Food-related issues are in the news lately, reminding me of a course I taught during my latter days as an agricultural economist. It was a course in world food problems. The text I used described four types of malnutrition: vitamin-mineral deficiency, parasite-related malnutrition, protein-calorie deficiency, and - you guessed it - "over nutrition," or malnutrition related to excess intake of sugars, fats, and salt.
Vitamin-mineral deficiencies, while creating serious problems, are the easiest and least costly to remedy. Low-cost technology is available to fortify foods with essential vitamins and minerals.
Parasite-related malnutrition is usually caused by polluted water or inadequate sanitation and sewage disposal. Good sanitation and adequate infrastructure, including water supply and sewage disposal facilities, go far toward remedying this source of malnutrition.
The third type of malnutrition, protein-calorie deficiency, is a chronic problem in much of the developing world, largely in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that more than 1 billion people suffer from inadequate protein-calorie intake. This is the most costly and difficult type of malnutrition to overcome. It is mainly the result of poverty and lack of resources with which to attain what economists refer to as "food security."
The long-term solution is tied to general economic development in those regions. Paradoxically, inadequate food supplies often occur in predominantly rural agricultural areas. Increasing agricultural productivity in those areas would be helpful. However, as aggregate world food production, at least currently, is adequate to feed the world's people, the major problem is not insufficient world food production, but poverty and low incomes with which to enable people to purchase adequate food.
The fourth type of malnutrition, excess calorie intake, and being overweight was once a uniquely American problem, but is becoming a problem in other parts of the developed world. As we gain years, most of us also gain pounds that we don't need. But perhaps the greater problem is increasing obesity among children and teenagers.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the percentage of obese children 6 to 11 years in the U.S. increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 18 percent over the same period. The percentage of adolescents aged 12 to 19 who were obese increased from 5 percent to 18 percent over that period.
Paradoxically, just as lack of income is a cause of hunger and malnutrition in the developing world, lack of income is cited as a cause of malnutrition and obesity in the developed world. Fresh fruits and vegetables and healthful protein-rich products cost more than many highly processed foods that are high in starch and sugars. Sugar-rich soft drinks are abundant and inexpensive.
Added to this are lifestyles that cut into time for preparation of healthy meals. With parents on the run and kids involved in multiple activities, there is less participation in formal meals. The traditional family dinner is either a thing of the past or rare for many families.
We cheeseheads maintain that nutritious dairy products get an undeserved bad rap on the weight issue. The problem is not nutritious milk and cheese, but too many empty calories and lack of exercise.
Even mundane changes require less exercise today. For example, Monroe's public grade schools were once located so that kids walked or biked to school. They returned home and back again during lunch. Monroe's present middle school building was once the high school, centrally located. Town kids walked or biked to school, and went home and back over lunch. Many had paper delivery routes. For farm kids, deficient exercise was never an issue. School lunches had not yet arrived. Vending machines in schools were unheard of.
I'm not suggesting we would or could go back to days past. But these are simple examples of changes contributing to less physical activity.
The percentage of calories that kids get from soft drinks is astounding. In days of old, we would ride our bikes to a neighborhood gas station on a hot day to get a bottle of pop from the cooler - a real treat. But that's very different from greeting the morning with a can of pop and having access to it throughout the day.
Modern electronic gadgetry creates many options for kids. But it has also reduced the tendency for kids to organize pick-up games in the summer or go sledding in the winter. And in many urban areas where kids previously played in the streets, the streets are now seen as unsafe.
An entire industry has been built up on weight problems. Countless books have been written and fad diets and gimmicks invented - and probably fortunes made on it. Yet it all comes down to calories in and calories expended. I know, it's probably more complicated than that. But you can't get too far away from the basics.
It reminds me of a couple other modern day "problems." Parents sometimes complain of their children being "picky eaters." It seems that withholding food would remedy a reluctance to eat.
Along the same lines, some Americans complain of sleep problems - insomnia. Prolonged periods of hard physical labor have anciently been thought to induce the need and desire for sleep, and to bring it about. If this sounds overly strenuous, I recommend reading the strategic plan of any public agency or publicly held corporation.
As economist John Kenneth Galbraith once observed, "Upon coming upon the word 'planning,' the typical reader goes no further. In general, he is well-advised." I agree; reading a typical planning document will cure all but the most stubborn case of insomnia.
It eventually comes down to choices. With increased technology, increased availability of unhealthful food and drinks, and options and lifestyles that require less physical effort, care and discipline are required to make good choices.
It's tempting to take the easy way out. As often, we become our own worst enemy.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
Vitamin-mineral deficiencies, while creating serious problems, are the easiest and least costly to remedy. Low-cost technology is available to fortify foods with essential vitamins and minerals.
Parasite-related malnutrition is usually caused by polluted water or inadequate sanitation and sewage disposal. Good sanitation and adequate infrastructure, including water supply and sewage disposal facilities, go far toward remedying this source of malnutrition.
The third type of malnutrition, protein-calorie deficiency, is a chronic problem in much of the developing world, largely in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that more than 1 billion people suffer from inadequate protein-calorie intake. This is the most costly and difficult type of malnutrition to overcome. It is mainly the result of poverty and lack of resources with which to attain what economists refer to as "food security."
The long-term solution is tied to general economic development in those regions. Paradoxically, inadequate food supplies often occur in predominantly rural agricultural areas. Increasing agricultural productivity in those areas would be helpful. However, as aggregate world food production, at least currently, is adequate to feed the world's people, the major problem is not insufficient world food production, but poverty and low incomes with which to enable people to purchase adequate food.
The fourth type of malnutrition, excess calorie intake, and being overweight was once a uniquely American problem, but is becoming a problem in other parts of the developed world. As we gain years, most of us also gain pounds that we don't need. But perhaps the greater problem is increasing obesity among children and teenagers.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the percentage of obese children 6 to 11 years in the U.S. increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 18 percent over the same period. The percentage of adolescents aged 12 to 19 who were obese increased from 5 percent to 18 percent over that period.
Paradoxically, just as lack of income is a cause of hunger and malnutrition in the developing world, lack of income is cited as a cause of malnutrition and obesity in the developed world. Fresh fruits and vegetables and healthful protein-rich products cost more than many highly processed foods that are high in starch and sugars. Sugar-rich soft drinks are abundant and inexpensive.
Added to this are lifestyles that cut into time for preparation of healthy meals. With parents on the run and kids involved in multiple activities, there is less participation in formal meals. The traditional family dinner is either a thing of the past or rare for many families.
We cheeseheads maintain that nutritious dairy products get an undeserved bad rap on the weight issue. The problem is not nutritious milk and cheese, but too many empty calories and lack of exercise.
Even mundane changes require less exercise today. For example, Monroe's public grade schools were once located so that kids walked or biked to school. They returned home and back again during lunch. Monroe's present middle school building was once the high school, centrally located. Town kids walked or biked to school, and went home and back over lunch. Many had paper delivery routes. For farm kids, deficient exercise was never an issue. School lunches had not yet arrived. Vending machines in schools were unheard of.
I'm not suggesting we would or could go back to days past. But these are simple examples of changes contributing to less physical activity.
The percentage of calories that kids get from soft drinks is astounding. In days of old, we would ride our bikes to a neighborhood gas station on a hot day to get a bottle of pop from the cooler - a real treat. But that's very different from greeting the morning with a can of pop and having access to it throughout the day.
Modern electronic gadgetry creates many options for kids. But it has also reduced the tendency for kids to organize pick-up games in the summer or go sledding in the winter. And in many urban areas where kids previously played in the streets, the streets are now seen as unsafe.
An entire industry has been built up on weight problems. Countless books have been written and fad diets and gimmicks invented - and probably fortunes made on it. Yet it all comes down to calories in and calories expended. I know, it's probably more complicated than that. But you can't get too far away from the basics.
It reminds me of a couple other modern day "problems." Parents sometimes complain of their children being "picky eaters." It seems that withholding food would remedy a reluctance to eat.
Along the same lines, some Americans complain of sleep problems - insomnia. Prolonged periods of hard physical labor have anciently been thought to induce the need and desire for sleep, and to bring it about. If this sounds overly strenuous, I recommend reading the strategic plan of any public agency or publicly held corporation.
As economist John Kenneth Galbraith once observed, "Upon coming upon the word 'planning,' the typical reader goes no further. In general, he is well-advised." I agree; reading a typical planning document will cure all but the most stubborn case of insomnia.
It eventually comes down to choices. With increased technology, increased availability of unhealthful food and drinks, and options and lifestyles that require less physical effort, care and discipline are required to make good choices.
It's tempting to take the easy way out. As often, we become our own worst enemy.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
