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Matthew Volz 11/14/2013 FRINQ: Sustainability Dr. Ben Perkins Social Sustainability: Public Health All around sustainability has been broken down into three parts: social sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability. My mentor session decided to focus on social sustainability. The most important part of social sustainability is maintaining general health and well-being. The most influential factor in a persons health is their diet. Diet alone contributes to at least five chronic diseases, all of which are prevalent in the United States. Unfortunately, the United States government has not done a very good job at promoting the idea of eating healthfully. What can the United States government do to promote good eating habits among its citizens? Determining what can be done to promote general health at higher levels of society can give individuals greater opportunities to physically sustain themselves. However difficult influencing an individuals decisions may be, the United States government has several options in helping Americans eat better. Poor diet is the strongest factor that hinders the average American from achieving optimal performance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011) discovered that some chronic diseases that have been linked to poor diet include: type 2 Diabetes, obesity, chronic heart disease/failure, cancer, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, reproductive health complications, and mental health conditions. These conditions are becoming increasingly prevalent in America as time passes.

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The most common form of chronic disease related to unhealthy eating is obesity. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2011) estimates more than 72 million people in the United States, over a third of the US population, suffer from obesity. Dr. Jerry R. Balentine (2012) suggests one of the leading factors that causes obesity is lack of proper calorie intake to calorie output ratio. On the subject of simple versus complex carbohydrates, Dr. Balentine (2012) states The role of carbohydrates in weight gain is not clear Some scientists believe that simple carbohydrates (sugars, fructose, desserts, soft drinks, beer, wine, etc.) contribute to weight gain because they are more rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream Its not hard to figure out that Americans need to eat better quality foods in order to combat the obesity epidemic. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition on The role of dietary fat in body fatness: evidence from a preliminary meta-analysis of ad libitum low-fat dietary intervention studies (Astrup et all, 2000) clarifies that those who regularly ate whole grains and vegetables, while reducing the consumption of fatty foods, showed significantly more weight loss than those who consumed a normal diet. How can our nations leaders mitigate obesity and chronic illness as related to poor diet in the US? An article by the Annual Review of Public Health, Creating Healthy Food and Eating Environments: Policy and Environmental Approaches (Kaphingst et all, 2008), details exactly how this can be accomplished. Some basic principles included in the article are implementing environmental and policy interventions as well as disseminating current knowledge to the workplaces, homes, childcare facilities/schools, retail stores, and restaurants. The United States government needs to implement policies regarding the welfare of children. In particular, as Kaphingst et all (2008) points out, the menu in the public school system should include only the most wholesome foods available. As the children of America are

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the future of America, children should be afforded nothing but the best of nutrition, regardless of the income level of their families. Speaking of the income level of families, wholesome food needs to be made readily available for people of all levels of income. Whether rich or poor, each citizen plays a part in the infrastructure of America. According to the USDA Department of Nutrition Policy and Promotion (2012), the average budget for one American adult for one month of groceries is $287.00. However, health insurance will cost the very same adults an average of $328 per person per month under the Affordable Health Care Act. (ASPE, 2013) The priorities of the United States government when it comes to the health and well-being of American citizens are evidently misplaced. More effort and funding needs to go into the prevention of disease and less into treatment of sickness. The best way for the United States government to prevent the most common chronic diseases in America is to feed its citizens nutritious food. Programs like WIC and food stamps have been implemented by State governments, but have proven to be a low priority in the United States government. In the fiscal year 2011, the House of Representatives passed a budget that cut the WIC budget from $6.734 billion in 2011 to $6.001 billion in 2012, cutting the overall budget by some $733 million (Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, 2012). The budget for food assistance for low income families has only dropped from there. Between the implementation of healthcare subsidy and the cuts in food assistance, it is clear that the United States government cares little for nutrition and prevention among low income families. If the United States government cares little for good implementation of assistance programs, then the least it can do is promote education on healthy eating. The basic factors in the education of the American people is to teach them when they are young, teach them often when

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they are older, and spread the word. Kaphingst et all (2008) details the best ways to go about teaching the Americans when they are young is to promote healthy eating habits in public schools. Currently, the menu for an average public elementary school is as follows: Beef & Cheese Nachos, Crispy or Buffalo Chicken Tenders w/ Garlic Toast, Turkey & Cheese or Turkey Ham & Cheese Sandwich. (Beaverton School District, K-8 Lunch Menu: November, 2013) It saddens me to know the future of America is being fed an abundance of fatty foods which kill millions of Americans every year. How can we teach our children to eat better when we are feeding them the very diet we attempt to teach them against? The public school system will need to reform its menu before education on proper diet can occur. To teach the American adult about proper nutrition often is as easy as commercialization. If industry leaders knew the average consumer would pay money for nutritious food, more nutritious food would be produced by the industry leaders. However, food industry leaders are producing large volumes of low quality product and selling it at low prices. The industry leaders are doing this because the average consumer wants cheap calories. To combat this mentality, the United States government needs to take greater initiative in educating the average American on the effects of cheap calories and how to prevent those effects. This, coupled with making nutritious food the more affordable default, would prevent much of the chronic disease which plagues America today. No matter how well you advertise an idea, there are some people that will simply not get the message. This is mostly due to the fact there are many places of the country that are very rural and are only educated by family and close relatives. To reach out to these people, commercial advertisements over radio and television can be made to promote general nutrition. According to the New York Times (2008), President Obama spent $750k on his campaign alone.

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If that amount was spent on funding a 30-second television commercial advertisement every day at 12 PM, said advertisement could be running for 8-10 months. With such a low cost compared to overall budget, the United States government should be able to advertise proper eating habits at least once per day via television. Obesity and other chronic diseases that relate to diet have gone rampant in America, killing millions each year. The United States government has many options for mitigating disease, but has failed to effectively deal with the problem. It has been proven that eating properly can reduce the onset of chronic disease and obesity. Children and adults in America need to be more educated about proper diet. The last and most important thought I want to leave here comes from the article Creating Healthy Food and Eating Environments: Policy and Environmental Approaches (2008): Our ultimate goals should be to structure neighborhoods, homes, and institutional environments so that healthy behaviors are the optimal defaults. If this goal can be achieved, then true social sustainability can be realized.

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Sources:
1.

American Diabetes Association. (2011, January 06). Diabetes statistics. Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org

2.

ASPE. Health and Human Services, (2013). Aspe issue brief: Health insurance marketplace premiums for 2014. Retrieved from Office of The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation website: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/marketplacepremiums

3.

Astrup, Ryan, Grunwald, K., Storgaard, Saris, , Melanson, & Hill, O. (2007). The role of dietary fat in body fatness: evidence from a preliminary meta-analysis of ad libitum lowfat dietary intervention studies. British Journal of Nutrition, 83(S1), S25-S32. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007114500000921

4.

Beaverton School District. (2013, October 31). K-8 lunch menu: November. Retrieved from https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us

5.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (2011). Obesity: Halting the epidemic by making health easier. Retrieved from website: http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease

6.

Chung, Kim, Smith, Schroeder, Han, & Lee (2005). Daily consumption of phenolics and total antioxidant capacity from fruit and vegetables in the american diet. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 85(10), 1715-1724. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.2176

7.

Luo. (2008, December 04). Obama hauls in record $750 million for campaign The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/us/politics

8.

Neuberger, Z. (2011, September 19). Will wic turn away eligible low-income women and children next year?. Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org

9. Story, Kaphingst, M., Robinson-OBrien, & Glanz (2008). Creating healthy food and eating environments: Policy and environmental approaches. The Annual Review of Public Health, (29), 253-272. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.29.020907.09092