What are the effects of childhood food quality on future health?

Everywhere in the United States you see advertisements of medications for all different types of sicknesses and diseases. Pharmaceutical companies are making big profits from so many suffering from chronic diseases. There are many people that depend on medications because they were born with some type of health complication. Situations like those may not be preventable, because the medication helps to prolong life and decrease the symptoms of the illness. However, there are so many people in the United States that are taking prescribed medications and could have avoided that situation if they had a better diet from childhood. For example; if we consume an excess amount of sodium daily, then we are consuming something that can eventually lead to medical complications in our body. Also, if we don’t consume the appropriate amount of vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein the body requires daily to maintain balance we are creating imbalance that leads to diseases. This calls for serious attention to what we are putting into our body. Why wait to be an adult to have healthy and balanced nutrition? A healthy and balanced diet should begin in childhood so the child can acquire a taste for the healthy foods and not the processed foods that’s made to always taste good. In 1979, “Healthy people: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotions and Diseases Prevention” by the U.S Public Health Service Office of the Surgeon General and U.S Department of Health

Education and Welfare, gave a report on childhood nutrition. In this essay we will evaluate and analyze the Surgeon General’s report on childhood nutrition.

The underlying problem that was addressed was childhood nutrition and health benefits. Children who eat healthy and balanced meals daily have a better chance of growing to become healthier adults. The Surgeon General report began, stating “The nutritional habits developed in childhood can profoundly affect health throughout life .” (pg38) However, there are some situations that limit families from having a healthy diet and providing a healthy meal for their children, like fresh fruits and vegetables. Hence there are so many programs that are fighting against child hunger and poor nutrition. The Surgeon General discussed how the school feeding programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has helped to put a downward curve on poor childhood nutrition. The goals of these programs is to end child hunger and improve poor childhood diets .

The author of this report is the Surgeon General of the United States. The Surgeon General is the United States of America’s leading Doctor. The Surgeon General’s duties are towards public health and to promote healthier living. All public health officials are led under the supervision of the Surgeon General. The U.S Public Health Service keeps the public updated on the new medical processes available to the public. The goal is to improve overall health in the lives of people in the United States. Any advice given by the Surgeon General should be considered reliable because that is the leading Doctor of Doctors in the United States.

This report was written for the public to read and make the initial changes in their personal life that can affect their health. The U.S Public Health Services can use this report as a source to connect with the public on the importance of a healthy and balanced diet for children to promote healthier outcomes. Medical students can also use this report to help support their

topic concerning childhood nutrition and health outcomes. The targeted audience in this report is the general public, but other health officials would benefit from reading this report. The purpose of the report is to engage the public on the value of childhood nutrition. According to the Surgeon General , “Today’s most prevalent nutritional problems are overeating and ill advised food choices”.(pg38) The General was advising the parents, schools, pediatricians and everyone that participates in what children are eating to improve the child’s health outcomes. The purpose of this report is to educate the public on better nutritional habits and to warn the public to avoid foods that can potentially make you sick.

The genre of this report is presented in the form of an official government report. The Surgeon General’s report is a “ comprehensive scientific review document” that is put together for the health benefit and well being in the lives of the American people. The medium of the report is a government website. This report can be accessed on google search and it is downloadable for free.

The author’s took a supportive stance because the Surgeon General advocated for children to have a better childhood diet. However, the Surgeon General was professionally speaking to the public as it is the role and responsibilities of the Surgeon General. The Surgeon General’s point on childhood nutrition was brief, but effective. There was a warning, not to dismiss the seriousness and concerns of the negative outcomes associated with poor childhood nutrition. The author wants the readers to consider the information and advice to improve overall health. The goal is to start making those important health changes for the children to improve future health outcomes.

The language used by the author in the Surgeon General’s had a mixer of medical terminology and simple language. Overall, the reading was clear and easy to understand. The

language used in the report showed that the author wanted to connect with the intended audience, the general public. Even though there was some medical terminology used like coronary arteriosclerosis and hypertension, the reader would have an idea that the author is talking about diseases that attack the heart. Even Though the author could have said ‘high blood pressure’ instead of the term ‘hypertension’ and ‘high blood sugar levels’ instead of the term ‘diabetes’. The language used by the author shows that they have a medical background. The author’s tone was firm and informative. The tone here was important to get the main important points out, educate the public and inform them about the risk associated with childhood nutrition and health outcomes. The Surgeon General warns the public, “About one-third of today’s obese adults were overweight as children…obesity is more difficult to correct in adulthood, major preventive efforts are best directed toward children and adolescents.” (pg38) The diet for children is very important for health purposes. The General highlighted several risk factors and warning signs associated with poor eating habits in children. The tone gave the impression that educating the public was top priority, without any biases.

In conclusion, The Surgeon General’s report was basically an informative medical report on childhood nutrition and the negative side effects associated with poor childhood nutrition. The Rhetorical Situation highlights the negative effects of a poor childhood diet, the positive changes that can prevent such negative health conditions due to poor nutrition and methods that was implemented to bridge the gap of poor childhood nutrition. The author’s report on nutrition began with these words, “The nutritional habits developed in childhood can profoundly affect health throughout life.”(39) Hence the author explained how childhood food quality would have an effect on future health. The author is telling people to choose the foods properly to help the body to be strong and without diseases. “Overeating and ill advised food

choices” according to the Surgeon General, is the issue concerning childhood nutrition. Poor nutritional habits lead to conditions like obesity or malnourishment that develop into major health complications, just as diabetes or hypertension. The unwanted outcome of poor nutritional habits can result in possible dependency on medications and living with health complications. This report didn’t discuss medications and maybe the report should have discussed medication. The Surgeon General also showed knowledge of situations that prevent children from having healthier meal choices. The mention of the school nutrition program and food stamps, are methods that were implemented to help improve childhood quality meals. Overall, the report was very informative and beneficial. The author could have expanded the report on childhood nutrition from four paragraphs to an entire book. However, the report was very important in the year 1979 and it is still relatable today in the year 2021.

Works Cited

Healthy People : the Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, 1979

By United States. Public Health Service. Office of the Surgeon General, United States. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health · 1979 (pg 38 & 39)

Date of Access 09/01/21