It seems like Haiti is on everyone’s hearts and minds at the moment. Such events reach us at a level where we change behavior. I doubt that many of the people texting donations to the Red Cross had never sent a non-personal text message before; I wonder how many had never previously sent a text message. I know a six-year-old child who was doing extra chores to earn money to give to his school’s fundraiser. Big events impact our thinking and our priorities. In these cases, we are driven by compassion and concern. Sometimes it takes big events to break us out of focusing only on our own concerns and daily stressors.

Has Haiti been on your heart or mind? Have you done anything differently as a result? Has the Haitian earthquake changed your eating habits?
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While DietsInReview.com’s primary focus is weight loss, disease prevention and overall health and wellness, we are switching our focal point to discuss the other end of the health spectrum – poverty and malnutrition - two hand-in-hand health issues that affect more than 80 percent of the citizens of Haiti, the small island that was wrecked by a massive earthquake this past Tuesday.

As tens of thousands are feared dead and international humanitarian efforts are underway, it is important to consider just how serious this disaster is for the nine million citizens of this impoverished country. And in order to do that, a glimpse into the health challenges that Haiti faces can provide a subtle background into just how dire the situation is and how serious it may become in the coming days, weeks and months.

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It’s no longer news that the United States is nearing an obesity epidemic. But did you know that women are at a much greater risk than men for becoming overweight? In fact, according to a recent study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women in the United States increased their caloric intake by 22% (and men by 7%) in the 30 years between 1971 and 2000.

Obesity Rates Versus Socioeconomic Status in Women

Did you also know that women who have a lower socioeconomic status are 50 percent more likely to be obese than those women who belong to a higher income bracket? In many countries, especially developing countries, the trend is just opposite. Extra pounds are a sign of opulence, whereas thin figures are an indication of being poor. And this makes sense, right? If you don’t have money, you can’t put food on the table and your waistline inevitably shrinks.
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People in poverty or in the lower income brackets get the short end of the stick in so many ways. Besides living in neighborhoods that are infested with crime and drugs, it’s hard to afford things like health care and nutritious food.

The health care part is pretty obvious, especially for anyone remotely aware of what it costs. But the idea of being at a disadvantage when trying to stay thin and eating a healthy diet may not be so obvious.

I’ve expressed my views here before on what I see as the unfortunate side effect of cheaper items that can be bought via mega-stores, like Wal-Mart. The “big box” stores, as they are called, give us the ability to buy many different items for much less since they buy in massive quantities. But the problem is, much of that food is processed and prepackaged, which is invariably high in sodium, preservatives, starch, refined sugar, and ultimately calories.
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