The Importance Of Nutrition In Society

The human body was built to function with what we now call “healthy food”. A long time ago, when there was no such thing as junk food, there was no grouping of foods into “unhealthy” and “healthy”. Food was a necessity to produce energy for the day. Although we don’t use as much physical energy as our ancestors did, we still require good nutrition for energy to power our bodies. It is important for a society as a whole to practice healthy living since there are many benefits that come along. Not only does it improve the physical condition of an individual, but it can boost the economy as each individual’s health can be a crucial factor that change the course of a society. However, in comparison of the two groups, unhealthy foods tend to be

As we all know, people developing obesity, diabetes, and other malnutrition caused diseases are increasing every year. In addition, the American Association of Medical Colleges suggests that there will be a physician shortage within the next decade. It is important to have enough health care and doctors for each person on earth, but the lack of physicians can be improved by the people taking care of themselves before having to visit the doctors. Many conditions caused by obesity and malnutrition are preventable when an individual is aware of their lifestyle; living in a way that is at least moderately balanced. Furthermore, with a decrease in diseased patients, it will cut the health care expenses profoundly. Every year, almost 12% of the total healthcare expenditure in the United States of America are spent on costs related to obesity. The decrease in the patients and the expenses will allow the society to save some money and their workers, eventually leading to an increase in

At supermarkets, the amount of calories a human can obtain from potato chips with $1 will be much more than the calories provided in $1 worth of a salad. Psychologically, humans will rather have cheaper food, with more calories as it seems of a quick, cheap and efficient way to buy and consume necessity goods. However, this is not only see in supermarkets and is also visible when having a broad view at restaurants. The restaurants with a concept involving “organic food”, which is supposedly in the healthy food category, tend to have more expensive meals than at a family diner or restaurant. This healthy and unhealthy food prices are also true within a standard restaurant or fast food stores. For example, at McDonald’s, a Big Mac Meal (included Big Mac, Drink and French fries) cost $7.67 including 1090 calories. In a salad, called the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad, it has 350 calories and costs $6.13. Since the amount of calories one can obtain from the Big Mac is larger, and the cost per calorie is immensely cheaper, it automatically makes humans consider this as a good value and to choose the unhealthy choice unconsciously. From this, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should advocate and take action for the significant price gap between healthy foods and unhealthy foods. Some suggestions include advocating to the government for subsidizing