Nutritional Guidelines are Difficult for the Poorest Americans to Meet
Eating Healthy and following the Government recommended Food Pyramid may not be possible for about 49 million Americans.
An update of what used to be known as a food pyramid in 2010 had called on Americans to eat more foods containing potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. But if they did that, the study authors said, they would add hundreds more dollars to their annual grocery bill.
Inexpensive ways to add these nutrients to a person’s diet include potatoes and beans for potassium and dietary fiber. But the study found introducing more potassium in a diet is likely to add $380 per year to the average consumer’s food costs, said lead researcher Pablo Monsivais, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and the School of Public Health at the University of Washington.
“We know more than ever about the science of nutrition, and yet we have not yet been able to move the needle on healthful eating,” he said. The government should provide help for meeting the nutritional guidelines in an affordable way.
Add eating organic and locally grown and the task becomes even more daunting.
The poorest members of our population, who depend on government funded healthcare, are the least able to practice prevention through dietary choices and are unable to meet minimum dietary and nutritional needs.
