City Harvest Programs » Nutrition Education
Adults
Nutrition-related knowledge, skills and environmental support are limited among many low-income individuals, resulting in poor health and mortality from diet-related diseases. The abundance of low cost, convenient foods and advertisements for them contributes to the difficulty people experience positive eating choices, especially considering the resource limitations such as cost, time, and accessibility. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene statistics from 2006 tell some of the story:
• Low income neighborhoods have an increased rate of both obesity and diabetes mellitus, with some neighborhoods having an obesity rate of 30%. Staten Island has an obesity rate of 26%.
• While the average rate of diabetes in New York City is 9.5%, some low-income neighborhoods have a rate as high as 15% (in Jamaica, Queens).
• Latino (13.8%) and African American (11.3%) New Yorkers are more likely to have diabetes than whites (6.2%) and Asians (10.1%). These rates have all risen since 2003.
• The cost to the US economy for the epidemic of diabetes is estimated to be $174 billion/year.
Projects
