In case you missed it, there’s currently a massive movement to “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA).
MAHA’s current initiative? To remove artificial food dyes, particularly Red40, from our food supply.
For reference, more than half of American adults have one or more diet-related chronic diseases. 74% of American adults and 40% of children are overweight or obese. 45% of adults have hypertension, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. 35% of Americans are prediabetic. 13.5-23 million Americans live in a food desert, many of them families with children. Nearly 14 million kids live in food insecure homes. That’s 1 in 5 kids who don’t have enough to eat, with black and Latino children twice as likely to face hunger. 14 million adults owe over $1000 in medical debt and 3 million owe more than $10,000. 1 in 4 Americans can’t afford the drugs prescribed by their doctors.
It isn’t the food dyes or the seed oils that we need to be worried about. Our current systems and legislation are keeping us sick.
What Americans actually need to get (and stay) healthy are things like:
Higher incomes and a livable minimum wage
Better access to nutritious foods
Access to affordable medical care
Access to mental health services
Address the gap in health outcomes for minority groups
Paid parental leave
Increased funding for services like SNAP and WIC
Safe, walkable spaces to move
Gun control legislation
Admittedly, these are not small things, but they are the steps that need to be taken to ensure that ALL Americans, regardless of socioeconomic status or race, can truly become healthier.
There are also steps that we, as individuals, can take such as:
Increasing fiber consumption. Currently the average American is only eating about half of the recommended 25-30 grams of daily fiber.
Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. Only 12.3% of Americans eat the recommended 1.5-2 cups of fruit each day and only 10% eat the recommended 2-3 cups of veggies per day.
Decreasing added sugar intake. The average American is eating more than double the recommended limit (9 teaspoons per day for men, 6 teaspoons per day for women).
Walking more. Aiming for a minimum of 7500 steps per day can help reduce the risk for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression, yet the average American only walks about 3000-4000 steps per day.
Incorporating 150 minutes of physical activity/week. Currently almost half of Americans don’t reach this number.
Improving the health of America will require work on individual, community and national levels. The goal should be to focus on the steps that will make the biggest difference according to the evidence, and not get distracted by flashy headlines.
written by Coach Lauren Goehring