According to a report issued yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2009 there were roughly 2.4 million more obese adults than in 2007–a hefty 72 million Americans in all were obese in 2009.

Unsurprisingly the report suggests increasing physical activity and improving access to affordable healthy foods. But, beyond the standard and obvious suggestions, I was pleasantly surprised that the report acknowledges breastfeeding as a means to combat obesity. Not only does breastfeeding help new mothers shed weight gained during pregnancy, but it has also been linked to reduced levels of obesity in adults and children.

Unfortunately tackling obesity is easier said than done. For many, the causes are intertwined with poverty. It is not always an option to eat healthier food, or to find the time to exercise. And, in many poor neighborhoods, stores selling healthy foods are simply not available. I still remember trying to scrounge together a moderately nutritious breakfast as I departed Auburn, Ill., during my cross-country walk. The only place open was the small store attached to the gas station–the town didn’t even have a grocery store. I asked the man who worked there if there was any fruit. He said they used to sell fruit, but the supplier decided it wasn’t worth his while because the location was so small. In the end I cobbled together a breakfast of granola bars, fruit juice and donuts–not exactly what you want to start your day when you plan to walk 20 miles.

The connection between poverty and obesity is complicated and seems to defy common sense. Yet, those living in poverty are more likely to be obese. In a column in Slate, Daniel Engber said it best: “Sickness, poverty, and obesity are spun together in a dense web of reciprocal causality. Anyone who’s fat is more likely to be poor and sick. Anyone who’s poor is more likely to be fat and sick. And anyone who’s sick is more likely to be poor and fat.”

The CDC report seems to make this connection as well. Beyond the connection between obesity and health, it found that those who are obese have medical costs that are $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. Further, recent estimates of the annual medical costs associated with obesity are as high as $147 billion.

Just where to start in tackling the problem can be daunting. And finger-pointing is no solution. On numerous occasions when I told people I was walking cross-country they told me they could barely walk from the parking lot to the location we were both standing. Now I suspect many people were exaggerating. But, for some, I doubt it was a stretch.

And so, if we are to find a solution to obesity, poor health and poverty, it needs to start somewhere. Perhaps it can start with one small step.

– By Jennifer E. Cooper

It is an unfortunate fact that healthy food often costs more than food that offers little or no nutritional value. The average price of a gallon of milk is estimated to be $3.50, while a two liter bottle of soda can be purchased for about $1.50 (approximately 3.79 liters per gallon.) A entire bag of chips can cost the same as just one piece of fruit.

And if that isn’t bad enough, many poor neighborhoods don’t even have the option to buy healthy food. Eating out means selecting from the available fast food restaurants. Food shopping is done at the only store in town, sometimes more convenience store than grocery store. They are called food deserts.

While volunteering with Food For All in Washington, D.C. , to deliver food baskets to homebound residents, I noticed manyof the poor neighborhoods had no stores of any kind save a pawn shop, payday loan/check cashing, and perhaps a convenience store. Not only did that mean no jobs, but it meant no healthy food either.

A new USDA report suggests that these food deserts are rare–data that contradicts many advocates for the poor. The report to Congress found that 2.2% of U.S. households, 2.3 million, lack both a car and live more than a mile from a supermarket. It also found that those in poorer neighborhoods are more likely to live closer to a grocery store, though it takes slightly longer to get there. Instead, the report suggests, poor diets and obesity may be linked more to living in areas that have an abundance of fast food rather than living farther away from healthy food.

Regardless, for some 35 million Americans it matters little how close they live to a supermarket because they cannot afford to buy groceries. The 2007 U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Hunger and Homelessness Survey states that the main causes of hunger in survey cities were poverty, unemployment and high housing costs.

– By Jennifer E. Cooper