Nutrition And Health

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

has always played a vital role in supporting health. Today, over consumption of foods -- especially those high in fat -- is a major concern for people in the United States. When we look at the ten leading causes of illness and death in the United States, the top categories are heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Diet influences the development of the chronic diseases. Taken together, these four diseases account for about two-thirds of the nation’s 2 million deaths each year (FamilyHaven: Food choices pp.15).
These “causes” are stated as if single conditions such as heart disease caused death, but most chronic diseases arise from multiple factors over many years. A person who died from heart failure may have had preexisting conditions, such as obesity and high blood pressure, may have been a cigarette smoker, may have spent years eating a high-fat diet and getting too little exercise (Dr. Solomon pp18-19).
Of course, not all people who die ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

continue to prevail. As in the 1990 survey, two-thirds of Americans believe there are “good” and “bad” diets. Any food can fit into a healthy way of eating. The key is to balance your food choices over time so that your overall diet is sound. For example, when you eat a higher-fat food, cut back on the fat in the next meal or snack.
Consumers are also confused about the fat content of individual foods and their overall diet. Seven out of ten respondents believe that foods should contain 30 percent or less calories from dietary fats. Americans appear to be incorrectly applying the figure of 30 percent of calories to individual foods, rather than to the total ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: