Junk food is a term we are all familiar with and is associated with food items I bet taste well but is not considered healthy. It is believed that the term junk food was first used by a person named Michael Jacobson who was the director of the Center for Science in Public Interest. Under the heading of junk food come a lot of different types of food items namely snack foods, candy, burgers, fried fast foods and carbonated beverages. Many foods such as pizzas or tacos may or may not be termed as junk, depending upon the way they are prepared. The surprising factor here is that even though these food items are termed junk, inspite of that the demand for these things is huge and as a result they are now available 24*7 all around the world with very country putting its own twist in the taste and adding new items in the list every day. Therefore it is not wrong to say that junk food has now gone global.
Now that we know the fact that some food items give us more satisfaction and joy than the others, then why to term them as junk??
A recent study done on the effects of junk food on health reveals that because such foods have low satiation value, people don’t feel full when they consume them and so end up overheating which adds to the problem of obesity. Secondly because the taste is so mouth watering people usually tend to substitute them with other nutritious food which might be good for health but not satisfying to the taste buds, like preferring for chips or cookies rather than fruits and vegetables. Thirdly, the contribution to calories from these snack foods between the period of 1977 to 1996, increased by about 30% among children who were aged between 2 and 5 years.
According to Women and Children Health Network, the type of food that children consume effects their growth and development and eating junk food from a small age will affect their energy levels and the ability to concentrate for long period of time. As we all know the importance of physical activities in the life of a student, wrong eating habits depletes the body’s energy levels thus making them lazy, less focused and not interested in sports or other physical activities and even if they are encouraged to play, they feel tired and sick very quick because of low stamina in their bodies. Moreover experts blame junk food for the high level of chronic illness like high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke seen in children today. According to the Center for Food Safety, a survey done on 2012 reveals that obese children where likely to develop cholesterol and become prone to various heart diseases at a very young age and if necessary changes were not taken into account then it would result in premature deaths, this findings were later confirmed by the Women and Children Health Network. Finally imagine a child who is more plum than other children of his age and because of this huge body mass finds it difficult to perform tasks which other children do very easily and therefore is mostly teased and ill treated by his classmates and also many of the elders. This child grows up with low self esteem and low self confidence which leads to problems like depression as he grow older. According to the journal namely, The American Family Physician, depression is very dangerous for children and has negative effects on growth and development of the child which can lead to a fall in performance and in many cases can also lead to suicides.
With the world coming together to fight against smoking and tobacco consumption, a United Nation Official claimed that junk food is as dangerous and said that it’s as bad as tobacco or smoking is for the global health. He also said that its time that we create a framework convention on adequate and quality diets. He stated that inspite the fact that the World Health Organization implemented its global strategy on diet physical activity and health, still obesity continues to prevail along with diabetes, heart disease and other health issues among the general public. With various measures being decided such as taxation on unhealthy foods, regulation on fats and sugar food items and reduction of advertisements that promote junk food, the after effects would reveal how much of these measures were successful.
The government has decided a lot of measures to help improve the health of the nation, however the success of which depends on us changing our attitude and eating habits. According to experts there are many DO-IT YOURSELF steps or measures through which we can help ourselves and the government to help in its task of a healthy nation. These methods are simple and if performed with some determination can surely help a junk addict to convert to healthy eating. The first step to do in the list is to get rid of all the junk food items in your environment like home, office and even your car. Secondly while cooking, make sure you cook healthy foods and concentrate on using nutritious ingredients such as fruits and vegetables and whole grains etc. there are various recipes and online video which tell step by step procedure for preparing food. Save recipes of favourite dishes you come across and pass it on to your friends and family. The leftovers can then be packaged in airtight containers for later consumption. And lastly, avoid eating from out as much as possible. It’s not that you completely let go of dining outside. Many a times occasions arise when you have to spent time with your family and friends outside and during such situations eating outside is the only option. So what you can do at such times is to order food which seems to be the healthiest.
If you actually love yourself, you’ll love your body as well and would make sure that you take proper care of it. Knowing how to shift from plump to fit is not the final step, there are many out there who might need your help so take a step forward to help the people around you as well.
Georgie Rajan
