Nutrition provides the essential sustenance for all life forms. In human beings, it refers to the process of absorbing nutrients from food and processing them in the body in order to grow or maintain health. The word also denotes the science that deals with foods and their effects on health. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years.The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2010. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period. In 2010, more than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese due to poor nutrition, so what can we as Americans do to stop this growing issue in America.
Poor nutrition contributes to a number of health disorders and deadly diseases that millions of Americans deal with everyday, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. Think those are problems you don't have to worry about until old age? Think again, As obesity rates have climbed, rates of diabetes in young kids and teens have gone up too. Scientists recently found the arteries of obese kids were abnormally stiff, an early sign of heart disease. “Doctors have also noticed a rising number of cases of liver disease in overweight teenagers. On top of that, researchers have found obese people are five times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma attacks as people of healthy weight” (Current Health Teens). High-fructose corn syrup is another controversial food ingredient that leads to many deadly health problems. High fructose corn syrups a synthetic sweetener that is found in nearly all processed foods sold in the United States. Coca-Cola, fruit-infused yogurt products, and even bottled salad dressings and canned soups contain high-fructose corn syrup. Consuming products made with high-fructose corn syrup also appears to be linked to insulin resistance, which can trigger type 2 diabetes. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “more than 23 million people had diabetes in 2007 many acquired the disease from having a high fructose corn syrup diet and poor nutritional habits” (Current Issues). Another issue that Americans face in eating nutritiously is the high price for healthy foods. The price of eating the daily recommended servings of healthy fruits and vegetables may be too high for low-income families. Also those families are drawn to fast food not just because it is cheap; their main concern is not going to bed hungry at night, and fast food, which is high in fat and sugar fills them up.
The first steps to end the nutrition epidemic in America is for the government to put together education programs on healthy eating and nutrition, to inform people of the fruits and vegetables needed in their daily diet to stay healthy. With government sponsorship many peoples attitudes on healthy eating will be positive because of their authoritative position. The next step is to lower to price of healthy organic foods."One idea is to place a small tax on foods with low nutritional value, like soda, for example, and to use the revenue collected to subsidize fruits and vegetables," says Katz. "A tax on low nutritional foods could be the funding source to subsidize foods with a higher nutritional value” (Eating Healthy Foods May Be Too Expensive for the Poor). Katz makes an excellent point, by placing a small tax on unhealthy foods, the public will be less encouraged to spend money on unhealthy items. In order to make healthy organic produce less expensive for the poor communities around the nation can build community-supported-agriculture (CSA) programs, in which a household takes out a "subscription" to an area farm and receives a regular share of seasonal produce. Offering many of the conveniences of large supermarkets but oriented toward food that is healthier or more local, and make prices much more reasonable. Contrary to those who insist that small-scale farming is inherently Inefficient, there is a growing body of evidence that small farms can be more productive per acre than larger ones if they're well managed and adopt practices such as intercropping. Small farms usually require much less capital investment. These developments have the potential to make our food economy not only healthier and more sustainable (An economy of care: it starts with food). In order for small local farms like so to be put it place it is up to the government to get communities started and eventually spread them across the nation. With these smaller community farms implemented it will allow lower income families to be able to get the nutrients they need for fruits and vegetables at a low price.