A Healthier America . . . that seems to be every politician's goal. How do we obtain a healthier America? What are our primary health concerns? 1. Obesity 2. Cancer 3. Air quality etc, etc...
We've already established the "epidemic" of obseity and particularly childhood obesity, and we've already discussed how the term epidemic is misleading and is not an accurate term for what is more of a "trend." Obesity comes from unhealthy lifestyles, such as sedentary and nonactive lifestyles. Lack of movement and excercise is not good for the body. As Americans, we like things to be fast and easy and inexpensive. What kinds of foods are fast, easy, and inexpensive? Fast foods. Unhealthy foods. American marketing has tried to remedy this by adding fresh salads and fruit choices and just healthier options to many fast food menues. Has anyone been documenting of these new healthier options have been a success? The fasat food insdustry cannot be held solely responsible for the trend of obseity. We as human beings are responsible for giving our bodies what they need: water, healthy foods for fuel and energy, excercise, and rest. So, is it completely up to each individual whether he or she becomes obese?
What about illnesses due to poor air quality? The smoking trend has decreased dramatically over the last 40-50 years. The negative consequences of smoking are much more known today than they were 60 years ago. Most states have passed laws that prohibit smoking in public places. This will indeed improve air quality and it is intended to reduce second-hand smoke exposure. This is all relatively new, so it may be a few years before we can actually calculate how successful these no-smoking-in-public-places movements are.
We also know that a high amount of alcohol consumption can be the culprit of many diseases and illnesses. But, very few drinkers are willing to cut back their alcohol consumption. Why do we delight in behaviors that are damaging to our bodies? Because we each our responsible for the overall health of our body, is obtaining a "Healthier America" an achieveable goal?
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We speak of individual responsibility as if each of us is a completely free moral agent, unswayed by the actions of others around us. Even the New Testament recognizes the influence of the people in our lives, calling for church discipline so that one bad apple, as it were, did not poison the environment. Because we live in community and because we want to fit in, we find ourselves conforming to acceptable patterns of behavior. Fortunately we have many options, so we can exercise a reasonable degree of choice in this regard.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major problems with healthy eating, though, as pointed out in both of these recent posts, is that we have to spend more money. Some of this can be traced to farm subsidy legislation passed by Congress. Why did we choose to subsidize sugar and corn and wheat and not fruit and spinach? Here perhaps is a third line of argument about the obesity problem. If better foods were cheaper, we might eat more of them. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?_r=1)
That's the worldly culture. We delight in things that hurt our bodies. It' almost like a risk taking activity.
ReplyDeleteAmericans have always been known to be "risky".
On a side note, it's not just fast food places that don't supply nutritional facts. I was in California Pizza Kitchen Sunday and asked to see the nutritional facts for a salad, and they said they did not have them available. I then said, "Well are they online?" And they said no.
I am beginning to think it's impossible to "go out to eat" and be healthy at the same time.
i think the reason for an unhealthy america is because its a lazy america. People dont work out as much anymore and dont have respect for themselvse. So many people i see everyday are gettings fatand they are all either drinking soda's or eating something that isnt to great for your body. I think america wantsit fast and i do to but there is always a healthier route you can take. Even at McDonalds. Grilled chicken sandwhiches, no fries, water, apples, diet cokes, even when going to restraunts today you always see low calorie foods its possible to be healthy and not exercise but its much more difficult if you dont. People just want convienece and thats the unhealthy route, which in my opinion it says to me people just dont have respect for themselves. Another problem is the technology today keeps people occupied and they never get up from a screen, which in turns makes them inactive. Which = fat and unhealthy America
ReplyDeleteWe do make it hard on ourselves to eat healthy. I just finished a project for a social work class in which we had to create a menu for a week from a $21 budget(roughly the equivalent of a week's worth of food stamps).
ReplyDeleteIn the 21 meals I planned and could afford, almost none of them included fresh fruit or vegetables because canned corn and kroger brand corn chips are much cheaper.
Our country has an uphill battle with obesity.