In recent years, many people have suffered from diseases known as ‘silent killers’, such as diabetes and hypertension. The diseases are mostly caused by unhealthy foods which are high in sugar or salt or both. While some people argue that ensuring a healthy diet is the duty of the state, others maintain that nutrition is a personal responsibility. In my perspective, while individuals must take responsibility for what they eat, governments play an important role in creating an environment facilitating a healthy daily diet for citizens.
People who support government intervention argue that public health directly affects our nation’s economy. When a large percentage of people suffer from diet-related diseases, public health care budgets will increase significantly. Therefore, the government has to make regulations. The state can make strict rules for the related companies to put up sugar and salt grade labels on their products and can increase taxes on the companies whose products contain high sugar and salt. This is expected to reduce sugar and salt levels in their products. Besides, the government also can do more campaigns about ‘silent killer’ diseases which are caused by eating high sugar or salt food and teach how to balance eating habits to citizens since childhood so that people will be more careful when buying food products for consumption.
On the other hand, others believe that daily nutrition is purely a personal responsibility. In this modern era, nutritional information and dietary guidelines are available on the internet. The state may make many rules about circulating food and drink within their territory but everyone has the right to decide what they will consume. Besides, individuals also have the right to choose how to allocate their time and money. They may not have much time for cooking so choosing fast foods which mostly contain high sugar or salt is a more convenient option.
In conclusion, maintaining a healthy diet requires collaboration between the state and individuals. Although individuals have a duty to make decisions about what they eat, I personally believe that governments have a fundamental obligation to regulate the food industry and to educate citizens about healthy food to make sure they have a healthy diet.