Obesity Epidemic, Low Income And Mental Health Problems: 'A Vicious Cycle'

"Health professionals agree that obesity is a growing epidemic affecting Long Beach residents and our nation as a whole, a situation that has shown to not only impact physical wellbeing but also mental health....“Low-income people have a higher rate of disease that goes down to the cells,” Lew continued. “Obesity leads to chronic illnesses. If you get ill, that becomes another toxic stress. Recent studies on toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences deals again with poverty, it changes the neurons in your brain, so you don’t cope with it well. It affects child development and can lead to a lot of mental health issues.”

http://lbbusinessjournal.com/long-beach-business-journal-newswatch/172-lof-scroller-articles-12-11-20/1093-obesity-epidemic-low-income-and-mental-health-problems-a-vicious-cycle.html