Hunger and Obesity TogetherObesity cannot be solved without first addressing hunger and poverty. Being healthy requires eating healthy foods (including fruits, vegetables, and low-fat products) and burning more calories than you digest. Healthy foods can be very expensive and push low-income families to eat less healthy processed foods. Obesity and hunger are linked, they can each be linked to poverty. While obesity appears to be the result of an overabundance of food and hunger, lack of food, the common problem of poverty must be addressed in order to alleviate the obesity crisis in the United States. Low-income neighborhoods lack grocery stores and markets where they can get healthy food, which affects both obesity and hunger rates. Instead, residents are limited to local convenience stores that do not carry fresh produce or low-fat items. Instead, these stores will offer processed foods devoid of nutrients. Without good grocery stores and markets, hunger also impacts where and how residents get their food. The limited number of local convenience stores often offering overpriced items causes more residents to eat less and go hungry. So the lack of good grocery stores or markets with nutrient-dense foods affects both obesity and hunger rates. Less money equals poor health, and more money equals good health. One type of processed food is cheap, but also affects people's health. McDonalds® is one of the cheapest fast food places in the United States of America with some foods costing as little as a dollar and also one of the unhealthiest. Low-income families go there because they are hungry and need a cheap place to eat, but it also affects their health. McDonald's and many other fast food outlets contribute by making food unhealthy...... middle of paper...... also by making more food available globally. Also around the world, there are food shortages in regions where food is difficult to grow. Africa has a climate that makes it difficult to produce enough food to meet the needs of the population. Transporting food is difficult because healthy foods can spoil. Climate and precipitation can make growing good food problematic. So location and population can contribute to global hunger. The amount of bad foods is another factor that aggravates obesity, with portions of bad foods sometimes being large. Kids can sit down and eat a whole bag of chips or a bowl of ice cream. The food tastes really good and encourages children to keep eating more and more. Thus, the volume of bad foods consumed increases the number of people who become obese. Sodas with a lot of sugar and caffeine are examples where they cause a sugar rush and make people want to consume more...