<p> Obesity is an increased body weight in relation to height when compared to some standard of acceptable or desirable weight using Body Mass Index (BMI). Obesity can affect a woman's life at any stage of her life cycle. It has been proven that certain groups, ethnicity, and race are more affected with obesity than others. Non-Hispanic Blacks have the highest age adjusted rate of obesity at 49.5%, Mexican Americans 40.4%, and Hispanics 39.1 %, while non-Hispanic Whites are 34.3%. To better understand why people from less affluent neighborhoods, especially African Americans and Hispanics within the society have a higher prevalence for obesity, this project studied the barriers to healthy weight in low-income women of reproductive age in Los Angeles.</p><p> This directed project investigated barriers to healthy weight; such as (a) scarcity or uneven distribution of supermarkets that carry a variety of food items; (b) concentration of convenience and liquor stores in a particular area, especially in low-income neighborhoods; (c) more fast food locations in some areas; (d) media promotion of high density food; (e) the percentage of Americans eating out instead of preparing their own food at home; (f) the implication of eating high-energy dense food instead of fruits and vegetables; (g) poverty and limitation when choosing what to buy; (h) why order super-size meals? (to get their money's worth); (i) sedentary; and (j) reduced physical activities. The project also reflected on the physiological changes due to obesity and its impact on women, such as body image disturbance, low back pain, and risk for osteoarthritis. It also investigated the psychological implications, including depression and eating disorders. Obese individuals may suffer from low self-esteem while having a difficult time fitting in to a social class. The impact of obesity on women and their offsprings; reproductive complications such as type 2 diabetes, pregnancy induced hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancer was investigated.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1522612 |
| Date | 04 May 2013 |
| Creators | Agu, Stella N. |
| Publisher | California State University, Long Beach |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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