Is Prison Why I'm Fat? Examining Obesity Within Correctional Facilities

• In Event: Health and Well-being in Corrections

Abstract

Given the current United States prison population of 1.5 million persons, many states are starting to examine how to effectively reduce correctional expenditures. In 2011, health care related prison costs increased to approximately 8 billion (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2014). Recent research attributes much of this increase to the prevalence of disease and aging within the prison population. Alternatively, little attention has been devoted to measuring weight changes among inmates and the effects of identifying more cost effective health initiatives addressing obesity. The Center for Disease Control (2015) noted that more than one third of American adults are obese, resulting in an annual medical cost of 147 billion. With incarceration and obesity rates steadily increasing within the United States, studies have highlighted the positive correlation between the two, as well as the implications associated with diabetic and heart disease related illnesses and its overarching effects on the performance of correctional health care. This study represents an attempt at bridging the gap between preventative health care and criminal justice efforts within the literature in its examination of the demographics, weight, diet, and weight-related medical conditions of male inmates within the Southeast.

Author

• Mary Hughes, East Tennessee State University