People who eat too many unhealthy foods — like foods high in saturated fat and added sugars — are at increased risk for obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems. Obesity in turn is also linked to many serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer (Healthy People 2030).

Individuals with low incomes and long work hours may have less time to prepare meals at home and less time to participate in physical activities. In addition, people in rural areas and low income communities may be far from a grocery store that sells healthy foods. Their communities may lack formal facilities for exercise, or the roads and public spaces may not be safe to move around in (Healthy NC 2030).

During our 2021 Community Health Assessment process obesity and diabetes were found to be issues of high concern in both secondary data and primary data reviewed by our team.