Healthy living and the government’s role in it is a great concern for many. Some opine that the government needs to pass laws regarding nutritious food intake to improve public health, while others oppose this idea as they believe that it is a matter of individual choice. The following paragraphs will shed some light on this debate. In my opinion, however, campaigns and school education, instead of laws, can bring better results.
On the one hand, a healthy lifestyle is a choice and habit of an individual. No matter how many laws are passed and how strictly the government monitors food quality if a person does not follow a healthy lifestyle and eating habits, he or she will suffer from health-related problems today or tomorrow. Thus the choices of individuals greatly affect the overall health condition of a nation. Making laws to force people to eat nutritional food is impractical, and governments in developing countries can never implement that policy.
On the other hand, the use of chemicals, preservatives and adhesives in food items should be banned, and more taxes should be imposed on unhealthy fast food. Only the government can ensure that. In this regard, laws can improve the food quality that citizens intake. Even after having a proper diet and regular exercise, if people are forced to eat foods that have chemicals and harmful ingredients, they would suffer from dangerous diseases. Using unauthorised chemicals, and selling expired and low-quality foods should be halted by the authority and more stringent laws are needed for that.
In my opinion, instead of making new laws to force ordinary citizens to eat what the state believes is healthy, frequent campaigns can make people aware of eating unhealthily. The government should also focus on educating youth students to learn about healthy eating habits so that they become responsible adults to follow a healthy lifestyle and proper diets. This, in my opinion, would bring far better results in the long run.
To conclude, citizens of a country have to follow a healthy lifestyle and eat nutritious food to stay fit and productive. But instead of making laws and forcing them, the state authority can educate them and monitor the market to ensure it.