Preview

Argumentative Essay

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
504 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Argumentative Essay
Essay assignment argumentative essay

Governments should be more involved in citizens diets Modern age supermarkets selling off the shelve foods are normal nowadays. Unfortunately the knowledge of what is healthy and what is not had been effected by this. People should be better educated on what is healthy and what is not.
Healthier diets make healthier citizens and healthier citizens will save a lot of money in health care, bad diets do cause expensive health problems.
Although it is general knowledge that unhealthy products are cheaper than healthy products, it is not general knowledge that products claiming to be healthy are usually full of harmful and unhealthy ingredients. It is time the government steps in to protect the population.

Firstly, health problems caused by bad, unhealthy diets weigh heavily on health care expenses. Several population-based prevention policies can be expected to generate substantial health gains while entirely or largely paying for themselves through future reductions of health-care expenditures according to The Lancet (Cecchini et al., 2010). Just by eating healthier a reduction will be made possible, this alone should be reason enough for a government to get more involved

Secondly, people will be stimulated to choose healthier products when prices for unhealthy products will be raised. The current situation is just the other way around. The healthier choice is more expensive. “With proper nutrition and regular exercise, you can reduce the costs of health insurance premiums, the amount you spend on medicines and the number of co-pays for doctor visits” according to Livestrong (Ellyn 2011). However true this may be, as long as healthier products cost more instead of less people will be inclined to buy more unhealthy products.

Thirdly, in order to make the healthier decision, information about unhealthy ingredients should be clearer and more visible. Reading food labels is strangely enough rather difficult,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    UNIT 20 M1

    • 980 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are some issues when it comes to looking at how social context may influence the ability of health education campaigns to change behaviour in relation to health. One of these issues is financial constraint. This issue can put pressure on the public to try and fulfil leading a healthy lifestyle. Many people may not be able to afford the prices of healthy foods, for example; fresh fruit and vegetables, because of this they may feel inclined to go for meals which are quick to cook and cheap to buy. For example, eating in fast food restaurants seems to be a popular option, cheap and not much hassle seeing as someone else is cooking their food for them. What they do not know is that by eating this food, they are not maintaining the nutrients they need in order to have a healthy lifestyle.…

    • 980 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    "The beauty is we don't need to be 100% of the way there. If we get 20% of the way there, we will change the health status of our kids for a generation.” These were Michelle Obama’s words assuring Americans that with government involvement, change is possible. According to the National Institute of Health, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Currently, nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight and 34% of those are obese. Furthermore, a recent article published by the Institute of Medicine has shown that our eating habits are greatly affected by our environment, and in order to reverse this crisis, all levels of society will need to make a change- especially our government. By origin, a government’s innate duty is to ensure the wellbeing of its people, which in this case certainly includes our health through our diets. Moreover, they have incredibly influential access (or even complete control) over critical aspects of our diet. The government’s power over our diets already feeds into schools, food subsidies, and infrastructure, so their influence must begin to feed us in a way that is beneficial.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In his article, the author explores many different reasons as to why access to healthier foods is an all-around illogical to ending the obesity crisis. He claims that ending poverty and making…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Radley Balko

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Since people will have to pay more to keep up their unhealthy lifestyles still probably force them to change their ways. Charging overweight people more on health insurance, having a "fat tax", menu labeling legislation and so much more to forcepeople to become healthy and maintain a health lifestyle.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Instead of placing the government in charge of what food we select, educate our country about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We should remind individuals that being physically healthy is a personal responsibility. If we can shift the anti-obesity messages from public health matters to personal responsibility, then maybe the number of obese cases would start to decrease. Balko states, “We’ll all make better choices about diet, exercise, and personal health when someone else isn’t paying for the consequences of those choices” (469).…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    MyPlate is designed to remind Americans to eat healthfully, and is not intended to change…

    • 300 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to The Lancet, in the U.S., for example, as food has become cheaper during the past several decades, especially foods high in fat and sugar, obesity rates have risen and obesity rates among the poor, who are more likely to depend on high-fat, high-sugar foods for their meals, are substantially higher than the rates seen in higher income groups. To improve the diets of people on low income, healthy food must be made available and cheap. Instead of promoting sugar and grain production fruits and vegetables should be promoted and more support should be given to programs distributing fruits and vegetables for free to schools and low income…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death is also know to come earlier than others with obesity due to all the problems they have. Healthier foods will deduct the obesity percentage by quite a lot having a more fit country. If to say the banned across all unhealthy foods did not undergo, the country will be damaged severely over time having soldiers that can not handle tough situations and training in addition animals such as pigs and cows will be extinct faster than…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Although reducing access to unhealthful foods may produce desirable effects, such as decreased rates of childhood obesity, more feasible interventions which protect individuals’ freedom of choice should take priority when implementing methods to improve the populations’ health and diet. Furthermore, simply eliminating access to unhealthful food is not only an infringement on individual’s rights, but does not address the root cause of the rising rates of obesity. If children do not receive the proper education required to understand the importance of moderation, healthy dietary choices and physical activity than the cycle would continue and rate of preventable conditions, such as type two diabetes mellitus, would continue rise as the children who were once banned from purchasing unhealthy food became of age and gained access. In order to truly, and significantly, reduce the cost of healthcare, I believe there needs to be increased utilization of primary and secondary prevention measures both for adolescents and adults…

    • 1585 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In an Article from, The Oakland Press, Alan Adler discusses the differences between implementing government regulations on fast food organizations and implementing government regulations for smoking in public. Adler believes the government often oversteps it's bounds when it comes to regulation. One example he stated was in San Francisco, there is a proposed city ordinance that would ban toys in Happy Meals unless fruit and vegetables come with the Happy Meal. He also states that proper eating habits should not be ordered by the government, but rather taught by parents. Adler believes if the government wants to improve the health of their citizens, then they should help promote programs that encourage kids to exercise and eat healthy. Adler could not have a better view on government regulating eating habits. I agree with Adler, the government should not be allowed to regulate eating habits because it is an individuals choice and their eating habits do not affect anyone else. Also, government regulation has not been effective in the past.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In today’s society there are many Americans who are either overweight or obese and have diabetes. David Zinczenko in “Don’t Blame the Eater” argues that fast food companies ate to be blamed for the obesity that is now very common in the US. Radley Balko argues in “What You Eat is Your Business” that the government is responsible for the obesity epidemic that the US is found in today. The government should have some in not all control or regulations on what the people of the country decide to eat. With no control the US is headed for a nation of overweight, obese, diabetic, and unhealthy people.…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When it comes to keeping the human body, nutrition is the most essential part of everyone’s life. If people do not have full control, it will affect the way they will be in the future. Any change to someone's diet will change their body in the long run, whether it be positive or negative. It is quite apparent, especially in America, that the common person’s nutrition has gone down hill. Since the 1980s, the rate of obesity has inflated double the amount for adults and triple for children (“Obesity” p. 1). Shockingly, America spends more on fast food than on college education, computers, software and cars combined. In fact, in 2005, Americans spent one hundred thirty four billion dollars on fast food alone. In the ‘70s, America only spent six billion (Schlosser p. 10). I am not one to blame McDonalds for the drastic rise of poor nutrition. There are obviously other reasons why. I mainly blame the misinformation and myths that the general public has been told. The reason why that people are more unhealthy now than in the past is…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    If the government gave schools a bigger budget for healthier lunches it could potentially save the government money in the future. It could save them money because if the students have a healthier diet they should have fewer health problems, meaning less hospital visit or anything relating. A sane diet could save tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars in health care costs (Mark Bittman SR1). If they saved that much money they could put that money into something else like…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Government Controlled Diet

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages

    While a government mandatory diet is the best option to lowering the obesity rate, people are capable of making their own decisions, especially when it comes to food. If the government is allowed to put a person on a diet, it will not allow people to make decisions for themselves. As a citizen of the United States, people are free to do as they want with their lives, even if that means over eating. Another issue in the government having a say in Americans diets is that the diet program may not be suitable for everyone 's lifestyle. Some people may eat a lot of food and become overweight, while others don’t eat a lot of food and are still overweight or obese. Each person would have to have a different diet plan for their body type. This will cost the government a lot of money in order to create these diets. Money that everyone knows the government doesn’t have or could be put to better use. Another big factor is the food that people will have to buy in order to stay on their diet. Most diet foods are very high priced and some Americans may not be able to afford their diet. The worst part about the government having a say on peoples diets is that it will impede on their privacy. Most people who are either overweight or obese may not like a government controlled diet…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    What exactly, is food? New Oxford Dictionary Second Edition calls it “any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth.” That doesn’t help so much unless you define nutritious. Nutritious food, it says here, “provides those substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition.” Many people nowadays does not too concerned on the food they consume. According to the article ‘is our food safe’ state only a few number of customers reading food label when grocery shopping and it shows that general public awareness on food safety is quite low. Furthermore, people are not too concerned how food is stored, handled or cooked as long as the food is delicious, they just eat it. Many people mistakenly believe that the food they consumed is safe and healthy to eat. Yet 25% of the American populations suffers from food borne illness and Malaysians not only eat too much but also eat the wrong type of food . People do have to take more serious on this matter by taking healthy foods. People can improve their health condition, increase their awareness on quality and nutritional control of food and benefits people on physical and mental are several of advantages people can enjoy when they are concerned of the food they consume daily in their life.…

    • 2043 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays