Obesity In East Harlem Compared To The Upper East Side

Obesity In East Harlem Compared To The Upper East Side

There is another face now visible among those living in poverty: obesity.

Contrary to popular belief, obesity is not a sign of affluence, but rather an indicator of poverty, as the study, "Hunger and Obesity in East Harlem" by J.C. Dwyer makes clear. The other report released by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger in September, Dwyer compares conditions between East Harlem and the Upper East Side, two neighborhoods divided by 96th Street that provide a stark contrast, representing the highest and lowest figures in poverty and obesity.

In East Harlem, 38 percent of children are born into poverty; on the Upper East Side, just five percent. East Harlem has the highest incidence of obesity and diabetes in the City; the Upper East Side has the lowest.

Dwyer outlines the link between obesity and hunger clearly and simply: it is about choice and control. People who have more choices and more control over what they consume have lower obesity and poverty rates and healthier eating.

The Upper East Side has more supermarkets which afford residents more nutritious choices. East Harlem has more bodegas, fast food restaurants, and emergency food programs.

Emergency food programs themselves can be part of the problem, dependent as they often are on donations from food banks. Many food banks receive corporate products that failed their target marketing and are not selling--a new line of crackers perhaps. They may be plentiful, but not necessarily nutritious.

Dwyer makes the point that even the large funders contribute to the problem, concerned as they are with short term solutions like funding food pantries, but doing little to ensure that nutritious foods are offered in these programs. "Funders are still stuck in the emergency food mentality," said Dwyer. "But a lot of people aren¹t relying on the pantries and soup kitchens for emergency food only. This is about long-term hunger."

And the cash strapped food pantries, some existing on a budget as low as $17,400 a year, cannot afford to purchase more expensive nutritious items like produce. Bodega owners, too, are often caught in the market forces that make it impossible for them to offer affordable fresh produce.