An unhealthy diet has countless detrimental consequences for the healthcare system, businesses, local authorities and other organizations – with the damage felt both in the short and long term by every company and every organization that employs workers. So what does the corporate price tag of a harmful diet look like – and how can it be addressed? We have summarized for you everything you need to know about the subject.
Eat unhealthy foods and save money – right?
The common thought is that healthier food products are also more expensive. In fact, this is not a far-fetched myth – but a reality that can be encountered in any supermarket or grocery store. A healthier and more nutritious shopping basket will cost a significantly larger amount of money than a less healthy basket filled with processed, high-carbohydrate addictive products and trans fat.
“A healthier and more nutritious shopping basket will cost a significant amount of money more than a less healthy basket filled with processed products.” Credit: freepik
Take for example the cereals and carbs section of the supermarket: breads, rolls, pitas, pastas and many other products. Studies show that products made from whole grains – which are considered to be infinitely more nutritious and healthy compared to white flour – are much more expensive. These price differences serve as a barrier that prevents many populations from consuming whole grains and giving up white flour.
The reasons for this are varied and range from difficulty in processing whole grains, lower demand and differences in branding and marketing. The volume of production is probably the most significant factor in price differences. One of the most basic rules in economics says that wider production reduces the production cost of a single unit. This is a pretty simple principle. Suppose we want to produce one car. We will have to spend long hours touring between factories, hiring engineers and skilled workers to build the engine, importing different parts from foreign countries – which will cause the price of the car to skyrocket. But if we want to produce thousands of cars – we can just set up a factory. With the production line method we can save a lot of costs. Thus the final car price will be significantly reduced. If we decide to produce a million cars – the price will decrease even more.
This is also true of food production. There is a huge and international market for consuming white flour of its various types. Whole grains enjoy lower demand and therefore their production costs are higher. The same is true for other food products. Think how many people in the country and around the world are interested in consuming sweets and sugary drinks. Now compare this market segment to the target audience of healthier products like oatmeal snacks or beet juice.
In addition, in many countries – and especially in the United States – the government proactively subsidizes the agricultural farms that produce the common food products. Wheat, corn and potatoes – all of these receive huge subsidies from the federal government in the United States, in order to reduce the food costs of the average consumer. Healthier alternatives do not receive these subsidies – and thus their prices rise.
An American study has shown that a healthy diet costs $ 1.5 each day compared to a less healthy diet. This difference may seem marginal to us, but over a full month that amount becomes $ 45 per person. If we think of a family of four – the transition to a healthier menu will cost $ 180 a month, which is about NIS 580. With very few families – and especially not lower-class families – there is the ability to spend that amount.
“One study claims that unhealthy eating habits cost the US economy $ 50 billion a year.” Credit: Freepik
But the truth is that the cost of shopping at the supermarket is not at all the main economic item of an unhealthy diet. The main effects of our diet choices are measured at the macro level: the medical treatments, the sick days caused as a result of an unhealthy diet and the social effects at the state level.
One study claims that unhealthy eating habits cost the US economy $ 50 billion a year. This amount is based on a $ 300 calculation for a person who consumes an unhealthy diet a year – which mostly includes inflated health expenses compared to a person who chooses a healthier menu.
These increased health expenses result from the severe health damages of poor nutrition. An unhealthy diet that includes high amounts of addictive carbohydrates significantly increases the chance of diseases like obesity, heart disease, diabetes and at least 13 different types of cancer. These diseases impair the working habits of the common man, increase the number of sick days he needs – and reduce his productivity at the daily level. According to one study, the damage to the United States economy from the diseases that accompany an unhealthy diet amounts to $ 16 trillion over just 9 years.
The Abrahamson Institute, which runs a successful program to wean sugar and addictive carbohydrates, conducted an extensive survey of the dietary habits of the Israeli public, which showed that the average Israeli is interested in reducing his consumption of sugar and addictive carbohydrates – but is unable to do so on his own. 17 percent of respondents tried to completely avoid sugar consumption – while 65 percent of respondents tried to reduce sugar consumption. Most respondents answered that they consume up to 10 teaspoons of sugar a day – and estimated that the recommended consumption is up to 4 teaspoons of sugar. In other words, most Israelis believe that they consume excessive amounts of sugar – and want to stop doing so.
“In recent years, the world’s popularity of WHP programs, acronyms for Workplace health promotion, has been growing,” explains Ehud Abrahamson. “These programs are designed to improve the health habits of the organization’s employees – with the insight that this improvement will also lead to significant financial savings for organizations. Healthier employees are more efficient and effective employees – and WHP programs are able to bring about a fundamental change in these aspects.”
Ehud explains that many organizations have begun providing their employees with tools that help staff a healthy lifestyle that contributes to the physical, mental and promising health of productive and vital workers, adding, “The Abrahamson Institute for Carbohydrate and Sugar Addiction has enjoyed particularly high success rates of over 90 percent. “From the largest companies in the economy, in a variety of prominent sectors, in order to build organizational programs that will give all employees of the organizations the tools designed to create a positive change in their eating habits.”
WHP programs have in the past received a recommendation from the federal authorities in the United States – and the CDC Center recommends that organizations establish such programs to address aspects of nutrition and health at both the business and organizational levels. It is now clear that the price of an unhealthy diet is paid not only by the common man – but also and especially by the employer and the state.