The trend of obesity in the United States has significantly increased and has become a significant health issue resulting in numerous diseases over the past thirty years. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (2013), obesity roughly doubled among children from ages two to five and roughly tripled among youth over six years old in the United States since the 1970s. Research indicates that the two most essential factors influencing obesity in youth are lack of exercise and unhealthy diets (Zhao & Jiang, 2013). Therefore, cultivating a healthy eating habit is necessary for young people because potential health problems caused by diets have become a crisis among them. The purpose of this paper is to encourage young people to eat healthily. To do so, I will focus on the effects of unhealthy diets on young people between one and thirty years old. To be specific, young people are classified into children, teenagers, college students, and those who just enter society. For each group, the causes and negative impacts of unhealthy diets will be discussed and analyzed in order. Finally, there will be two common misconceptions people have about healthy diets and expert explanations about why they are not valid.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2020), a healthy eating plan can be defined as any meal that helps us maintain or improve overall health by providing the body with essential nutrition. Children are overwhelmed by child-directed food marketing, which lacks the necessary nutrition and is loaded with empty calories. The rising marketing of unhealthy food is increasing childhood obesity and causing harm to their early brain development. Barry M. Popkin, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina pointed out there is an unbalanced ratio of healthy and junk food advertisements on TV by discussing one research (Kelly et al., 2019, as cited in Popkin) which calculated the average time of television advertising of unhealthy foods to kids (Popkin 2020). The result indicates that children watched four times more ads for unhealthy foods and drinks than healthy ones during all TV on average. As consumers, we have to realize that capitalists’ goal is to make as many profits as possible. If we ignore children’s unhealthy diet problems now, it will be worse as the same marketing methods are increasing via online, mobile, viral, and social media. Parents are children’s first teachers and role models, so helping kids to develop a healthy eating concept should be one of their responsibilities. Failing to do so usually causes potential health problems and other adverse impacts during children’s growth process. Nutrition has been recognized as one of the most significant environmental influential factors during infancy, and it remains crucial for the early child development stage. However, many children live in families who can’t afford or just don’t care about supplying healthy food. The Urban Child Institute (UCI) refers to the phenomenon as “food insecurity.” According to one article published on the UCI in 2009, children who grow up in food-insecure families are likely to develop unhealthy and inconsistent eating habits, which will place them at high risk of having cognitive impairment, obesity, and other long-term problems. Worst of all, when children’s unhealthy eating habits are formed, they are likely to last into their later ages and have a lasting impact.
Unhealthy eating habits have adverse effects on teenagers, such as causing eating disorders. When children grow up to become teenagers, they begin to be sensitive to their bodies and appearances with the development of self-esteem. In my personal experience, teenagers with obesity problems sometimes will be sidelined by peers and end up taking extreme methods to lose weight. Linda Jean-Baptiste, the physician assistant of Baruch College Health Center, confirmed that besides the biological factor, psychological and social/environmental factors are two primary causes of teenage eating disorders. In the process of growing up, self-esteem issues caused by obesity and peer pressure will lead to psychological problems and eventually develop into eating disorders (Baptiste, Email interview, Oct 5th, 2020). The best way for teenagers to keep a healthy weight is not cutting off meals, but instead, teens should adapt to more nutritional diet methods. According to Gavin (2018), an expert in pediatric weight management, teenagers crash dieting or other extreme measures usually gain back all of the pounds they lost because they haven’t changed their habits in a healthy way that they can stick with. Gavin (2018) pointed out a few healthy tips for teenagers losing weight; for example, teens can change into drinking calorie-free soda, stop eating when they are full, schedule regular meals and snacks, or eat more fruits and veggies. Following these healthy tips will not only benefit teenagers but can also help other young people at different ages to get rid of bad eating habits because many college students are also troubled by unhealthy eating.
Most college students don’t have a healthy diet habit because of budget constraints and fast-paced college life, leading to weight gain and other health problems. Forget et al. (2013), professors in the Division of Endocrinology of University of Sherbrooke, conducted an over 4-year follow-up diet investigation on 196 college students. They observed that more than 99% of students failed to meet all seven metrics required in cardiovascular health evaluation (CHE) due to their unhealthy diets. Forget et al. (2013) claim that maintaining an ideal CHE score can reduce the risk of having cardiovascular diseases and sudden death. If a proper diet can bring such great benefits, why are so many college students failing to maintain it? To figure out why, I surveyed 45 college students (33 females and 12 females) in September 2020, using Google forms, in which responders have to answer several linear questions based on their situation. According to my survey, I noticed two possible causes of college student’s unhealthy diets. First, a great many students consume snacks for convenience (78%). Second, more than half of the students are likely to eat junk food when stressed (58%). Last but not least, 45% of students tend to pick unhealthy but tasty foods, but if healthy food is more affordable, the preferences will drop from 45% to 36%. Therefore, the main reasons college students have difficulties maintaining a proper diet are the college’s fast-paced life and budget constraints. Since college students are in the prime of life, some negative impacts of malnutrition are probably not evident to them, but from the moment they start to lose their health, it is too late.
Young people now are stressed with pressure in society, which often causes them to ignore their health situations. Zhao & Jiang (2013), reporters for People’s Daily Online, states that lacking exercise and unhealthy diets have helped fuel the crisis of obesity-linked chronic diseases among young adults. To strengthen this idea, Zhao & Jiang (2013) demonstrates one interviewing example (Interview, He, 2013, as cited in Zhao & Jiang, 2013). Mr. He states that his lousy eating habits caused him to suffer from hypertension, fatty liver, and hyperuricemia in his early 30s. It is evident that unhealthy diets increase young people’s chance of having chronic diseases at an early age but eating healthily can reverse this trend. There are many ways to keep healthy, but improving one’s diet usually is the most effective. McManus (2018), the director of the Department of Nutrition at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, claims that improving the quality of one’s diet alone, even without any other targets such as losing weight, can benefit one’s health significantly. To prove her point, McManus (2018) demonstrates three similar clinical trials, which show that eating based on DASH, a balanced diet guideline, can significantly decrease one’s blood pressure level. Intaking more healthy protein or unsaturated fats with the DASH eating method can further reduce people’s LDL (bad) cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides (Lawrence et al., 1997, as cited in McManus, 2018). Healthy eating will likely be the key to reverse the trend of chronic diseases appearing among young people. Imagine what if Mr. He took good care of his diets instead of ordering junk food all the time? Will he still suffer from chronic diseases at such a young age? Although changing one’s eating habits can benefit so much, some young people probably will have excuses not to do so.
Most people know how vital diets are, but they always claim they do not have time and money to keep their diets healthy. When people walk into the supermarket, the first thing they notice will be how expensive those organic foods are. However, this is misleading. The idea of superfoods and organic food has become a weapon for businesses to make money, but people shouldn’t think all healthy foods cost a fortune as organic foods. In fact, most nutritious foods are incredibly cheap. In recent research conducted by researchers at the University of Bristol, Banks et al. (2011) have proved that healthy diets will not be costly. Banks et al. (2011) helped some obese children to adjust their diet methods with the same amount of calories but healthier foods. The results are shocking; their unhealthy diet was cheapest (£2.48/day), but a more healthy alternative menu at the same shop cost only an additional 33 pence/day (£2.81). Another common mistake about healthy diets is that preparing a healthy meal is time-consuming. Middleton (2018), a nursing lecturer at the University of Dundee, once published one article to correct the myth. She uses the recipe of Jack Monroe (2015), a famous British food writer, as her example. In the recipe (Monroe, 2015, as cited in Middleton, 2018), a courgette, tomato, and cheese gratin take no more than eight minutes to cook. It’s healthier and cheaper than a takeaway. There are many similar healthy recipes available over the internet, so time should never be an excuse for people who give up eating healthily.
Some people also believe healthy diets must be monotonous, which are too dull for most people. However, this is also a myth about healthy eating habits. It’s a common mistake that eating healthily means to eat monotonously. In contrast, a monotonous eating method usually turns out to be just the opposite of people’s wish. Meiselman et al. (2000) have experimented with how variety impacted acceptance and intake of foods. In the experiment, 1,000 test subjects were tracked for two weeks – monotonous meal week and varied meal week. The result shows that the acceptance (how willing they wanted to eat) and intake (how much they eat) were significantly lower in the monotony condition. This experiment explains why people often give up easily on healthy eating. When people tend to eat the same bland meals, like boiled chicken, broccoli, or asparagus repeatedly, their acceptance will significantly decrease. Then they will eventually give it up. One of the critical points of maintaining healthy eating habits is diversity. Fortunately, people can usually find a suitable diet method for them. Haupt (2020), a staff writer in the U.S. News, points out that there is no best diet for everyone because people all have different situations. Haupt (2020) listed nine other healthy diet lists and encouraged people to find the most suitable one for themselves. Everything is difficult at the beginning, especially starting to form a new habit. It will take some time and patience to plan out the best diet method for yourself, but this is usually worth working on because you can harvest good health in return.
In conclusion, unhealthy diets negatively impact all youth, from children to young people entering society. These adverse situations usually occur continuously because a bad habit formed in youth will often last a lifetime. Even though eating unhealthily will likely affect early brain development, cause eating disorders, and increase the possibility of having chronic diseases and cardiovascular disease, some people still refuse to change by using time, money, and diversity as excuses. However, as long as people take the time to learn and change, they should not be problems. Reversing the impact of an unhealthy diet on contemporary young people cannot rely solely on regulations like Popkin(2020) called for and individual consciousness. Changing destructive behaviors will never be too late. Remember, you are the only one who can control your life.
Reflection:
Writing is a fantastic journey. Each time I write, I feel significant self-improvement. Through this valuable experience of writing an argumentative essay, I learned how to find sources from Baruch Newman online library and cite them properly with APA format. Some useful websites like Purdue Owl or EasyBib helped me write a better essay with correct citation. During my writing, the most challenging thing was how to connect the sources I found before and new sources into a fluent logic. Sometimes it also requires me to fully interpret my references to my audience, which are always written by experts and cause me extra efforts to understand.
Although I’ve written so many argumentative essays in high school, this is my first time writing it in college. A college-level argumentative essay assignment is much more complicated than I expected. It has more restrictions on selecting sources and using them as evidence. When I started to paper the essay, I realized that my proofs from the previous assignment are not enough, and some of them are even not strong enough to support my claim. Finding new sources isn’t an easy process. Once I spent over two hours on Baruch Newman online library searching articles, I found nothing fits my argument. However, after finishing my paper and looking over my citation page, I’m proud of what I’ve done.
Finding sources and writing them done are not my ultimate goal in this essay. The purpose of my writing is to persuade young people to change their unhealthy eating behaviors before they suffer from any possible diseases caused by unhealthy diets. I hope my audience can be influenced and start to change their life.
Reference
Banks, J., Williams, J., Cumberlidge, T., Cimonetti, T., Sharp, D., & Shield, J. (2011, December 27). Is healthy eating for obese children necessarily more costly for families? Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3252534/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Adults Meeting Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendations – United States, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6426a1.htm
Forget, G., Doyon, M., Lacerte, G., Labonté, M., Brown, C., Carpentier, A., . . . Hivert, M. (2013, August 27). Adoption of American Heart Association 2020 Ideal Healthy Diet Recommendations Prevents Weight Gain in Young Adults. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212267213011106
Gavin, M. (Ed.). (2018, June). How Can I Lose Weight Safely? (for Teens) – Nemours KidsHealth. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/lose-weight-safely.html
Haupt, A. (2020, January 02). What Is the ‘Best Diet’ for You? Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/articles/what-is-the-best-diet-for-you
Hazlegreaves, S. (2020, August 18). Marketing unhealthy foods to kids. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/marketing-unhealthy-foods-to-kids/92790/
Health.gov. (2015). Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015–2020 8th Edition. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/2015-2020-dietary-guidelines/guidelines/
Jean-Baptiste, L. (2020, October 05). Why Eating Healthy Matters to Young People [E-mail interview].
Katherine D. McManus, M. (2018, December 06). Benefits of a healthy diet – with or without weight loss. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/benefits-of-a-healthy-diet-with-or-without-weight-loss-2018121915572
Meiselman, H., DeGraaf, C., & Lesher, L. (2000, September 06). The effects of variety and monotony on food acceptance and intake at a midday meal. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938400002687
Middleton, C. (2018, September 11). Myth: Healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://theconversation.com/myth-healthy-food-is-more-expensive-than-unhealthy-food-101213
National heart lung and blood institute, U. (2013, February 13). Obesity Health Problem, Healthy Weight Basics. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/healthy-weight-basics/obesity.html
Popkin, B. M. (2020, August 18). Marketing unhealthy foods to kids. Retrieved September 05, 2020, from https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/marketing-unhealthy-foods-to-kids/92790/
The Urban Child Institute. (2011, March 25). Nutrition and Early Brain Development. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from http://www.urbanchildinstitute.org/articles/updates/nutrition-and-early-brain-development
Zhao, Y., & Jiang, F. (2020, September 19). 成人每天食用油摄入量应为25克，我国居民人均达44克. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from http://shipin.people.com.cn/n/2013/0312/c85914-20762937.html