(CNN) — Cady Stanton used to find solace in the sweet taste of ice cream.
Growing up, she would sneak downstairs after her family had gone to sleep and numb her anxiety by digging into a half-gallon container. She would eat until she was sick, knowing this was something she had to do in secret.
As the oldest child of a struggling Jehovah’s Witness family, Stanton shouldered a lot of responsibilities at a young age. Her mother suffered from a number of health issues, and her father worked three jobs just to put food on the table.
The family’s financial struggles had a huge impact on Stanton’s diet. Nearly all Stanton’s family was overweight, as they had neither the resources nor the knowledge to prepare healthy meals regularly.
They ate a lot of ground beef, spaghetti and the occasional treat of a take-and-bake pizza. They would wait in line for government-issued cheese and foodstuffs like powdered eggs and milk.
“Healthy eating requires money and time, something financially stressed families have little of,” she said. “We ate what was quick and cheap and familiar.”
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