The number of at-risk youth on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is startingly high, with many having to overcome poverty, alcoholism in the home, substance abuse, and a seeming lack of opportunity. In a community known for solving tough problems, one of the toughest for the youth still remains: lack of access to healthful activities in a safe place.

•  Unhealthy diets and lack of exercise are two main contributing factors behind the epidemic proportions of obesity, diabetes and heart disease among the residents of Pine Ridge, even though in the early history of the Lakota, diabetes was virtually unknown.
• Life expectancy on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the lowest anywhere in the western hemisphere, except for Haiti. A recent study found the life expectancy for men to be 48 years, and for women it is 52 years (Red Cloud School, 2013).
• High suicide rate due to lack of community bonding

The reservation is almost one hundred miles away from the nearest grocery store that provides healthy food, and the people of Pine Ridge have limited choices for healthy food and fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Food insecurity on the reservation contributes to chronic health problems among the Oglala Lakota since it is more convenient for tribal members to load up on processed foods during their trips to the supermarket than on fresh produce with a short shelf life. As a result, a fifth of Oglala Lakota County residents have diabetes and other diet-related diseases. 

Due to limited healthy food choices, the scarcity of grocery stores, and the high poverty rate, residents of the reservation are forced into a profound state of food insecurity. And this will continue for generations if something is not done to combat it.