Most obese cities/metro areas released

[southernlady]

My current state (North Carolina) isn't on the list, thankfully and neither is Tennessee.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/161717/boulder-remains-least-obese-metro-area.aspx

 

[Elizabeth N.]

This poll, linked in the article above, is worthy of its own highlight: http://www.gallup.com/poll/143696/Health-Disparities-Across-Incomes-Wide-Ranging.aspx

I had never heard of an urban food desert until I moved to New Jersey. My first personal experience with the lack of a grocery store far and wide came during a conference in Dallas, TX. I had flown into the city, was not about to spend money on a cab to go get some groceries, and what passed for public transit was unnavigable by a stranger to the area--and I had just spent eight years in Germany, using public transit to go everywhere, as far away as Austria, Switzerland and what was then Yugoslavia.

When I got back to NJ, I started looking around when I went to places like Camden and Philadelphia, wondering how on earth people got groceries if they didn't have cars. I discovered the bodega. These corner stores are not exactly sources of good basic food, shall we say gently, and the prices are outrageous.

I had no idea that a hungry person could also be fat. Guess what? Happens all the time in these areas. It's a travesty.

 

[southernlady]

Interesting article, EN...I know growing up with a single (divorced) parent who often did not have money for food, we ate a LOT of rice and potatoes (both cheap foods).

Thankfully we aren't in an urban food desert here. We have a couple of decent grocery stores within a 5 mile radius. And even an IGA in walking distance. Prices are high compared to other places but not unreasonably high. For those that don't know, an IGA is the Independent Grocery Alliance. Basically mom/pop type grocery stores that banded together to help with costs.