While sitting here, contemplating on what to write,
I think about my diet the last couple of days. I think about how much money I
spent on what I bought and I think about the type of food that I have put
inside my body. I feel like I am a relatively healthy middle-aged man and
I always try hard to eat well. But here is one thing that I have begun to learn
about eating healthy and money; it is next to impossible to maintain a healthy
diet without money. It is important for parents to use their money wisely when
buying food for their children. Instead of buying McDonalds for their children
every day, parents should instead save up and buy healthier food for their
children at the supermarket. The question I ask myself based on this
information is comparatively is healthy food truly more expensive than healthy
food? This article states the problem with food prices in America and how
people with socioeconomic struggles have trouble affording good, quality
food.
The obvious truth is that healthy food is too
expensive and people don't have the money to buy this healthy food so they
settle for fat, saturated unhealthy food as a substitute. When interviewing Dr.
Christine Himes, a professor at Syracuse University and research specialist in
obesity and health, she talks about how part of the reason that the reason why
healthy food is more expensive is due to the time intensive aspect of healthy
food. In addition, less healthy foods usually are most filling so therefore
these less healthy foods gives someone more for their dollar. She makes a great
point in the aspect that the more time you put into something, the more
expensive they will be. Between a combination of fattening food and a lack of
exercise people become overweight and obese and can't buy what they need to.
Dr. Christine Himes states “obesity happens from an imbalance of food and
activity. Americans have a problem with both, we eat too much and exercise too
little.” Exercise and eating healthy have to coexist in order for a person to remain
healthy and not obese.
Lets first look at the actual price of food. When
first looking at this question, I immediately assumed that this question is
easily answered. However, through research, the answer isn’t as clear-cut as
one might think. When looking at it at first glance, McDonalds is definitely
cheaper than lets say Wegmans. Although the prices individually might look
cheaper, there are many ways to look at prices. According to an article written
by Andrea Carlson called Are Healthy Foods Really More Expensive? It depends
on How You Measure the Price” there are three specific ways to measure
price when comparing healthy foods and fast foods. These three ways are: by
calorie, by edible gram and by average portion. The findings were very
intriguing. In regards to by calorie, the results showed that food low in
calories tended to be, on average, more expensive than that of price per
calorie of unhealthy foods. To use this in real-life terms, fruits and
vegetables, that are low in calorie, is a generally expensive way to purchase
food energy. This would make sense to me, as I do in fact believe healthy
food is more expensive than fast food.
While keeping this all in mind the main question
being asked is does socioeconomic background truly have an impact on the weight
of a human being? Lets think about this for a second. You are enjoying a
leisurely day in the city with your family. The sun is shining, the birds are
chirping and you are having a great time. As you walk the streets of NYC you
notice many homeless men/women on the street corner, begging for some spare
change. Now, one would think that this homeless man would be skinny,
considering he doesn’t eat that much. I don’t know about you but I don’t
recollect seeing many skinny homeless men on the streets. In fact, most of them
are fat. I believe this is the case due to the food prices in this country.
Since fast food is so inexpensive, homeless people just spend all their money
on Big Macs instead of saving up for something better than you. According to an
article written by David C. Holzman called White House Proposes Healthy Food
Finance Initiatives, that about 23.5 million people who live in low-income
areas are at least one mile away from a good supermarket. Although one mile
doesn’t seem like a lot, when you don’t have a car, it is very far, especially
when carrying groceries. I am willing to go out on a limb here and say that
many people live a lot closer to a McDonalds than they do to a good, healthy
supermarket. If this doesn’t change obesity will continue to be an epidemic in
America. Dr. Christine Himes during our interview gave a very clear cut,
obvious response to this question. When being asked this exact question she
stated, “we know that people with lower incomes and education have higher rates
of obesity.” Someone with an expertise in obesity and economics to give such an
emphatic answer just shows how big of an issue this is in the United States.
In addition to how far people live from
supermarkets, lets just take a look at about how many people are actually
obese. According to an article written by Basakha Sen called “"Racial
disparities in obesity for males & females in three southern states in the
US, across SES categories,” there is strong evidence of a relationship between
income and obesity. Through research, she has found this strong correlation just based on the fact that they lack access
to nutritious food, parks/recreation and poor neighborhood safety. These
are all driving reasons as to why low-income people as well as minorities are
at such a risk when it comes to their weight and obesity.
As a parent, you might be wondering how all of this has anything to do
with you. Well, lets take a look at how children react when they are forced to
eat healthy food and change their diets. According to an article by Monica Eng
called “You Can Lead Kids To Broccoli, But You Can't Make Them Eat It:
Students' Reaction to Healthier Lunches Highlights Challenges for Schools,”
just because people serve healthy food to children doesn’t mean that they will
eat it. No matter what food is served, kids will always opt for the food that
tastes better. A survey done at a Chicago school found that when offered
healthy options in addition to a spicy chicken patty, ninety percent of the
kids chose the chicken patty. That is an abysmal statistics. The key is to make
healthy foods taste better. This is where you, the parent, come in. You need to
lead by example. You need to be able to show your kids how important eating
healthy is for their body. In addition, spend your money wisely. Food prices
can really sneak up on you and the more healthy food you buy, the better off
everyone is.
Animated obese family from trailx.com
- Adam Rothstein
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