Abstract
This paper investigates the connections between food insecurity and obesity levels throughout the United States over three years (2011-2013). The causes of obesity are often not entirely a result of poor diet and exercise, but of the presence of food deserts in impoverished areas. Changes in income trends in recent years also the poor remain poor rather than experiencing upward mobility. This study builds on previous studies conducted both within the U.S. and internationally that found that food insecurity is a determinant of obesity rates. This study uses poverty as a proxy measurement for food insecurity at the state level, and finds that there is a positive, though not statistically significant, relationship with obesity.
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