Question for other Americans here: how would you change the standard American diet or eating habits to encourage health, fitness, and longevity (both at restaurants and at home)?

17 comments

1. Less processed foods, less meat. More whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. Not super complicated, although can be unaffordable/unavailable

2. I think improving the quality of food sold at convenience stores would be the easiest way to help people in the most need. A small section of fruit & veg – even frozen fruit & veg – would go a long way to serve communities that struggle with accessing supermarkets.

3. Smaller portions, among other things.

4. ….. I wouldn’t

   We got into this mess by assuming there was a one size fits all solution

   Give it 30 years and we’ll all be having our poop and dna checked for individual diet plans

5. I honestly don’t think anything needs to change at restaurants. There are more then a few healthy restaurants chains, the majority of Americans don’t eat all of the large portion sizes in one sitting, lots of people see restaurants as an fun/not a everyday environment were they can choose more more unhealthy opinions, and since getting major criticism from the media about marketing towards kids fast food restaurants don’t really push their food as hard at kids but at adults.

   Personally, after working in the food industry and reading about how non-American cultures handle children and food, I think one thing that could change is how we view what we feed very young kids. It’s always been odd to me to see America kids who get to demand they only eat chicken fingers and macaroni. And the parents that just shrug and say it to hard to get kids to eat anything other then “kid food”. And that its easier to just let them have the chicken nuggets and an orange drink then deal with a screaming kids who doesn’t want to eat the spinach. I feel like that has to put young children on a bad path to not eating nutritious and healthy food. Also, parents that get their little kids a daily venti Frappuccino…why, Or the refreshers only to put them in a sippy cup?

6. Thing that need addressed:

   1) the higher cost of healthy food to junk food.

   2) stopping the idea of needing to eat everything on your plate.

   3) food deserts

   4) the lack of time many people have to cook

   5) lack of cooking knowledge and skills

7. Better food options at school starting at an early age. It’d be hard to implement but if schools served more fresh, balanced meals it could go a long way in developing good habits. It’s no wonder a lot of people don’t like veggies until they become an adult.

8. I think that we need to take a page from the way Japan does things. Healthy options are readily available at almost any convenience store, serving sizes are smaller, and generally the food is less processed.

   Also this isn’t really a dietary thing, it’s more of a health in general thing, now that we’re starting to see the negative effects of microplastics, we need to stop using plastic containers and go back to using glass. It’s better for our health, and it would be better for the environment (if you care about that kind of thing.)

9. 1. Get rid of “kids menus” at restaurants.
   1. If you look at other countries/cultures cuisines, kids often don’t have “their own menus” (of bland, nutritionally-empty food). Instead, they eat what the adults eat, which exposes them to a wider variety of ingredients, tastes and textures at younger ages.
   2. Improve the food available in schools
   1. As above.
   3. Stop it with the fucking corn subsidies.

10. I think we should build on the precedent we’ve established and start mandating exercise.

11. Well I’ve neve been a fan of hfcs and how’s it’s gotten into everything. So i’d start there.

12. Judging by the dollar coin thread, we need to eliminate all bills below $100, because apparently Americans are so out of shape they find a handful of coins too heavy to carry around. Just think of how much fitter we’d be if carrying a pound of coins became the norm. /s

13. i don’t care what people eat, i think it’s weird to have a standard diet idk

    i do think they should stop selling people poison so they can stop unknowingly eating it. we should be able to trust food on the shelf but you really can’t. it’s full of garbage.

14. What is the ‘standard American diet’ though?

    Can’t (successfully) ‘encourage’ anyone; can only offer options. The rest is up to them.

    Community gardens, food & nutrition flash cards, teaching various methods of physical fitness starting in grade schools (so there’s something for everyone), teaching the good and bad effects of food and beverage on the body as part of science classes (I mean, quantified scientifically), and also, (peaceful) conflict resolution, and stress reduction.

    Stress really wreaks havoc on the body.

15. Tax the bad food more. Put a limit on how much bad food can be bought with food stamps. It us ridiculous to see the carrots filled with junk food & watch it being paid for with food cards. Then we pay for their bad health thru medicaid. Make produce & fruits cheaper more affordable. The prices are ridiculous.

16. I would stop teaching the ridiculous idea of healthy foods being a one size fits all. A healthy diet for me is not the same thing as a healthy diet for my wife which is not the same thing as a healthy diet for OP.

    Same with exercise. Lifting weights and riding bikes are the exercises I enjoy so it’s going to be the ones I actually do. Miss me with that running bullshit

17. Chef here.

    * Eliminate food deserts
    * Expand CSA access as part of food assistance programs
    * Offer low-cost cooking courses through the county or local government, available on a sliding scale. Or tax incentives for local restaurants/grocery stores.
    * Improve nutritional value of school lunches while actually making them taste good
    * Life skills class requirement in school, including a section on how to cook, taught in school people who know how to make flavorful, nutrient-rich food
    * Reduce sizes of sodas in fast-food joints