Question

The typical American diet is too high in saturated fat, sodium, and sugar and too low in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, calcium, and fiber. Such a diet significantly increases the risk of numerous diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, stroke, osteoporosis, and many cancers (colon, prostate, mouth, throat, lung, stomach). Overall, unhealthy eating habits and inactivity affect quality of life and cause disabilities. What do you think needs to be done in order to reduce the intake of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar in our products? Who is responsible for monitoring the acceptable levels in these three categories?

Your response should be at least 200 words

Answer 1

Unhealthy diet contributes to approximately 678,00(aproxx.) deaths each year in the U.S., due to nutrition- and obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. In the last 30 years, obesity rates have doubled in adults, tripled in children, and quadrupled in adolescents.

The typical American diet is too high in calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, and does not have enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains, calcium, and fiber. Such a diet contributes to some of the leading causes of death and increases the risk of numerous diseases, including:

heart disease;
diabetes;
obesity;
high blood pressure;
stroke;
osteoporosis; and
cancers, including cervical, colon, gallbladder, kidney, liver, ovarian, uterine, and postmenopausal breast cancers; leukemia; and esophageal cancer .
Unhealthy eating habits and inactivity affect quality of life and cause disabilities
Few recognize that unhealthy diet is a leading cause of disability. Yet unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity are leading causes of loss of independence:

Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness and amputations. Roughly 73,000 people have lower-limb amputations each year due to diabetes.
Bone injuries due to osteoporosis are most likely to occur in the hips, spine, and wrist. Even just a slight fracture in these areas can result in loss of independence. Twenty percent of seniors who break their hip die within just one year. Those who survive often require long-term care.
Heart attack or stroke can result in difficulty with everyday activities—such as walking, bathing, or getting into or out of bed—or cognitive impairment.
Obesity rates are skyrocketing
Over two-thirds (67.5%) of American adults are overweight or obese. Obesity rates in children have tripled over the last three decades, and one in three children and adolescents 2-19 years old is overweight or obese..
Estimates of annual direct + indirect costs for diseases overall (including portions caused by factors other than diet and physical inactivity), except for the figure for obesity, which is an estimate of direct (medical) costs only.

Health care costs $8,900 per person per year.21 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a 1% reduction in dietary health risks such as weight, blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol risk factors would save $83 to $103 per person per year in medical costs.

According to the Trust for America’s Health, if obesity trends were lowered by reducing the average adult body mass index (BMI) by only 5 percent, millions of Americans could be spared serious health problems, and our country could save $158 billion over the next 10 years.

Current investments to promote healthy eating and physical activity are insufficient
Funding for the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at CDC in FY15: $47.6 million.
The Hershey Company spends 12 times that amount to promote its chocolate and other products ($562 million).24
Amount food companies spend on advertising each year: $33 billion.25, 26 Amount the food industry spends on advertising and promotions to children each year: $1.8 billion.27