LIFE> Health
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LIFE> Health
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Split decision
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-05 16:24  Obesity experts say the lousy economy threatens to worsen people's waistlines because bad-for-you food happens to be the cheapest. But there are healthy cheap eats, and new research aims to show how to eke out the most nutrition out of every buck. "We wanted to make sure every calorie counted," says Dr Adam Drewnowski, who directs the University of Washington Center for Public Health Nutrition and is pushing for the federal government to put more affordability into the calculation when it issues new dietary guidelines next year. No, his plan is not a plea to live on salads. After all, salad greens can cost four times as much as green beans and not last nearly as long. Drewnowski is out to rehabilitate the potato, just not the french-fry version. He says it is time to welcome protein-rich eggs back to the table. Spinach? Excellent if you can afford it. If not, iceberg lettuce has merit, he insists. No time to cook from scratch, or live in a low-income neighborhood where good fresh produce is scarce? Frozen veggies can be better buys anyway, he says, and even canned if you watch the sodium. "The message is now shifting from the most nutrient-rich foods to the most affordable nutrient-rich foods," says Drewnowski. Two-thirds of US adults are either overweight or obese, and childhood obesity is so widespread that some doctors predict there will soon be a generation with lower life expectancy than their parents. The recession won't help. "Higher food prices are straining household budgets, especially for low-income families," says Dr James Marks of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who fears rising grocery bills will outstrip what little progress is being made in encouraging better eating and more exercise. It is a hard fact: Eating healthier can cost more. When you are hungry, you go for what is most filling, meaning calorie-dense foods with lots of added fat and sugar. |
