South Los Angeles has become known for it’s poor living conditions, growing fast food eateries, and lack of groceries which would typically provide fresh produce options. Historically, it’s considered an inner city, where its demographics are primarily Latinos and African American people, considered to fall under the working and lowering class subgroups. As a community composed of heavy poverty, community neglect, and healthy inequities, it’s not surprise that the food available in the community and schools are also of low standards.
Adjacent to South Los Angeles lies the regional area known as West Los Angeles, which is composed of the most privileged and wealthier neighborhoods in the county. In comparing both regions, which are about 6 miles apart, South Los Angeles has 43% less health care resources then West Los Angeles, who has 72% more healthcare resources then South Los Angeles.
According to a an article published by the Community Health Councils (2008), below are additional comparisons between South Los Angeles and West Los Angeles when comparing their healthy and physical disparities:
LA County overall has 57 pediatricians for every 100,000 children; in South LA, there are approximately 11 pediatricians for every 100,000 children, compared to 193 pediatricians for every 100,000 children in West LA.
In LA County overall, 22 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 64 are uninsured. In South LA, 30 percent of adults are uninsured, compared to 12 percent in West LA.
South LA has 8.5 liquor stores per square mile compared to 1.97 stores in West LA.
South LA has 0.10 large-scale supermarkets per square mile, while West LA has 0.14 per square mile.
On 3/31/16 “Chicas Verdes” (GBLA team) hosted its first event during the school wide health fair. Throughout that event, we provided participants with surveys to evaluate their knowledge of food deserts, their access to healthy food, and other community issues about health (totaling up to 75 student responses). More than 93% of students reported eating fast food more than once a week (30% reported eating fast food more than 3 times a week), despite healthier school lunch options (40.5% reported not eating school lunches).