The Access to Healthy Food in the Household
More than 1 in 5 American kids are obese.
Childhood obesity is becoming more common, despite schools playing an important role in providing nutritious meals. Without intervention, studies have shown that childhood obesity will likely carry into adulthood.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “For children and adolescents aged 2–19 years in 2017–2021, the prevalence of obesity was 19.7% and affected about 14.7 million children and adolescents.”
The increased price of food has led more families to look for alternatives like food stamps, food banks, and food pantries.
Dutchess Outreach has a popular food pantry that provides free groceries for the entire household. Last year, the food pantry provided more than 87,000 meals to 9,342 people in Dutchess County, including more than 3,000 children. The food pantry gets some federal funding but obtains most of their food through donations from places like churches, school food drives, or supermarkets.
According to Delia Vazquez, a case worker at Dutchess Outreach, “Inflation and food prices have gone up so high that people are just not buying food and it gets donated to us, which is great because it won’t go to waste.” Everyone is welcome when shopping at the food pantry but there are limits on certain items.
The most requested items in the food pantry are meats, fresh produce, and toiletries. The food pantry not only supplies food like dairy products and canned goods but baby items as well. “We carry diapers, baby formula, children’s clothing, and baby food which is in high demand,” said Vazquez.
The food pantry encourages healthier food options through a chart and star system. There is a chart displaying what the stars mean and every item in the pantry is labeled with a star. “A yellow star means the food has good fiber, a pink star means the food is good for your heart, and a white star means there are no added sugars,” said Vazquez.
With the growing demand for food, the goal of the food pantry at Dutchess Outreach is to simply serve the local residents so families don’t go without.
“We are always looking for donations and need more volunteers so just think of Dutchess Outreach and the work that we do,” said Vazquez.
Some factors that cause obesity include genetics, influences in childhood, poor diets, and little physical activity. Between the pandemic and inflation, food has been getting more expensive. These soaring prices have taken a toll especially on lower income families making it harder to provide regular healthy meals. Junk food is the cheaper option but at the cost of one’s health.
Many schools have access to federal school meal programs like the National Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program. All meals provided must meet specific nutritional requirements including fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and milk. In addition, for children not getting meals outside of school there are programs like the National School Lunch Program’s After school Snack Service and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Schools are helping to combat childhood obesity by giving a good amount of time for breakfast and lunch as well as physical activity such as gym and recess.
