Negative Effects of Junk Food on the Body
Discuss about the Public Health Nutrition for Taxation of Unhealthy Food.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, unhealthy or rather junk food is defined as the packaged food substance with relatively low nutritional value. Currently, there are many forms of junk foods globally such as pizza. The harmful effects of junk foods are many and this calls for immediate interventions to curb them (Sadeghirad, Duhaney, Motaghipisheh, Campbell, & Johnston, 2016). Many studies carried out have shown that junk food is a leading factor in the cause of obesity, heart complications, and diabetes as well as other chronic diseases in children. I would like to register my gratitude to the Australian Government in particular for taking that bold step of demanding crackdown on all the junk food that is usually sold to children in their schools and I would advocate that other governments follow suit as well (“Americans Understand Obesity Crisis, But Don’t Want Junk Food Restrictions, Poll Finds,” 2013). Junk food does not only add some inches to the waistline of the affected person but has also shown to cause serious memory and learning problems both in children and adults. According to a study that was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition back in 2011, healthy individuals who consume junk food did perform miserably in terms of the cognitive tests which estimated attention, speed as well as moods. The study, therefore, did conclude that consumption of junk food on a regular basis can adversely affect the memory of individuals. This is due to the fact that junk food is a mixture of different chemical substances whose interactions in the body causes the inflammation of the hippocampus in the brain (Huizinga & Kruse, 2016). It is this hippocampus part of the brain that is responsible for memory as well as special recognition and therefore any alteration leads to memory malfunctions and recognition deficiencies. Besides, the study also did indicate that food with a high sugar and fat content suppresses activities of the brain peptide which is referred to as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which assists both in learning and memory development. Furthermore, the study also did find out that the brain is made up of synapses whose functions are learning and memory and therefore consumption of many calories can negatively affect the healthy formation and functioning of the said synapses.
Junk food has also been directly linked to increased cases of dementia. Dementia is a condition of poor brain functions caused by injuries to the brain. According to recent research, this has been the scariest of all discoveries concerning junk food. We all are aware of the fact that insulin is a hormone that is produced in the pancreas and its function is a breakdown of glucose so as to fuel the body. However, insulin can also be produced in the brain and it assists in the movement of signals between nerve cells and forming memories (Boelsen-Robinson, Backholer, & Peeters, 2013). According to a study carried out at the Brown University, too many fats, as well as sweets, can significantly raise insulin levels in our bodies. With increased levels of insulin in the body like the case of type 2 Diabetes, the brain will always stop responding to this hormone and further develop resistance to in. This can, therefore, impair our thinking ability as well as recall or creating memories and all this will lead to dementia. Based on this discovery, many scientists now attribute Alzheimer’s a a type of diabetes of the brain.
Junk Food and Memory, Dementia and Brain Function
Junk food also lessens the brain’s ability to control appetite. The consumption of excess Trans-fats that is mostly found in processed foods has the ability to send many different signals to the brain and this makes it difficult for the brain to understand what one has eaten and how hungry they are. This would probably lead to overeating (In Thompson, 2016). For the brain to function efficiently, it must be supplied with key essential fatty acids such as omega-6 and omega-3.In case there is a deficiency of these two key elements, then the brain is at risk of developing attention deficit disorder, dementia, bipolar disorder end as well as other brain-related problems.
Junk food can cause chemical changes in the body that can result in depression. According to recent studies, consumption of food with high fat and sugar content alters the chemical activity of the brain which makes it more dependent on such types of food (Waddingham, Stevens, Macintyre, & Shaw, 2015). This was in accordance to a study that was conducted at the University of Montreal on a mice and it showed that the mice did suffer from withdrawal symptoms once the junk diet was withdrawn. In human beings, however, the withdrawal symptoms are able to cause inability to deal with stress and this leads to depression (Bhadoria et al., 2015). With all these negative consequences of junk or unhealthy food, there is a need for urgent Government interventions so as to salvage the situation.
According to the report published by the World Health Organization in 2003, the cost as well as the pricing of unhealthy foods was key to reduce their risks. It was widely believed that the cheap nature of junk food compared to fresh produce was the leading cause as to why they were being consumed heavily. Researchers therefore proposed a junk food tax that will compel consumers to quit unhealthy food in preference to the healthy produce
Through a mechanism called food own and cross-price elasticity, taxation of the foods will go a long way to cut down on their consumption. Price elasticity defines the response of the consumers on the changes in the prices. Price elasticity mechanism is therefore key inaccurate prediction of the impact the tax may have on the food (Wareing, 2017). Essentially, the demand of different food products is due to its price and the price of other food products as well as other factors that might influence the preference by consumers. This is to imply that for the government to reduce consumption of junk food products, then it has to raise the price of them by imposing heavy taxes on the process of production or the materials used in manufacturing (Pbert et al., 2016). Manufactures in attempts to seek maximum profits from the markets, will have no otherwise but to increase the prices of the junk foods. The increased prices will in return render the products unattainable and this will reduce the rate of their consumption.
Junk Food and Depression
Heavy taxes on unhealthy food has already been at interplay in some countries. I would like to sincerely laud the efforts of Denmark in particular. Denmark was the first country that did launch the fat tax on unhealthy food and this was back in October 2011. The objective of this program was to curb cardiovascular diseases. The Danish government was imposing a heavy tax on any food containing more than 2.3% saturated fat at a rate of 16 kroner (us$3) per kilogram (“tax on junk food is the way to fight the childhood obesity crisis,” 2015). It was however unfortunate that the program could only last for twelve months and later repealed. This was because the majority of the retailers could sneak in the food products through their porous borders from neighboring countries such as Germany and Sweden. This should however not act as a setback rather a big lesson by our government (Barlow, Reeves, McKee, Galea, & Stuckler, 2016). The Government should in attempts to impose this heavy taxes, provide very tight security across the borders to ensure that no food with high fat and sugar content sneak into the country through any border point.
The proposals on junk or unhealthy food can be divided into two categories. The taxes on specific nutrients and the taxes on predefined food as well as beverages categories. Both the proposals, however, face a hurdle in classifying foods which are a complex combination of different ingredients with varying ingredients (Wang, Liaukonyte, & Kaiser, 2018). The feasibility as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the proposals, therefore, ought to be analyzed well for the tax program to run successfully.
The objective of taxing specific nutrients is because some sources of energy in the food have insignificant nutritional value and have been marked as the leading causes of overweight and obesity in the world. According to a report by the United Kingdom National Audit Office on obesity in England, it was noted that fat has the leading density compared to other nutrients (Guo & Garvey, 2015). Literally, meals are being consumed away from homes and the said meals are known to have more fats. A fat tax similar to the one that was initially repealed in Denmark would advocate for individuals to consume low-fat food or other non-fat alternatives.
According to research, snack tax is the most feasible approach. This would be in my opinion, the best approach. This is because studies have confirmed that the intake of calories is on the rise 1980s and this has been attributed to the consumption of snacks. From the available evidence, however, taxing snack alone would be quite difficult. This is because the end result would be insignificant calorie reduction per capita. This, therefore, calls for initial categorization of the foods before they are exposed to the said taxes.
Required Government Action
According to studies, there has been a more than 30% increment in the consumption of carbonated drinks. Carbonated drinks are known to have a lot of sugar. The excess sugar according to research, has been the greatest driver of obesity globally. With this alarming figures, there should be what we call sugar-sweetened tax on such commodities. The SSB tax would lead to reasonable results. One study for example found out that a decrease of just a quarter in the consumption of calories from SSB results in the decrease of 8000 calories per capita. Imposing the SSB tax would therefore be a galactic in the fight against unhealthy foods. Other additional activities that can be carried out besides taxes are also demonstrations. Since this is the government, I will have to advocate for the implementation of the above mentioned proposals. As we all know, the government must always be pushed over to act. The first activity that I will engage in to encourage all people or rather majority of citizens to hold peaceful demonstrations across the country. With demonstrations, the government will have no otherwise but to act promptly. Besides demonstrations, I will also initiate community education programs. I will liaise with different stakeholders within the community to ensure that I educate them on the importance of not eating junk foods. I think with this, the government will appreciate my efforts by giving in to the pressure and imposing heavy taxes on the junk or unhealthy foods. I will also go ahead and visit different primary schools in the country to teach them on the dangers associated with consumption of unhealthy foodstuffs. Other advocacy activities will include interviews on the national television and radios on the importance of imposing heavy taxes on the unhealthy foods. If all the above mentioned activities fail, I will have no otherwise but to call for assistance from the International Organizations such as the World Health Organization and the United Nation to push over the government to implement the taxes on the junk foods.
Conclusion
Junk or rather unhealthy foods refers to those foods with very little nutritional value. These foods are known to be the leading causes of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases as well as some forms of cancer. Due to this complications, there is the need for the government to come up with effective strategies that can cut on the consumption of such food products. One such strategy is through the taxation of the unhealthy food. Taxation will increase the prices of such commodities that will, in turn, reduce the rate of their consumption. Such programs once existed in Denmark though they were repealed after some time. The Government should, therefore, learn from the loopholes that did exist in the case of Denmark to implement the taxation of the Junk food to save the future generation from the obesity menace and some form of cancers.
References
Americans Understand Obesity Crisis, But Don’t Want Junk Food Restrictions, Poll Finds. (2013). PsycEXTRA Dataset. doi:10.1037/e501592013-001
Barlow, P., Reeves, A., McKee, M., Galea, G., & Stuckler, D. (2016). Unhealthy diets, obesity and time discounting: a systematic literature review and network analysis. Obesity Reviews, 17(9), 810-819. doi:10.1111/obr.12431
Bhadoria, A., Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A., Sufi, N., & Kumar, R. (2015). Childhood obesity: Causes and consequences. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4(2), 187. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.154628
Boelsen-Robinson, T., Backholer, K., & Peeters, A. (2013). The role of new media in marketing unhealthy food and beverages to children and adolescents. Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, 7, e114. doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2013.12.705
Guo, F., & Garvey, W. T. (2015). Cardiometabolic disease risk in metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity: Stability of metabolic health status in adults. Obesity, 24(2), 516-525. doi:10.1002/oby.21344
Huizinga, O., & Kruse, M. (2016). Food industry self-regulation scheme “EU Pledge” cannot prevent the marketing of unhealthy foods to children. Obesity Medicine, 1, 24-28. doi:10.1016/j.obmed.2016.01.004
In Thompson, T. (2016). Childhood obesity.
Pbert, L., Druker, S., Barton, B., Schneider, K. L., Olendzki, B., Gapinski, M. A. … Osganian, S. (2016). A School-Based Program for Overweight and Obese Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of School Health, 86(10), 699-708. doi:10.1111/josh.12428
Sadeghirad, B., Duhaney, T., Motaghipisheh, S., Campbell, N. R., & Johnston, B. C. (2016). Influence of unhealthy food and beverage marketing on children’s dietary intake and preference: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. Obesity Reviews, 17(10), 945-959.
A tax on junk food is the way to fight the childhood obesity crisis. (2015). The Pharmaceutical Journal. doi:10.1211/pj.2015.20067771
Waddingham, S., Stevens, S., Macintyre, K., & Shaw, K. (2015). “Most of them are junk food but we did put fruit on there and we have water”. Health Education, 115(2), 126-140. doi:10.1108/he-04-2014-0046
Wang, R., Liaukonyte, J., & Kaiser, H. M. (2018). Does Advertising Content Matter? Impacts of Healthy Eating and Anti-Obesity Advertising on Willingness to Pay by Consumer Body Mass Index. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 47(01), 1-31. doi:10.1017/age.2018.1
Wareing, A. (2017). School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 24(1), e12542. doi:10.1111/ijn.12542
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
