When people think of a healthy diet, they think of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole foods, and lean meats baked or grilled instead of fried. For many these days, the stumbling block to a rounded diet isn't that education about choosing produce over processed items is lacking. Instead, it's that the prices of the available options drive many to make unhealthy choices. Fresh goods with high prices aren't always an attractive purchase next to cheaper, shelf stable goods that feed more of the family. For a lot of families, the positive choices on the shelves price themselves right out of reach.There's a correlation between the cost of the best options and blood sugar. When shopping for groceries, most families have a set budget to spend for a week. Whatever they buy must feed them for that week. Too often, an average shopper is forced to choose between a small amount of healthy, fresh produce that will be gone or spoiled quickly, or a larger amount of inexpensive, shelf stable, processed foods. When money needs to be stretched with less healthy choices, obesity in adults and children will rise. When obesity rises, so too will blood sugar and type 2 diabetes.
In order to best protect public health, more studies need to be done on how to help this situation. It's not enough for people to understand the association between unhealthy supermarket choices and health risks if the best choices are still priced out of their range. Instead, a full review of government regulations covering the availability of fresh produce and lean meats at reasonable prices for all is called for. Otherwise, the toll is overwhelming on those who can least bear it.