Bad for your health
Today's front page story on a new, disturbing report on community health is available by clicking below. The story below is longer than the one in the paper.
A quick thought or two ...
What the report, which said San Bernardino County has the most imbalanced ratio of unhealthy food outlets in the state, ultimately concludes is that your environment plays a bigger role in how big you are than you probably think. The correlation between having a high ratio of fast food joints and liquor stores in your community and obesity is about as strong as the one between chronic exposure to second hand smoke and cancer.
Secondly, the report lays blame for the grotesque proliferation of childhood obesity, diabetes, and soaring medical costs squarely on the doorsteps of city and county governments. Bottom line: All those liquor stores and fast food outlets get development permits from somebody (local government), while too few cities have creative policies by which they attract produce vendors and grocers, especially to the poor neighborhoods who need them most.
Sure, there are a slew of other factors at play, and their impact is unquantifiable, but there should be little doubt that poor communities, where transportation is often costly and difficult, are ill-served by the liquor store/markets and fast food joints that become de facto replacements for the missing grocers.
SAN BERNARDINO - At Westside Food and Liquor in San Bernardino, one of the big draws for customers is the grocery special.
Customers predominately from the adjacent subsidized housing projects can scoop up two gallons of milk, two gallons of flavored punch, two loaves of white bread and two cartons of eggs for $11.99.
The deal works for two reasons, said owner Bassem "Sam" Hassanieh: It's a good price, and there is little competition.
"People don't really have anywhere else they like to go," Hassanieh said.
There are no organic food markets or even chain grocers within two miles of this neighborhood. There is a Mexican grocer a few blocks north, but many in this predominately black neighborhood admit they are reluctant to patronize it.
Fast food outlets and convenience stores predominate here, and it may be a hazard to thecommunty's health.
A study released Monday found that San Bernardino County has California's highest ratio of fast food and convenience stores compared to grocery stores and produce vendors, contributing to higher incidences of health afflictions stemming from poor nutrition.
Titled "Designed for Disease: The Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes," the study used data from more than 40,000 respondents statewide to measure the prevalence of obesity and diabetes while also developing counting the numbers of grocery stores, convenience stores and fast food restaurants in communities.
The statewide numbers were disturbing, researchers said, with the average Californian confronted with four times as many fast-food outlets and convenience stores than grocers.
But the disparity is particularly acute in San Bernardino County, where residents were more often obese, more often afflicted with adult-onset diabetes and more often surrounded with fast food and convenience stores than the rest of California.
The report was a joint effort by three research groups, The California Center for Public Health Advocacy, The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and Policy Link, a national research group advocating economic and social equity.
San Bernardino scored the worst of the state's 24 most populous counties in the Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI), having nearly six times more fast food and convenience stores as grocers and produce vendors. The ratio is much higher in some minority and low-income county enclaves, researches noted, where transportation limitations and scant local grocery outlets make eating healthy an even greater challenge.
"This study shows us in a way that had not been done before that if your negibhorhood is crowded with fast food stores and not outlets for healthier foods, you are at a significantly greater risk for serious health conditions," said Victor Rubin, vice president for research at Polylysine, a nonprofit research organization which helped with the study.
Along with having the greatest imbalance of fast food and convenience stores compared to grocers, San Bernardino County is the fifth-most obese county in the state, with about 27 percent of its 1.95 million residents meeting the criteria for obesity.
The county scored ninth worst in the prevalence of diabetes.
Researchers from the group stressed what they regarded as the data's definitive link between neighborhood food choices and health, noting that high RFEI ratios were associated with high obesity and diabetes rates.
"Many communities are living in a junkyard jungle," said Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. "This fast food jungle is quite literally making us sick, and given the enormous costs, what we need is changes in public policies."
Goldstein said the data shows that regions with more than five times more fast food and convenience stores than grocers have a 20 percent higher incidence of obesity and diabetes, a correlation about as strong that between second hand smoke and cancer.
The report was clear in that obesity and poor health must be addressed more aggressively through public policy measures and not solely focused on personal responsibility or promoting exercise.
"Because neighborhood food options influence what people eat, success in the battle against California's $6 billion obesity epidemic demands that communities have a healthy mix of food options. This is especially important in lower-income communities where you find the most unhealthy food environments as well as the highest rates of diabetes and obesity," a report summary reads.
Researchers pointed to a number of policy prescriptions, including nutritional information labeling-ordinances like those in passed in New York City and San Francisco and development ordinances that favor grocers over fast food restaurants and convenience stores.
The report was compiled based on data from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey, the 2005 InfoUSA Business File and the 2000 U.S. Census.
robert.rogers@inlandnewspapers.com (909) 386-3855.
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