these children suffer from obesity as a result of these conditions, it is far from a choice. \u00a0Rather, they are bound by the shackles of poverty into a peril they neither created nor deserve.\u00a0 \u00a0Hence, childhood obesity is a civil rights issue because of the harms it wreaks upon blameless children and because of its disparate impact upon low income and minority communities.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the government can make great strides in ending this epidemic before it devours another generation. \u00a0A good place to start would be school lunches. \u00a0One of the main places where children growing up in poverty should be able to count on attaining \u00a0a nutritional meal is at school. \u00a0In fact, many children are dependent upon these meals for their nutritional wellbeing.<\/a>\u00a0 Schools that offer more nutritional lunches have healthier students<\/a>. \u00a0Too many schools, however, offer subpar nutritional options to students and thus deprive them of a what could be a significant source of nutrition. \u00a0By improving the quality of school lunches, the government could help curb the spread of childhood obesity. \u00a0Additionally, the provision of breakfasts at schools should be expanded for the same reason – to allow children another nutritional meal at a low price.<\/p>\n