Over the years, the eating habits of the people in the United States have dramatically changed. Regarding diet, the food that the people in the modern days are taking is very different from that which our grandparents and the great-grandparents used to consume. The people’s attitudes towards shopping, cooking, and dining have changed. In the modern days, many people have turned to the consumption of unhealthy foods as compared to three generations ago, and this has a negative impact on their health. This paper looks into how eating has evolved over the years and the negative impacts that it poses to the health of the people.
Evolution of eating over the years
The first way in which eating has changed over the years is that people in the current days are consuming more of the convenience or fast foods. In the modern days, cooking takes less time than many years’ backs. However, there has been increased popularity of the convenience foods, and thus people prefer to take it more and the microwave meals than preparing meals at home. Many people assume in the modern days assumes that they are busy and do not have time to prepare fresh food at home yet preparing fresh food takes less time than standing in a restaurant queuing for fast foods. Similarly, in the modern days, many people prefer dining out at the restaurants than it was in the past. While eating out, people are likely to consume more calories as compared to eating food prepared at home (Sanford, 12).
The other way in which eating has evolved over the years is that traditionally, our grandparents used to take only three meals in a day (Vany, Arthur, 29). There was no snacking and there existed limited foods that were pre-packaged and hence not possible for people to grab in the day as they engaged in various tasks. In the present day, things have changed to a great extent. Many supermarkets and restaurants are selling food 24/7, and this depicts that it is possible for people to access food every time they need it. People in the modern world are leading fast-paced lives, and as a result of this, they can easily access and pick the pre-packaged snacks such as biscuits and crisps among others without hesitation to eat as they engage in their daily activities. People in the modern world are thus consuming lots of food as compared to the previous generations as they can snack every time they want to and as a result of this; they end up consuming lots of calories.
The third way in which eating has changed over the years is in the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy. Years ago, our grandparents used to consume dairy products from their farm animals or which they purchased from their neighbors locally. Animals were not being fed with antibiotics, growth hormones and feeds that are genetically modified meaning they were eating animal products that were very healthy. However, this has changed in the modern days because many animals in America get raised in factories where they don’t access the sunlight and are prone to the spread of diseases due to the unsanitary conditions. The dairy animals get fed with unnatural foods that contain chemicals and drugs which have a direct impact on the humans who consume the said animals. Due to these chemicals, the ability of the animals to absorb nutrients declines, and this also decreases the ability of the human beings to get these nutrients. Also, the fruits and vegetables grown conventionally tend to have fewer mineral and proteins as compared to those grown organically a half-century ago. This is due to the use of the fertilizers and pesticides in conventionally farming which disrupts the quality of the soil hence resulting in the reduction of the important nutrients.
Negative impacts on health
People in the modern world have adopted unhealthy eating habits as compared to the foods that were eaten by other generations in the past. People are consuming so much of foods containing added sugars, lots of saturated and trans fat, processed ingredients, sodium and cholesterol. Unhealthy eating habits pose a negative impact on the health of the consumers. One of the negative impacts on health is that it contributes to nutrient deficiency (Walsh, 77). Eating a balanced and healthy diet offers the body the necessary nutrients required for growth, maintenance, and proper functioning. In the modern world, many of the diet consumed by the Americans lack the adequate amount of nutrients, for instance, calcium, potassium, vitamin D and dietary fiber that the body requires for proper functioning. Failure to consume the necessary amount of nutrients that the body requires poses negative impacts on the individuals’ health. Lack of calcium and having low levels of vitamin D affects the bones while lack of the recommended levels of potassium causes muscle weakness and fatigue. Fiber, on the other hand, assists in keeping the colon healthy, and this helps in the reduction of risk of diabetes and heart disease.
The second negative impact on health due to the changes in the eating habits is that many people are suffering from chronic diseases. Consuming healthy and nutritious diet aids in the provision of the nutrients that are needed to maintain high body immunity and hence assist the body in keeping off diseases. In the modern world, many people consume foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt and have low nutrients. Making unhealthy food choices increases the risk of an individual to suffer from diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and hypertension among others. Consuming unhealthy food poses individuals to a risk of suffering from lifestyle diseases.
The third negative impact of the changes in the eating habits over the years is that it has contributed to weight gain. Weight maintenance is considered to be a very critical factor in the prevention of the chronic diseases. High consumption of the convenience foods contributes to the gaining of extra pounds because; fast foods have high-calorie content as compared to the food freshly prepared at home (Loeb, Daniel " James, 26). Eating these types of food contributes to gaining excess weight a condition referred to as obesity. Other factors that contribute to gaining excess weight that is as a result of the food that people eat include; intake of insufficient vegetables, whole grains, and fruits, consumption of fatty foods, high consumption of junk foods and consistent consumption of beverages such as soda that have a high-calorie content. When individuals become obese, the risk of developing other health conditions such as liver diseases, high blood pressure diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis and high cholesterol among others increases.
Conclusion
To sum up, it is clear that the eating habits of the people in the modern world have dramatically changed as compared to those of the three generations ago. Many people in the modern society have a high preference for fast foods to freshly prepared food at home. People assume that they are very busy and hence do not have adequate time to prepare meals at home but this is not true since the time taken to wait for fast food at the restaurants is almost the same as the time taken to cook at home. People in the present world also values snacking as compared to our grandparents and great-grandparents who used to take strictly three meals a day. There has also been an increase in the consumption of dairy products, fruits, and vegetables that have a high content of chemicals and this reduces the nutrition value of the foods. The eating habits of the people in the modern world have negative impacts on their health as they cause conditions such as being overweight, nutrient deficiency and chronic diseases among others.
Works Cited
Loeb, Katharine L., Daniel Grange, and James Lock. Family therapy for adolescent eating and weight disorders: new applications. New York: Taylor and Francis Ltd, 2015. Print.
Sanford, Marlin G. Fast foods: consumption patterns, the role of globalization and health effects. New York: Novinka, 2014. Print.
Vany, Arthur. The new evolution diet: what our paleolithic ancestors can teach us about weight loss, fitness, and aging. Emmaus: Rodale, 2011. Print.
Walsh, B T., et al. Handbook of assessment and treatment of eating disorders. Arlington, Virginia: American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2016. Print.
