Blog Post For the Week...

5/18/2019

In today’s society a lot of us might walk into the grocery store or gas station with the intention of getting a healthy snack or drink, instead of soda. Some people do not even walk in with the intention to do this.

One factor that could play into this is that healthier foods are more expensive then a lot of unhealthy foods which is a big part of problem. One idea to change this is maybe putting a heavier tax on junk/processed foods which could help. But what about people’s determination to eat healthier and stay fit. Because of the mentality that was created by our society it is now that everyone wants cheap and fast with the littlest amount of work possible. I believe a partial problem is peoples laziness honestly. They don’t have the determination or dedication to set up a meal plan or get up and exercise a couple times a week. This is a problem. And this again has to do with things the government or media is feeding us.

They want us to have everything cheep, easy, and with little to no effort yet they talk about problems our world has with obesity and almost creates unrealistic people sometimes for us to model. Such as the Kardashians or body builder instructors. A lot of these people have tons of money they can spend on personal trainers and expensive healthy foods. They also don’t have to worry about going to a job hours out of the day, leaving them plenty of time to work out or have someone make them healthy meals.

Do you agree? What are some ways you that could help with this problem? Is there anything that your family does that works well?

38 Comments

Kelsey

5/19/2019 01:29:40 pm

The most pressing contributor to America's obesity problem is laziness and lack of time. Decades ago there were more rural farming/ranching communities that populated our country. It wasn't as common to have foods shipped to these areas, and it was also more expensive. So, people often had their own gardens, livestock, and orchards to sustain their families. There were fewer distractions during these times like clubs, sports, gaming, TV shows, social media, communications, more education, shopping, or whatever else we fill our days with currently. With our busy schedules and lack of interest or work ethic, home grown foods or even cooking healthy meals from boughten foods, is becoming extinct. My family works hard to raise a fruitful garden, meat birds and eggs year-round, and fruit trees to provide natural nourishment for parts of the year. We also gravitate towards the raw vegetable section, whole grain pasta/rice/bread, dairy products, and less processed meats in the grocery store. To be healthy individuals, we have to make an extra effort to eat healthy in our society. Unhealthy foods are consistently shoved in our faces from low prices to endless advertisements - consequently, we need to find that will power to chose wisely.

Jesse B.

5/19/2019 01:46:11 pm

It's all mental, even when it comes to making good food. Time is a valuable thing these days and people have to figure out how they want to spend it. Having a garden and ability to produce you own food is amazing, but to have that in a city is very difficult. How would you get people to eat heather and to grow gardens in the urban environment?

Katherine

5/19/2019 06:18:04 pm

It is so much harder in our society to stay healthy. When you walk in saveway the rows in front of you are snacks and candy. Thehealthy stuff is off to the side. The most advertised are junk foods creating a loop for those who watch tv. They see it enough that they want it.

Brooke

5/19/2019 06:28:19 pm

Correct, people have different priorities in today's society. We dont need to rely on ourselves to produce food, we rely on the stores. There is more awareness about being healthy, but it's a certain type of person or trend that will follow it.

Challis

5/19/2019 06:58:14 pm

I respect the life your family leads and more people should go in that direction. Eating junk food is definetely a choice as you said and people can freely choose not to. That is why I think junk food should not be taxed. Let people eat it if they want to and if it is bad for them well, they should choose to not eat it or eat less of it.

Jesse B.

5/19/2019 01:36:06 pm

What I am getting is that there is a problem with obesity in America. At what point is someone considered obese? They are when at least 20 percent of their body weight is pure fat, so if a person is 220 pounds and obese, 44 pounds of that is cellulite. It’s disgusting to think that an estimated 160 million Americans are overweight and 30 percent of the children in the US are as well. Many factors have contributed to this overabundance of blubber. Those include but are not limited to an increase in sugary and fatty food intake, larger portions, decreased exercise, and technology that eases the physical burden of work on employees. One solution would be for the government to create regulations regarding “Big Gulp” serving size packaging. This would cut down on various areas of calorie intake and would increase the profit for the companies making the food since smaller portions usually have higher markups than the food in supersized packaging. This though would not be received well by the general public since we don’t like be told how much we can eat. A resolution that would be more popular with Americans would be to make healthy foods affordable such as by offering tax breaks for farmers who grow and produce all natural foods. What do people with food stamps normally buy? They purchase what they can afford, which is cheap, processed food that are high in unnecessary calories and not the fruits, vegetables, and other healthy options that can cost an arm and a leg. Shouldn’t the country be able to provide proper nourishment for ALL its people? I think so.

Kelsey

5/19/2019 04:33:47 pm

Decreasing the tax on farmers would help with getting better food in our stores, but it a lot of taxes on farmers and ranchers are also for the environmental damage caused by grazing on public lands and biodiversity degradation my mono cultures. So, I don't know if cutting taxes would be the best decision. Somehow, though, healthy foods need to be cheaper than processed, unhealthy foods.

Rachel

5/19/2019 06:30:08 pm

I think everyone would be happy if we could cut taxes. Less money to pay the government? Most people would jump at that opportunity. But, Kelsey is right and a decrease in tax dollars could do more damage than we think. I do like your idea of regulating serving sizes, but I agree that the public would not be accepting of that idea. I think we need to find a way to truly educate people about their food intake and somehow make an incentive for consuming healthy foods. The biggest thing people care about is money, so making healthy food cheaper is the solution, but getting there is going to be difficult.

Challis

5/19/2019 06:55:11 pm

Honestly, I get what you are saying, but I do not think that sugary food, large portions, or technology is the problem. If it was, all of us would be obese. It gets to be a problem when we decide to abuse those things and take in too much which is no one's fault but our own. Of course, there is the case of children not knowing any better and at that point I believe that it is the parent's responsibility to make sure that their child is eating healthy, at least as much as they can. I do like the idea of making healthier food cheaper though and that probably could help at least a little.

Sadie

5/19/2019 05:19:31 pm

Sometimes having all the time in the world does the opposite of motivate. Not having a routine doesn't allow you to look forward to the rest of your day when you still haven't planned it accordingly. I am pretty guilty of this myself. Although I don't really like the idea of routine, I know that it allows me to balance my life and prioritize what's important. All we can do is teach the public how to manage their time and be able to do what is required to live a healthy life. Everyone receives motivation in different ways. At a certain age, it's up to you to take care of yourself. Children who were raised on a diet of McDonald's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner will often not have the courage to do otherwise for the rest of their lives. It really is child abuse. Parents are required to prepare their children for the realities in life, food included. We just need to show them that.

Jesse B.

5/19/2019 05:56:24 pm

I have never thought about how having free time can make a person lazy, but it makes sense. Also, your idea that the parents are to blame about the poor eating habits is definitely one of the factors of a fattening society. What would you do to have people get off of their lazy butts and get active and eat healthy?

Katherine

5/19/2019 06:15:03 pm

I definitely get guilty of not following a routine once a sport is over. Now that golf is done, I have to start a new routine but I’m starting to run and work out a little bit and I feel so much better when I do this.

Katarina

5/19/2019 07:06:05 pm

I agree. Not always, but sometimes, parents unhealthy eating habits carry to their kids and that passes further down in the generations.

Brooke

5/19/2019 07:16:44 pm

Being healthy is a lifestyle, as it goes. It is how we are raised that shows us how to continue living. We need to be aware on how to make dinner, a healthy dinner, when we are out of college. Luckily, most of us do know how, but it would be best if we all posses the skill.

Katherine

5/19/2019 06:13:43 pm

I’m definitely working towards a routine right now which includes exercise and healthier eating. It was hard for me to get started and I j is it is for others, but sometimes people need a push. Parent shave a big impact on how someone lives their life. If they are raised being allowed to play video games, they will continue doing that. If they are raised in the outdoors and with healthy eating, it will be hard to stop doing that. Kids who have been raised to do nothing also never know where to start, they need others to be there for them and show them how to start and continue what they are doing.

Kenna

5/19/2019 07:05:23 pm

Having someone show you what to do is good. Asking for help is always a good idea but people can't change if they don't want to.

Katarina

5/19/2019 07:07:19 pm

Absolutely, kids like to have routines and habits. If there parents make it a point to spend their days outdoors kids will continue in that tradition.

Saylor

5/19/2019 09:10:23 pm

Making a routine stick is one of the hardest things you can do, but it’s all about sticking with it. Asking for someone’s opinions and help is always good. Being raised is a big part of it as well, but many kids “grow out” of what their parents want them to do.

Brooke

5/19/2019 06:15:54 pm

Obesity is a pressing problem, especially in America. We are known for serving big food. Restaurants (mainly fast food places) are giving the option of outrageously large portions. And those options are bought because consumers get the whole "are you sure you wouldn't like to 'Superzise' your meal? It's only two dollars more." If MORE is an option, and only for a few MORE dollars, then why not?
We all know the phrase 'Bigger is Better, ' but is that really the case in this situation? I think not. Civilians these days are used to these large sizes and don't acknowledge it as strange. They also view being completely inactive as being okay, as a commonplace thing. Equal to basically every other human problem, we could fix it if we really tried, but we can't force people to live their lives a certain way that they don't want to.
Of course, there are encouraging messages and motivators out there, but the promise of easy life and more food is much more alluring than working hard. As Jesse says: 'it's all mental.' It's all on our heads. Do we want to work hard and live the life we want? Or do we want to take the easy way and live life in a way that makes us unhappy, but it's simple? And evidently, 1 in 3 people choose the latter.

Rachel

5/19/2019 06:23:46 pm

You bring up a very interesting point about Americans always wanting more. I wonder why that is? Why are we so greedy yet so lazy? "Bigger is better" is definitely a motto, and it is pathetic. I think that we also let our busy schedules get in the way and find fast food or junk food faster than a healthy and balanced meal. This is fine in moderation because yes, we are busy. But I think we make it an excuse and then too many people end up eating unhealthy meals three times a day.

Rachel

5/19/2019 06:18:27 pm

Obesity is a serious problem in the United States. The solution seems simple: eat healthy and exercise often. But as we have learned from looking around us, and probably from personal experience, eating healthy is not easy because it is so expensive! As humans, we tend to be as frugal as possible and therefore the idea of spending another dollar to buy whole wheat bread instead of processed white bread for example, is unimaginable! I was researching this and found that the Harvard School of Public Health did a study in 2013 and found that “...eating a healthy diet (rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts) cost about $1.50 more per day per person than eating an unhealthy diet (the kind full of processed foods and refined grains)”. Although this study is six years old, the findings are still relevant because $1.50 in 2013 is still only $1.65 currently. $1.65!! Are we really so economical that we cannot spend an average of two dollars more to obtain a healthier lifestyle? Granted, this is obviously a very general study and we know that many healthy foods are way more than two dollars more expensive then their “junk food” counterparts. But I think that sometimes we are simply too lazy to take advantage of a good deal, or find a healthier alternative to a favorite snack. We all have busy lives and eating healthy is arguably just not convenient sometimes. But, I think that we should prioritize a healthy lifestyle and cease to make the slightly higher costs an excuse.

Conrad Dougherty

5/19/2019 07:45:13 pm

The problem with obesity is really the food that is available to us. It is harder to find healthy food than it is to find unhealthy food. Healthy food is also much more expensive.

Sadie

5/19/2019 07:58:29 pm

A lot of eating healthy comes from cooking your own food and sometimes people just fail to make cooking a priority. It's really hard to tell yourself that cooking is important too when you have other responsibilities piling up. Cooking should honestly be like a required school class or something.

Sariah

5/20/2019 10:55:15 am

I definitely agree with us making excuses for stuff. I tend to see that happens a lot when we are messing up. Of failing at something. This is definitely a learnt habit, it can come from parents, peers, or even leaders. I think the best solution is teaching the kids at a young age to eat healthy and continuing to do it. I know they have some but we definitely don’t continue to keep them through out high school and I think we should.

Challis

5/19/2019 06:44:03 pm

Yes healthier food is more expensive but that is not unfair because healthier options often cost more to produce (as far as I know). Also, people are saying we have an obesity problem, as we do, but it is said in a way that makes it sound like a viral disease that is spreading and somehow everyone's problem. Obesity is not contagious and while genetics do come into play for some of it, it is possible to get rid of and people do have the conscience choice to do so (in most cases, I know there are exceptions) even with prices of food. I do not think that we should put a tax on junk food to get people to stop eating it. There are plenty of people who are not obese who eat junk food and should not have to pay extra just because some people cannot control themselves. Personally, I wish that obesity was not a problem but it can only be fixed through individuals choosing to live healthy not by us trying to intervene by doing things like putting taxes on unhealthy food.

Kenna

5/19/2019 07:03:36 pm

A person's self control is one of the main issues behind obesity. Genetics can affect whether you have it or not but I feel as though the main factor is one's self control.

Kelsey

5/19/2019 09:06:38 pm

Great point, I definitely agree. Our government should not have to babysit us by taxing junk food. We have the choice to eat healthier, so we just need to learn that motivation.

Saylor

5/19/2019 09:07:29 pm

It really is all mental. People have convinced themselves that they can’t be healthy because of all of these dumb excuses. If someone really hates the way they look and is willing to do whatever it takes to change, genetics has nothing to do with it. Self control is the main part of being healthy.

Kenna

5/19/2019 06:57:39 pm

Obesity is a problem. People like it fast and easy in the United States which includes food. There are restraunts like Burger King and Mcdonalds advertising their bacon filled, fast, and cheap food to us everyday. These foods have hardly any nutritional value but they are fast and easy to get and lets not forget they taste good too. However, just because you eat fast food it doesn't you are obese, just look at me. I eat fast food all the time and I'm sure I'll regret it one day. However, Obestity is not something that can be readily fixed by taxing fast food, it has to be a personal choice of what you put in your body.

Conrad

5/19/2019 07:49:47 pm

Except that there is fact that when a one cent tax added to soda, it worked very well. I think maybe letting the government give farms and other places tax deductions if they provide food that goes into healthier stuff rather than processed foods.

Jazz

5/19/2019 07:57:06 pm

I completely agree that it has to be a personal choice. I know a lot of people that eat fast food regularly and they are able to balance it out with even a pretty mediocre exercise routine.

Katarina

5/19/2019 07:04:10 pm

I know with my family, especially this time of year, we are very busy and rarely don't get to eat until 9 or 10 at night. In some cases if we know we won't have time to cook dinner we go somewhere fast instead. Although this isn't the best solution sometimes that's what happens. But on my cases we eat home cooked meals. We may not have the time and it may be late at night that we do this but usually we try to make it a priority. I know these last two weeks I have been gone a lot and the few days I was home I wouldn't get home until 10 at night. Due to this I either didn't eat dinner, ate some junk food (cookies and stuff like that), or I went to a fast food restaurant. I felt like crap because I wasn't getting the homemade meals I was used to. In reality our body needs home cooked food. Although fast food may fill us up we aren't always getting the nutrients and necessities we need.

Jazz

5/19/2019 07:53:22 pm

It is the same with my family. I agree that fast food does not give us the nutrients that we need.

Conrad

5/19/2019 07:42:41 pm

Preventing obesity in America needs to be approached the same way preventing smoking was. Heavy taxes on such products as, sodas, fast food, and processed candy must be implanted to start waning people off of it. This tax, if implemented federally (so that it is even across the U. S.) will prevent people from leaving one town or state to buy a snack where there isn’t a tax. All revenue generated from this tax should then go to farmers who are growing healthy food and help the distribution of such foods. It was tested in Berkeley, California and worked well according to this article. If this policy was in place countrywide, weight loss would be coming in like smoking is going out.

Sariah

5/20/2019 10:58:04 am

I really think money is a big way to get people to do what needs to be done. I agree that a higher tax on unhealthy foods is an extremely good idea. Maybe we could take the tax on the foods and implement it into feeding the homeless on the country or funding free diet plans or work out videos.

Jazz

5/19/2019 07:51:53 pm

Raising the price on fast foods doesn't change the fact that they are just faster and easier to get. I know that when my mom was at her last job, she barely had time to even go through Burger King and then dash back to work. A lot of people have the same time crunch as well, so it is easy to see how obesity has become such a huge problem. I do not think that raising the tax price or retail price would have as much of an impact as regular exercise would. Of course having a healthy diet is an important part of combating obesity, but a constant exercise routine would be helpful as well.

Sadie

5/19/2019 08:02:27 pm

I keep reading in certain places that "the key to weight loss is 20% exercise and 80% diet". So, even if you nail the diet, why not go for the 100%?

Saylor

5/19/2019 09:04:06 pm

Raising raising prices or taxes on junk food won’t do anything. It’s all about the mentality of people. Yes, healthier food is more expensive, but people tell themselves that they can’t be fit or healthy because healthy food costs too much. Which isn’t the case. Healthy food lasts longer than junk food which means, the more expensive, the longer t will last a person. Also, the whole “ fast food is easier” is not true. Everyone purchases food at the grocery store, a couple extra dollars spent on healthy foods makes t easier for someone to pack a lunch. Packing a lunch saves money and time. It also helps with the mentality to eat healthier. As Jesse would say “ it’s all mental baby”.

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