evidence of differential, negative treatment of the overweight and obese due to commonly attributed stereotypes such as laziness, incompetence, weakness of will, sloppiness, and untrustworthiness. in one study of 2,249 obese and overweight women, 54% reported experiencing weight stigma by their colleagues; 43% reported experiencing weight stigma by their superiors. weight stigma can be defined as derogatory comments, preferential treatment towards average-weight colleagues, and denial of employment. in another study of 2,838 nationally representative adults aged 25–74, overweight, obese, and severely obese respondents were, respectively, 12, 37, and 100 times more likely to report employment discrimination than average-weight respondents, including loss or reduction of wages. data suggests that after controlling for other socioeconomic factors, limitations of health, and other household variables, obese men were expected to see a 0.7 to 3.4% wage depression, and obese women were expected to see a wage depression between 2.3 and 6.1%. studies show that physicians are most likely to attribute lack of motivation as the primary cause of obesity, coupled with non-compliance and general laziness. in one united kingdom study, physicians tended to follow a victim-blaming approach regarding the causes of obesity, while the obese patients themselves attributed their weight to specific medical causes or other socioeconomic factors, such as low income. disparities in perceived causation are a major hindrance towards physicians' and patients' abilities to create and maintain a balanced obesity management plan. educational weight bias also presents in the correlation between obesity and educational attainment. a study of over 700,000 swedish men found that, after controlling for intelligence and parental socioeconomic levels, those who were obese at the age of 18 had a lower chance of going to college than their average-weight peers. similarly, a study based on data gathered by the national longitudinal study of adolescent health concluded that obese women were 50% less likely to attend college than their average-sized peers. female students who attended school where most of the females were obese, however, had a relatively similar chance of attending college as non-obese women. weight bias, fat stigma, and discrimination are factors that many academics say can contribute to hopelessness and depression, encouraging the same unhealthy habits that initially caused obesity. relation to mental health scientific and healthcare communities agree that obesity and mental illness are directly related. awareness of the complicated relationship between these health concerns will develop solutions that are as of yet inaccessible. patients assessed for obesity need to be examined with respect to their mental health status. public health policies should recognize frequently paired mental illness and weight-related disorders and their influence on and from cultural, gender, socioeconomic, and other health elements. policy and training should also highlight the likelihood of the obese developing mental health co-morbid disorders, and vice versa. training health professionals with a focus on interventions, support, prevention, and collaboration with related specialties is crucial. obesity is a chronic health condition associated with extreme conditions in mental health. a variety of psychological disorders or mental illnesses such as eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder), schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression/anxiety, are associated with an increased risk of obesity and other obesity-related illnesses like diabetes and coronary heart disease. a 2014 study of over 10,000 people suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression showed that 80% of the participants were overweight or obese. psychological issues obesity can trigger include low self-esteem, distorted body image, and body shaming. obese individuals tend to have higher rates of depression than those who are not obese. research at the university of wisconsin-madison by dr. david a. kats and his colleagues indicated that of the 2,931 patients tested exhibiting chronic health conditions, clinical depression was highest in extremely obese patients (patients with a bmi over 35). a swedish obese subjects (sos) research study indicated that clinically significant depression is about three- to four-times higher in severely obese individuals than in those who are not obese. professor marianne sullivan and her team from sahlgrenska university hospital noted that obese subjects exhibited depression scores similar to patients living with chronic pain. access to space children tend to be less active when their communities lack safe play areas and after-school programs regardless of their community's socioeconomic status. rates of after-school program participation are low across all socioeconomic groups; current research shows that this may be due to external factors other than willingness or a need to participate. research indicates children that come from high socioeconomic households typically do not participate in after-school programs because they are already involved in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. children that come from low-socioeconomic households, however, typically do not utilize play spaces and after-school programs due to lack of ability and frequently a lack of transportation. the cclc, an after-school program serving low-income youth, conducted a survey in which 20% of youth responders cite transportation, rather than a lack of interest or willingness, as the primary reason they do not attend after-school programs. additionally, parents of low-income and minority youth are less likely to have easy access to after-school programs as compared to high-income and white parents. disadvantaged youth and young adults face similar problems with transportation to safe and engaging spaces. poor youth are less likely to have access to a car, and more likely to live in high crime neighborhoods, making it difficult to take public transportation or walk. additionally, children from disadvantaged families often have more worries and less free time to exercise, as they struggle alongside family members to find ways to meet their basic needs. by contrast, privileged families have the financial means and time to take their children to playgrounds, after-school activities, competitive sports, and more. access to technology children of higher-class families have more access to technology and tend to make less use of the "environmental space" of their everyday life; such technology removes opportunities for youth outdoor interaction. children with frequent access to technology tend to spend more time indoors engaged with a computer/television screen rather than playing outdoors. in this sense, technology is a detriment to children as it frequently hampers physical activity, thus negatively impacting a child's health. this issue contradicts the belief held by many in the united states that children who come from high-income homes are less likely to become obese as they can be active in safe environmental spaces. technology also plays a detrimental role for adults who spend most of their time working on a computer. economists from the milken institute, working with statistics from the united states, correlated a 10% increase in the sale of technology with a 1.4% increase in obesity rates – approximately 4.2 million people in a country with the same population as the united states. this increase in time spent using technology not only absorbs time potentially spent being active, it also changes the way people eat. employees may feel pressured while at work and may eat hurriedly or absentmindedly; once home, workers frequently turn on the tv or engage in their mobile phones instead of focusing on their food consumption and diet. ross devol, a chief research officer at the milken institute, quipped: "common sense says if you sit around in front of the screen, don't exercise while you are working, change your diet...you are going to gain weight." food access in the united states federal and national level studies in 2009, the u.s. department of agriculture conducted a food desert study to examine the public's access to supermarkets. evidence showed that 23.5 million people within the united states did not have access to a supermarket within a one-mile radius of their residence. more than 113 studies have been conducted to determine if healthy food and supermarkets are equally distributed and accessible to every socioeconomic class. of these, 85% (97) of the studies found that supermarkets and healthy food stores are unequally distributed between different socioeconomic groups. other research teams have studied the comparison between supermarkets and smaller food outlets such as small grocery stores and convenience stores. they found that supermarkets were used as a proxy for food access as they provide the most reliable access to a wide variety of nutritious and affordable food. the study showed that low-income and minority communities had less supermarkets and more convenience and small grocery stores as compared to predominantly wealthy and white communities. 89 out of the 98 (90%) studies of national data indicated that urban areas have uneven geographic access to supermarkets. national studies have concluded that zip codes composed primarily of low-income households are 25% less likely to have a chain supermarket store but contain 1.3 times as many convenient stores when compared to zip codes composed of middle-income households. zip codes composed of predominantly african-american households have about half the amount of chain supermarkets, as do zip codes composed of predominantly white households. an assessment of 685 urban and rural census tracts spanning three states show that low-income neighborhoods have approximately half as many supermarkets and four times as many small grocery stores when compared to high-income neighborhoods. the same study also found that predominantly white neighborhoods have four times as many supermarkets as predominantly african-american neighborhoods. also, a study of 10,763 residences in four states reported the existence of supermarkets in the surveyed residential area was directly related with a 24% lower prevalence of obesity and a 9% lower prevalence of overweight residents. locally focused studies studies done at the local level demonstrate similar trends to those done at the national level. there are 2.3 times as many supermarkets per household in low-poverty areas in los angeles compared to high-poverty areas. predominantly white regions have 1.7 times as many supermarkets as hispanic regions, and 3.2 times as many as african-american regions. west louisville, kentucky, a low-income african-american community that suffers from high rates of diabetes, has one supermarket for every 25,000 residents; in comparison, the u.s. in total has an average of one supermarket for every 12,500 residents. in washington, dc, the city's lowest income wards (wards 7 and 8) have one supermarket for every 70,000 people, while two of the three highest-income wards (wards 2 and 3) have one for every 11,881 people. one in five of the city's food stamp recipients lives in a neighborhood without a grocery store. twenty-one studies have found that food stores in low-income communities are less likely to stock healthy or fresh food or snacks, and are instead more likely to offer lower quality items at higher prices, compared to food stores in predominantly white communities. school nutrition legislation the child nutrition and wic reauthorization act of 2004 created the team nutrition network to promote healthy eating and physical activity in school-aged children, awarding grants to states that created healthy eating and physical activity programs for the children they serve. the cdc released its own guidelines for schools to promote physical and health education for schoolchildren, specifically suggesting that public and private schools: implement and evaluate healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices within their schools/districts create supportive environments for healthy eating and physical activity provide healthy school lunches featuring appealing healthy food and drink choices in- and outside the provided lunch program establish physical education programs as a cornerstone of the curriculum implement health education to ensure students gain necessary knowledge of nutrition and fitness provide students with mental health and social services partner with families and community members to create and assess healthy eating and physical activities outside of school employ qualified professionals and provide staff with professional development opportunities in physical education, health education, nutrition services, and mental health the 2010 healthy kids act was part of michelle obama "let’s move" program. this program authorized the usda to regulate competitive food (i.e., any food that is not included in a school's lunch program, such as fast food and vending machines) and required more stringent nutritional standards for meals served in cafeterias. these nutritional standards were required to be scientifically founded and in compliance with the published dietary guidelines for americans. soon schools began to replace food which were high in fat and sodium, and any food that was lacking nutritional value, as replacements, schools implement more fruits, whole grain, vegetables, and low or nonfat milk into provided lunches. by 2014, assessments of the healthy kids act indicated that school-aged kids were beginning to eat more fruits and vegetables while at