Food can be a tool to deprive a community from practicing a healthy life style. An unbalanced diet can lead to various health complications such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), hypertension, obesity and diabetes. Not being able to have healthy options results in bad eating habits that are potentially passed down to younger generations. Thus, causing a domino effect of unhealthy decision making. One solution presented in the reading “planning for food access in community development”, is to create community gardens. Community gardens could eliminate food deserts and allow vendors to have exclusive prices for people within the community. Ultimately encouraging people to make healthy decisions without over paying. Furthermore, another initiative to eliminate food deserts would be to deliver food to people, as seen by the Chattanooga-Hamilton county health department. Could the potential community gardens be created in local recreational centers or senior homes? Would it be more beneficiary to have every apartment complex in NY to have a garden that is accessible to the residents? Thus, creating jobs for people who would like to maintain them and have healthy options near residents.

One interesting point mentioned in the reading making healthy places, was the statement that mentioned if it’s not In the corner store People won’t get it. Based on what is seen in many underprivileged communities this definitely holds true. For the ,past part a corner store is a super market for many due to the scarcity of supermarkets in a community. Which explains high obesity levels and why various people can be both over nourished and under nourished due to the lack of necessary vitamins needed to sustain the human body on a daily bases. Encouraging communities to change there diets as well as take the extra mile in educating oneself on proper eating predicate may change the percentage of obese adults and children in the U.S. One solution that I didn’t agree with is the taxing of sugary or sweetened products. That approach would cause people to reconsider purchasing a sugared drink, yet on the other hand will create people to find a cheaper alternative if necessary. Allowing people the choice to. Change instead of implementing strong actions may result in more people caring and understanding there health rather than ignoring and caring on with frivolous eating habits.

References:

Click to access 10.5822%2F978-1-61091-036-1.pdf

https://www.communitycommons.org/2016/11/planning-for-food-access-in-community-development/

The film Soul food Junkies written and produced by Byron Hurt gave insight into the values of soul food and what it meant to African Americans and other cultures who consumed it. Soul food for many in the film resembled unity, culture, family, and comfort. On the other hand, although Spanish food may not consist of the same ingredients it holds the same values. Like soul food, Spanish food is also high in fat and oils if not cooked in a healthy manner. One interesting topic mentioned in the film was the concept of food deserts. Based on food options around my community I could safely say we can be considered a food desert. Within the Middle Village area, there are no healthy food options within about a 3-5 block radius. The area is filled with KFC, Subways, Wendy’s, Pizza hut and delis. Restricting a community of healthy options refers back to one aspect of a social determinant of health within a community.

The two social determinants of health that are constantly mentioned in the documentary are food and education. In terms of education, older generations were taught how to eat, prepare and share soul food. These costumes were passed down to younger generations as a gift, yet those costumes as seen in the film are the cause of high blood pressure and diabetes. In our household, food is cooked differently than what the previous generation would prepare it. When my grandmother visits she observes our eating habits and wonders why aren’t we preparing our food like back home? Although my parents were taught to eat and prepare food in an unhealthy manner, they found better alternatives to prepare the same food we all love. These costumes implemented on us reflect on how the next generation eats and practices good eating habits.

Based on the discussions that took place in class, we further evaluated the different social determinants of health as well as how it can relate to our personal experience. One  that had shocked many would be the effect the environment has on an individual in terms of health. Safety, as mentioned in class can play a huge role in getting the motivation to participate in physical activities within the community. Environment plays a huge role in social determinates considering that for the most part, the environment can mold an individual. In addition, the inability to have access to healthy options in school’s drives children to make unhealthy decisions early on and creates a habit of consistent bad food decisions. One topic we did not discuss is the health care system in terms of health coverage. There are various limitations when it comes to health insurances and coverage plans that could result in a patient to not seek further care. Quality of care could result in a patient to never follow up at a site and not receive proper preventive care. It would also be interesting to analyze the number of people who file complaints and keep up with follow-ups and good health overall.

Another topic that was discussed was the demographics of the district that we chose. To some, it came to no surprise the number of people hospitalized as well as income, yet for others it was. For which lead to the conversation of gentrification. It was interesting that almost everyone in the class had a slightly different interpretation of what gentrification was. Although, something that I also found interesting was when professor Capers mentioned that as new businesses arise within a community people sometimes reject it. Such an example would be the new supermarkets with low prices being turned down because the appearance does not resemble what they were used to shopping from.

After conducting research on the Queens Community district five, it has come as a surprise to me that obesity, smoking, and bad diet percentages are fairly high. In Ridgewood and Maspeth about 21% of adults suffer from obesity, which is equal to the percentage of adults suffering from obesity in Queens. On the other hand, Stuyvesant Town and Turtle Bay only had 8% of adults who suffered from obesity. As for the percentages of people who are current smokers, practice healthy and unhealthy diets, are very high in comparison to overall city percentages. The percentage of smokers in Ridgewood and Maspeth is 16% as for in a city level 15% are current smokers. In addition, 27% of residents in district five consume one or more 12oz sugary drink per day. On the other hand, 27% of NYC residents consume 1 or more 12oz sugary drink per day. Based on the collected data about 83% of residents reported being in good health in Ridgewood and Maspeth, which is difficult to believe considering the percentages of adult obesity.

Despite the 10% of adults that went without the necessary medical care, the percentage of adults in Ridgewood and Maspeth that suffer from diabetes is low in comparison to the city level. There are 7% of adults in the district who suffer from diabetes. On the other hand, NYC had 10% of adults who were diagnosed with diabetes. The community is also doing well in terms of the number of drug-related hospitalizations. There were 319 drug-related hospitalizations for every 100,000 adults which were significantly low in comparison to the city level which had 907 hospitalizations.

References:

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/data/data-publications/profiles.page

https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/opportunity360/measurefurmancenter.org/neighborhoods

Based on the class discussion, the readings covered all of the points that are affecting the health care system for people who may not have equal opportunities. Such as food, education, and preventive care. In the reading by Sandra Braunstein and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, the community was looked at as a whole. Instead of targeting a specific group or one issue such as unhealthy food options in the community, various issues were overseen. Such as educating the community on healthy food options, promoting daily exercise and providing a safe space to do so. Education and social economic status were two major points discussed not only the reading but in the class discussion. Based on the reading, life expectancy increases as income rises, in addition, the higher level of education received increases a person’s life expectancy as well.  Furthermore, the reading Moving Beyond “Health Disparities” brought up valid points in terms of policy and community-based work that can improve health care conditions in various communities. One point I found interesting was educational opportunities and jobs, a nutrition course and good eating habits could be taught in schools to improve overall health. Based on personal experience certain school lunches consist of pizza or chicken tenders which weren’t the healthiest option. In addition, another solution mentioned in the reading was Increasing awareness about the root causes of certain diseases. This solution involves the effort of providing preventive care, for example, diabetic screening could be provided and be taken as an opportunity to educate the patient on the effects and risk of diabetes within the community. The readings demonstrated the importance of education and resources in order to improve healthcare opportunities in communities. In addition, the importance of preventive care could be used to educate patients and provide the screening they need. All in all, the key to a health justice movement is to strengthen communities, instead of isolating those who might need the help or guidance.

References:

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/11/2042.full

Click to access Health%20Equity%20101%20Final%20May%202014%20AS%20pdf.pdf