Addressing a Community Health Problem
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of all Americans are overweight or obese. (An obese person has more body fat than what is healthy.) In 2010, 15 percent of America’s youth were obese. For people of color who live in economically depressed areas, it was nearly triple that number!
People can usually maintain a healthy weight by eating and drinking the right kinds of foods, but in some places healthy foods cannot be easily found or may be too expensive. The cheapest foods, and those that you may like best, may not necessarily be good for your weight or your health.
A few years ago, BASIC BLACK reporter Talia Whyte covered a story about teens working with the Boston Public Health Commission who were committed to a healthy Boston. They decided to learn more themselves and then help people think more carefully about what they eat and drink. Watch this video to discover what one teen found out about sugary sodas.
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JAMAL PETTWAY: I see my nephews, my cousins, sucking down big soda bottles and whatnot. And before, I thought it was just fine, it’s just soda. But what I learned now [is] that soda is so dangerous and so harmful, especially to a younger kid, a young, small kid who hasn’t even grown up yet, it makes me want to really give him a bottle of water or give him some milk or something, something better, a better alternative to quench their thirst.
