Success Story

It is no secret that in many urban communities in this country, people are given fewer opportunities to prosper. Take a short drive through any depressed inner city community or rural area, and you will find glaring similarities: a disproportionate number of substantially damaged roads, underfunded schools, fewer businesses, a shortage of grocery stores, and plenty of fast food. The last two items of that list have contributed to one of the worst obesity epidemics in American history.

Since the early 90s, the number of obese American adults and children has exploded. Today, 34% of adults and 15-20% of American children are obese. This significantly increases the risk of hypertension, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. For African Americans and other communities of color, these risks are even more pronounced.

Black Americans make up 13% of the population, and 49.6% of us are obese, with Black women accounting for the group with the highest obesity rate in the nation. This is no accident.

Good health has been a privilege in this country for far too long. It is no secret that lower-income communities are not only disproportionately made up of people of color, but those same communities lack access to high-quality foods.

In the last few decades, grocery stores in low-income communities began to close their doors across the United States as larger grocery chains and big box stores priced them out. The ripple effect was seen immediately. Today, just 8% of Black Americans live in a census tract with a supermarket.

Years of food inequities have also led to significant disparities in obesity-related illnesses. Heart disease and strokes are two of the leading causes of death for Black Americans. The pandemic exposed how vulnerable our communities were to falling dangerously ill to COVID-19. As outlined in our State of Black America report, we saw the disproportionate impact of the virus on people of color, which was directly correlated to obesity.

Access to proper nutrition should not be a luxury. For the communities we serve across this country, it is a matter of life or death.

The National Urban League is committed to working with our affiliate movement and partners to increase economic outcomes for low-income communities through our workforce programming. Through advocacy and strategic initiatives, we work to address treatment gaps, enhance access to healthcare resources, and support healthier lifestyle choices.

If good nutrition starts at home, every American should have access to foods that help them live longer, help their children grow strong and healthy, and improve their quality of life.