essay about healthy food vs junk food

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The Impacts of Junk Food on Health

Energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, otherwise known as junk foods, have never been more accessible and available. Young people are bombarded with unhealthy junk-food choices daily, and this can lead to life-long dietary habits that are difficult to undo. In this article, we explore the scientific evidence behind both the short-term and long-term impacts of junk food consumption on our health.

Introduction

The world is currently facing an obesity epidemic, which puts people at risk for chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes. Junk food can contribute to obesity and yet it is becoming a part of our everyday lives because of our fast-paced lifestyles. Life can be jam-packed when you are juggling school, sport, and hanging with friends and family! Junk food companies make food convenient, tasty, and affordable, so it has largely replaced preparing and eating healthy homemade meals. Junk foods include foods like burgers, fried chicken, and pizza from fast-food restaurants, as well as packaged foods like chips, biscuits, and ice-cream, sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, fatty meats like bacon, sugary cereals, and frozen ready meals like lasagne. These are typically highly processed foods , meaning several steps were involved in making the food, with a focus on making them tasty and thus easy to overeat. Unfortunately, junk foods provide lots of calories and energy, but little of the vital nutrients our bodies need to grow and be healthy, like proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Australian teenagers aged 14–18 years get more than 40% of their daily energy from these types of foods, which is concerning [ 1 ]. Junk foods are also known as discretionary foods , which means they are “not needed to meet nutrient requirements and do not belong to the five food groups” [ 2 ]. According to the dietary guidelines of Australian and many other countries, these five food groups are grains and cereals, vegetables and legumes, fruits, dairy and dairy alternatives, and meat and meat alternatives.

Young people are often the targets of sneaky advertising tactics by junk food companies, which show our heroes and icons promoting junk foods. In Australia, cricket, one of our favorite sports, is sponsored by a big fast-food brand. Elite athletes like cricket players are not fuelling their bodies with fried chicken, burgers, and fries! A study showed that adolescents aged 12–17 years view over 14.4 million food advertisements in a single year on popular websites, with cakes, cookies, and ice cream being the most frequently advertised products [ 3 ]. Another study examining YouTube videos popular amongst children reported that 38% of all ads involved a food or beverage and 56% of those food ads were for junk foods [ 4 ].

What Happens to Our Bodies Shortly After We Eat Junk Foods?

Food is made up of three major nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. There are also vitamins and minerals in food that support good health, growth, and development. Getting the proper nutrition is very important during our teenage years. However, when we eat junk foods, we are consuming high amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, which are quickly absorbed by the body.

Let us take the example of eating a hamburger. A burger typically contains carbohydrates from the bun, proteins and fats from the beef patty, and fats from the cheese and sauce. On average, a burger from a fast-food chain contains 36–40% of your daily energy needs and this does not account for any chips or drinks consumed with it ( Figure 1 ). This is a large amount of food for the body to digest—not good if you are about to hit the cricket pitch!

• Figure 1 - The nutritional composition of a popular burger from a famous fast-food restaurant, detailing the average quantity per serving and per 100 g.
• The carbohydrates of a burger are mainly from the bun, while the protein comes from the beef patty. Large amounts of fat come from the cheese and sauce. Based on the Australian dietary guidelines, just one burger can be 36% of the recommended daily energy intake for teenage boys aged 12–15 years and 40% of the recommendations for teenage girls 12–15 years.

A few hours to a few days after eating rich, heavy foods such as a burger, unpleasant symptoms like tiredness, poor sleep, and even hunger can result ( Figure 2 ). Rather than providing an energy boost, junk foods can lead to a lack of energy. For a short time, sugar (a type of carbohydrate) makes people feel energized, happy, and upbeat as it is used by the body for energy. However, refined sugar , which is the type of sugar commonly found in junk foods, leads to a quick drop in blood sugar levels because it is digested quickly by the body. This can lead tiredness and cravings [ 5 ].

• Figure 2 - The short- and long-term impacts of junk food consumption.
• In the short-term, junk foods can make you feel tired, bloated, and unable to concentrate. Long-term, junk foods can lead to tooth decay and poor bowel habits. Junk foods can also lead to obesity and associated diseases such as heart disease. When junk foods are regularly consumed over long periods of time, the damages and complications to health are increasingly costly.

Fiber is a good carbohydrate commonly found in vegetables, fruits, barley, legumes, nuts, and seeds—foods from the five food groups. Fiber not only keeps the digestive system healthy, but also slows the stomach’s emptying process, keeping us feeling full for longer. Junk foods tend to lack fiber, so when we eat them, we notice decreasing energy and increasing hunger sooner.

Foods such as walnuts, berries, tuna, and green veggies can boost concentration levels. This is particularly important for young minds who are doing lots of schoolwork. These foods are what most elite athletes are eating! On the other hand, eating junk foods can lead to poor concentration. Eating junk foods can lead to swelling in the part of the brain that has a major role in memory. A study performed in humans showed that eating an unhealthy breakfast high in fat and sugar for 4 days in a row caused disruptions to the learning and memory parts of the brain [ 6 ].

Long-Term Impacts of Junk Foods

If we eat mostly junk foods over many weeks, months, or years, there can be several long-term impacts on health ( Figure 2 ). For example, high saturated fat intake is strongly linked with high levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, which can be a sign of heart disease. Respected research studies found that young people who eat only small amounts of saturated fat have lower total cholesterol levels [ 7 ].

Frequent consumption of junk foods can also increase the risk of diseases such as hypertension and stroke. Hypertension is also known as high blood pressure and a stroke is damage to the brain from reduced blood supply, which prevents the brain from receiving the oxygen and nutrients it needs to survive. Hypertension and stroke can occur because of the high amounts of cholesterol and salt in junk foods.

Furthermore, junk foods can trigger the “happy hormone,” dopamine , to be released in the brain, making us feel good when we eat these foods. This can lead us to wanting more junk food to get that same happy feeling again [ 8 ]. Other long-term effects of eating too much junk food include tooth decay and constipation. Soft drinks, for instance, can cause tooth decay due to high amounts of sugar and acid that can wear down the protective tooth enamel. Junk foods are typically low in fiber too, which has negative consequences for gut health in the long term. Fiber forms the bulk of our poop and without it, it can be hard to poop!

Tips for Being Healthy

One way to figure out whether a food is a junk food is to think about how processed it is. When we think of foods in their whole and original forms, like a fresh tomato, a grain of rice, or milk squeezed from a cow, we can then start to imagine how many steps are involved to transform that whole food into something that is ready-to-eat, tasty, convenient, and has a long shelf life.

For teenagers 13–14 years old, the recommended daily energy intake is 8,200–9,900 kJ/day or 1,960 kcal-2,370 kcal/day for boys and 7,400–8,200 kJ/day or 1,770–1,960 kcal for girls, according to the Australian dietary guidelines. Of course, the more physically active you are, the higher your energy needs. Remember that junk foods are okay to eat occasionally, but they should not make up more than 10% of your daily energy intake. In a day, this may be a simple treat such as a small muffin or a few squares of chocolate. On a weekly basis, this might mean no more than two fast-food meals per week. The remaining 90% of food eaten should be from the five food groups.

In conclusion, we know that junk foods are tasty, affordable, and convenient. This makes it hard to limit the amount of junk food we eat. However, if junk foods become a staple of our diets, there can be negative impacts on our health. We should aim for high-fiber foods such as whole grains, vegetables, and fruits; meals that have moderate amounts of sugar and salt; and calcium-rich and iron-rich foods. Healthy foods help to build strong bodies and brains. Limiting junk food intake can happen on an individual level, based on our food choices, or through government policies and health-promotion strategies. We need governments to stop junk food companies from advertising to young people, and we need their help to replace junk food restaurants with more healthy options. Researchers can focus on education and health promotion around healthy food options and can work with young people to develop solutions. If we all work together, we can help young people across the world to make food choices that will improve their short and long-term health.

Obesity : ↑ A disorder where too much body fat increases the risk of health problems.

Processed Food : ↑ A raw agricultural food that has undergone processes to be washed, ground, cleaned and/or cooked further.

Discretionary Food : ↑ Foods and drinks not necessary to provide the nutrients the body needs but that may add variety to a person’s diet (according to the Australian dietary guidelines).

Refined Sugar : ↑ Sugar that has been processed from raw sources such as sugar cane, sugar beets or corn.

Saturated Fat : ↑ A type of fat commonly eaten from animal sources such as beef, chicken and pork, which typically promotes the production of “bad” cholesterol in the body.

Dopamine : ↑ A hormone that is released when the brain is expecting a reward and is associated with activities that generate pleasure, such as eating or shopping.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

[1] ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2013. 4324.0.55.002 - Microdata: Australian Health Survey: Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2011-12 . Australian Bureau of Statistics. Available online at: http://bit.ly/2jkRRZO (accessed December 13, 2019).

[2] ↑ National Health and Medical Research Council. 2013. Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary . Canberra, ACT: National Health and Medical Research Council.

[3] ↑ Potvin Kent, M., and Pauzé, E. 2018. The frequency and healthfulness of food and beverages advertised on adolescents’ preferred web sites in Canada. J. Adolesc. Health. 63:102–7. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.01.007

[4] ↑ Tan, L., Ng, S. H., Omar, A., and Karupaiah, T. 2018. What’s on YouTube? A case study on food and beverage advertising in videos targeted at children on social media. Child Obes. 14:280–90. doi: 10.1089/chi.2018.0037

[5] ↑ Gómez-Pinilla, F. 2008. Brain foods: the effects of nutrients on brain function. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 9, 568–78. doi: 10.1038/nrn2421

[6] ↑ Attuquayefio, T., Stevenson, R. J., Oaten, M. J., and Francis, H. M. 2017. A four-day western-style dietary intervention causes reductions in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory and interoceptive sensitivity. PLoS ONE . 12:e0172645. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172645

[7] ↑ Te Morenga, L., and Montez, J. 2017. Health effects of saturated and trans-fatty acid intake in children and adolescents: systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE. 12:e0186672. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186672

[8] ↑ Reichelt, A. C. 2016. Adolescent maturational transitions in the prefrontal cortex and dopamine signaling as a risk factor for the development of obesity and high fat/high sugar diet induced cognitive deficits. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 10. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00189

Healthy Food Essay

500+ words essay on healthy food.

Before starting your daily activity, you must have food. Food is essential for our body besides water. Eating healthy food gives you the required nutrients you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Your daily food should have carbohydrates, proteins, water, vitamins, fat and minerals. To keep ourselves fit, we need healthy food.

When we talk about our health, healthy food plays a crucial role. It helps preserve our health, and some nutrients renew the health of various organs. Besides, healthy food is always delicious and mouthwatering. Kids, nowadays, should eat healthy food more than ever. We must encourage kids to eat healthy food so that our future generations become healthy and fit.

We should speak more often about the harmful effects of unhealthy food and the positive impact of healthy food. In this way, we can teach our kids about eating healthy foods from an early age.

To keep our internal organs healthy, we should make a habit of eating healthy food. Unhealthy food welcomes life-threatening diseases like heart attack, high or low blood pressure, increased or decreased glucose level, etc. In today’s scenario, with so many changes around the world in terms of climate, pollution, etc., eating healthy food should be on our priority list.

Advantages of Eating Healthy Food

• We get a solid and fit body by eating healthy and nutritious food.
• Healthy food also gives the body physical strength; that way, one can go about their duties comfortably.
• Eating healthy food gives good health, saving you from wasting time, money and resources seeking medical assistance and solutions.
• By eating nutritious food, we can protect our bodies from getting serious diseases like diabetes, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and so forth.
• It also helps maintain our weight, and unhealthy food leads to obesity.
• Likewise, healthy sustenance gives us a fit and fine body and smooth skin.
• We never feel lazy in the wake of eating light and solid nourishment; instead, we feel dynamic and energetic.
• Eating healthy food helps build the body and its immunity levels, enhancing the living standards one gets to enjoy.
• It is one of the ways individuals enjoy life as they get to spend good time with friends and family.
• Healthy food is, therefore, a principal requirement for the body.

Junk Food vs Healthy Food

In today’s scenario, consumption of junk food is increasing rapidly, due to which the fast-food market is also growing fast. Junk foods are easier to prepare and delicious. It became more accessible after the arrival of the food delivery apps. People can now sit at their homes and order junk food as per their choice.

But, unknowingly, we are compromising our health by having junk food. After eating it, you will feel more satisfied. Junk food leads to poor concentration and creates digestive problems as it contains less fibre, which causes indigestion.

Junk food also results in varying blood sugar levels because it contains less protein and carbohydrates. Consumption of junk food also increases levels of triglyceride and cholesterol.

When we talk about healthy food, it contains a plethora of nutrients. It keeps our bodies physically and mentally fit. It enhances our immune system and develops our brain functionality. If we are worried about our health, we should not consume processed food.

We know that junk food seems to be more appealing and tempting, but it comes at a very high price. Therefore, we should eat healthy food to live a longer and healthier life.

Conclusion of Healthy Food Essay

We can end the essay by stating that eating healthy food is our primary need. Eating healthy food is a simple way to increase the ease of the body and the happiness of the mind. Eating junk food will make our bodies weaker and have low immunity. So, it is essential to consume healthy food to maintain good health.

Students of the CBSE Board can get essays on different topics from BYJU’S website. They can visit our CBSE Essay page and learn more about essays.

Frequently Asked Questions on Healthy Food Essay

What are the negative impacts of junk food.

1. High sodium content 2. Excessive carb intake and cholesterol intake 3. Obesity and cardiac diseases

What are some of the healthy food items?

1. Fruits and vegetables 2. Foods with high fibre content  3.  Foods containing saturated fats 4. Foods with less salt and sugar

How to regulate our body with food intake?

1. Eat at regular intervals 2. Do not overeat or have junk food 3. Drink water and be hydrated

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Pros and Cons of Healthy Food and Processed Food

Often, it seems like food research experts issue dietary guidelines every day, leaving people confused by the often-contradictory recommendations. Much of this confusion is a result of different types of diets and products having both advantages and disadvantages — which is the case with healthy food and processed meals. But it remains clear that moderation is a critical aspect of any type of diet you choose to follow.

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‌ Read more ‌: FDA Daily Nutritional Requirements

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Advantages of Healthy Food

You can successfully age by avoiding medical conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Eating healthy food is the best way to prevent the inflammation and other consequences of these medical conditions, according to a 2017 report in Molecules . The authors note that healthy food can also play a positive role in fighting cancer.

Healthy food also has a beneficial effect on your emotional well-being. A 2014 review in BMC Psychiatry noted the relationship between food quality and mental health in young children. This positive relationship persists across the entire lifespan. For example, eating healthy food helps older adults fight depression and dementia .

‌ Read more ‌: How Does Healthy Eating Affect Physical, Mental & Social Health?

Disadvantages of Healthy Food

A 2015 paper in Nutrition Reviews gave a detailed analysis of food prices. The article showed that vegetables and fruits had a higher per-calorie cost than sweets. So, it actually costs more to stay healthy and keep a healthy body weight through a diet that includes nutritious fruits and vegetables.

This higher cost of healthy food can, for some, make it less likely to appear on a grocery shopping list. Children might also find it less tasty. This poses a dilemma for parents since taste remains the best predictor of food choice from age 4 and on.

‌ Read more ‌: How to Eat Healthy on a Hundred Dollars a Month

Advantages of Processed Food

Researchers consider food items with high sugar, salt and trans-fat content as processed foods. Examples include potato chips and candy bars. People typically choose these foods because of their widespread availability and good taste. It also offers a low-cost way to feed yourself.

These energy-dense, low-cost food products affect your mind as well. Packaged food has a calming effect — even for infants. It also boosts performance on spatial learning tasks. Finally, it releases endorphins , generating feelings of euphoria.

Disadvantages of Processed Food

Scientists have correlated the dramatic rise in childhood obesity with highly-processed food consumption. Weight gained during youth often persists into adulthood, and it places adults at risk for medical conditions like diabetes.

Unhealthy eating also has a surprising effect on mental health. For example, researchers have found a relationship between processed foods and violent behavior . Fast-food intake has also been shown to correlate with suicidal thoughts .

If you're pregnant, the negative effects of eating these foods may even transfer to your children.

Making Your Best Food Choice

Researchers can't find an ideal diet . After all, each person has a unique physiology and different goals. Yet, basic principles exist in the scientific literature. You can use these principles to live longer.

A 2017 report in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine recommended that you choose a diet which respects your preferences, needs and current health status. Many doctors consider the Mediterranean diet the best way to prevent disease . The mechanisms behind these positive effects remain unknown. However, the harmonic combination of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant elements in the Mediterranean diet may offer you the best way to have a long, healthy life.

‌ Read more ‌: 12 Life Secrets From People Who Have Lived the Longest

• Nutrition Journal: A Healthy Approach to Dietary Fats
• Molecules: Bioactive Nutrients and Nutrigenomics in Age-Related Diseases
• BMC Psychiatry: Food Policies for Physical and Mental Health
• Nutrition Reviews: Contribution of Food Prices and Diet Cost to Socioeconomic Disparities in Diet Quality and Health
• Food Quality and Preference: Predictors of Children’s Food Selection
• Kids Health: Word! Junk Food
• Journal of the Dow University of Health Sciences: Junk Food Consumption, Awareness and Its Health Consequences Among Undergraduates of a Medical University
• Preventive Medicine: Food Reinforcement During Infancy
• Regis University: Effects of Short-Term Consumption of a Western-Style Junk-Food Diet in Rats
• Progress in Nutrition: Feeding the Brain
• Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care: Childhood Obesity
• Nutrition: Association Between Junk Food Consumption and Mental Health in a National Sample of Iranian Children and Adolescents
• Indian Journal of Science and Technology: Relationships Between Dietary Behaviors and Suicidal Ideation Among Korean Adolescents
• Diet, Nutrition, and Fetal Programming: Maternal Junk Food Diets
• Science: Optimizing the Diet
• Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine: Diabetes With Obesity: Is There an Ideal Diet?
• Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care: Mediterranean Diet and Life Expectancy

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• Arts & Humanities

Unhealthy vs. Healthy Food

30 Dec 2022

• Arts & Humanities

Format: APA

Academic level: College

Paper type: Essay (Any Type)

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Unhealthy food is much more affordable and available than healthy food

Did you know that over 35 percent of adults and 20 percent of the children between 2 and 19 years old in the United States are either obese or overweight? The main reason for this alarming rate of obesity in contemporary society is the increased presence of junk foods. From a definitional perspective, junk foods refer to food products without substantial nutritional value to the users. Junk foods are packaged or pre-prepared. For example, the pre-prepared junk foods incorporate the cooked products before the consumers make substantial order; thus, burgers, pizzas, French fries, and tacos among others. Alternatively, packaged junk foods emanate from the companies in diverse tins, wrappers, or bottles such as the carbonated drinks, chocolate, candy, and pastries. In the fast-paced society, junk foods (unhealthy foods) have become popular because they are highly convenient, as well as cheaper in comparison to the healthy foods at the disposal of the consumers (Cecchini, Sassi, Lauer, Lee, Guajardo-Barron, & Chisholm, 2010). Notably, healthy food choices should be more affordable and available for all to help tackle the growing cases of obesity in modern society.

Because of fast food, as well as corporate farming implications, the food market is a mess. It is ideal for society to go back to the local food, as well as organics to promote healthy eating practices and activities in modern society. According to reality, junk food is a cheaper and convenient option for most Americans. Junk foods are highly available. With the presence of the fast-food chains at every corner in a town, more and more people in the fast-paced society focus on optimizing the convenient and cheaper junk foods because of their busy schedules and increased commitment to their jobs or work expectations. Other than just being widely available, junk foods or unhealthy foods taste good (Kern, Auchincloss, Stehr, Diez Roux, Moore, Kanter, & Robinson, 2017). Consumers do not spend time in preparing for the food as they can acquire them from the chains. Amid all these, there is a growing perception among the consumers that healthy foods are more expensive compared to junk foods. Researchers believe that eating healthy foods is highly expensive. It is about three times as expensive as consuming junk foods at fast food chains (Tam, Yassa, Parker, O'Connor, & Allman-Farinelli, 2017). In making it worse, the price gap between healthy and unhealthy foods is widening. The increased price difference between healthy and unhealthy foods is the main contributor to the growing cases of food insecurity, as well as increasing aspects of health inequalities, thus, the growing deterioration in the health outcomes of the population. One of the reasons for increasing food poverty is the high cost of healthy options. The cost of healthy food is a reflection of the sociological problem rather than just an individual’s choice.

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Why is this a problem? Unhealthy foods are the main contributors to obesity in the context of the fast-paced society. Other than causing obesity, junk foods are elements of poor nutrition associated with high blood pressure. Junk foods also lead to high cholesterol, as well as heart disease and stroke among consumers. Food is an important component of the physical and mental health of the consumer; thus, the need to avoid consuming unhealthy foods or junk foods. Unhealthy foods also contribute to tooth decay, different types of cancer, and diabetes. These aspects contribute to the negative implications of the health outcomes within society. More and more people continue to spend more on healthcare costs rather than securing healthy foods, as well as ideal eating habits for their health. The society has more obese and overweight people because of the increased consumption of the convenient, widely available, tastier, and cheaper unhealthy foods compared to the consumption of the healthy foods, which consumers deem to the expensive.

How is it possible to address the issue? The answer is quite simple. The government should adopt and implement appropriate measures to make healthy food choices more affordable and available for all. In this aspect, consumers will have the chance to optimize education on nutrition while understanding the perception and need for healthy eating habits to consume the available healthy foods rather than go for the unhealthy foods or junk foods.

One of the ways of addressing this is to increase awareness through improved communication channels from the authoritative support agencies to increase the knowledge among the consumers on the consumption of healthy foods. In this aspect, education as an intervention approach is ideal in the improvement of the negative perceptions among the consumers on the affordability of healthy foods (Harrison, Lee, Findlay, Nicholls, Leonard, & Martin, 2010). There is also the improvement of access to the farm products as a win-win strategy for the consumers and producers.

The authorities should also achieve this by moving the markets to the consumer through eradication of the geographical barriers (Niebylski, Redburn, Duhaney, & Campbell, 2015). The approach will create room for the establishment of the distribution channels such as food hubs, which are accessible to more and more consumers. Over 20 million Americans tend to live in low-income towns, as well as rural neighborhoods, which are far away from the supermarkets. In such aspects, it is appropriate to consider taking the market to the people/consumers. Conclusively, in curbing the growing cases of obesity and other health issues emanating from increased consumption of tastier, convenient, cheaper, and widely available unhealthy foods, healthy food choices should be more affordable and available for all.

Cecchini, M., Sassi, F., Lauer, J. A., Lee, Y. Y., Guajardo-Barron, V., & Chisholm, D. (2010). Tackling of unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and obesity: health effects and cost-effectiveness. The Lancet , 376 (9754), 1775-1784.

Harrison, M., Lee, A., Findlay, M., Nicholls, R., Leonard, D., & Martin, C. (2010). The increasing cost of healthy food. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health , 34 (2), 179-186.

Kern, D., Auchincloss, A., Stehr, M., Diez Roux, A., Moore, L., Kanter, G., & Robinson, L. (2017). Neighborhood prices of healthier and unhealthier foods and associations with diet quality: Evidence from the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. International journal of environmental research and public health , 14 (11), 1394.

Niebylski, M. L., Redburn, K. A., Duhaney, T., & Campbell, N. R. (2015). Healthy food subsidies and unhealthy food taxation: A systematic review of the evidence. Nutrition , 31 (6), 787-795.

Tam, R., Yassa, B., Parker, H., O'Connor, H., & Allman-Farinelli, M. (2017). University students' on-campus food purchasing behaviors, preferences, and opinions on food availability. Nutrition , 37 , 7-13.

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Healthy Food Vs Junk Food: What You Need to Know

July 1, 2022

In today’s fast-acting life, junk food is the saviour. It is easy to make and easily accessible and tastes so good. Junk Food has gained significant popularity in India within 20-30 years. Of course, junk foods are tasty, but are they healthy? Not at all, but we are so busy and need quick gratifications that we depend on fast foods, that are generally not so healthy. 

Junk food contains saturated fats, trans-fat, and higher sodium levels that are not good for the body. They do not break down to provide energy. Instead, they get deposited in the body and become the root cause of weight gain. As junk foods are high in calories and lack nutrients, we probably end up eating extra calories, overeating, or binge eating.

Unhealthy foods may lead to many health problems like obesity, high cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, heart stroke. An overweight or obese person is more likely to have diabetes. Since diabetes damages the blood vessels, the chances of getting a severe illness becomes high.

High cholesterol can let fatty deposits develop in the blood vessels. As they grow, the blood flow through arteries becomes perverse. Breaking of those deposits can form a clot and lead to heart stroke or attack. A balanced diet is, therefore, necessary to stay healthy. A balanced diet is when we consume all the macronutrients in the right balance and check on micronutrients, too. 

Junk foods taste good and are addictive. Therefore, it often becomes difficult to quit them. Still, if you want to follow healthy snacking that is no more time-consuming, here is something that you would love!

Healthy Food Vs Junk Food 

Snacking is fun. We are not asking you to compromise on tasty food consumption. However, here are some effortless healthy swaps that are easily doable and easy to prepare with easily accessible ingredients:

1. Potato Chips vs Whole Wheat Methi Khakhra

Potato chips are a lip-smacking snack that one can easily binge on without realizing that they have overeaten them. High in Trans fat and sodium contribute to bad fats in your body that eventually make you obese.

On the other hand, a whole wheat methi khakhra is nutritious and healthy, providing you with just 89 calories, unlike a pack of potato chips that gives 194 calories. A whole-wheat khakhra is not just healthy but tasty too. You can easily swap it over potato chips.

2. Aloo Papri Chaat vs Sprouts Chaat

Who does not love aloo papri chaat? Of course, everybody craves for at least one plate, but do you stop at just one serving? Sometimes you might not control your cravings and overeat.

But do you know, just one serving of this can give you around 334 calories. Isn’t it too much for a small plate of papri chaat? Yes, it is. But here, we have got a very nutritious swap for the dish. Yes, it’s a sprouts chaat, a good source of iron, protein and fibre. A bowl of it contains just 55 calories.

3. Cream Bun vs Peanut Butter Banana Toast

A cream bun has high sugar content. The bun’s main ingredient is refined flour, and the dough is sweetened to make it tastier. Powdered sugar is another ingredient to glaze the bun as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Sugar cravings are common, but consuming a large amount of sugar can be harmful to your health. Therefore, a perfect swap for a cream bun is a peanut butter banana toast. 

Read more:  8 Proven Health Benefits of Banana

Naturally sweetened banana is apt for your sugar cravings, and the peanut butter makes it a lot tastier. Packed with good fats and carbs, it is anytime above the cream bun. A cream bun contains 265 calories, but a peanut butter banana toast loaded with nutrients gives you just 203 calories.

4. Energy Drink vs Lime-mint Juice

An energy drink is supposed to boost your energy to carry out your workouts or get instant energy. But do you know, the artificial flavours it has and the hidden sugars that you might want to avoid? But rather than avoiding it, these energy drinks trick you on this part. Sugar turns into glucose to provide energy.

It is the truth behind the energy drinks you consume. So a lime-mint juice instead is the right choice if you want to rejuvenate. To your surprise, a bottle of lime-mint juice gives just two calories, but a can of energy drink gives 101 calories.

5. Choco-pie vs Mixed Fruit Bowl

Choco-pie is one of the tastiest sweet dishes anyone can have. It is a perfect combo of chocolate on the outside and a biscuit inside with marshmallows. It is delicious but similar to a cream bun, high in sugar content. One choco-pie gives you 100 calories, and these are too many calories from a small pie.

On the other hand, if you swap it with a mixed fruit bowl, you get just 84 calories. Yes, a bowl full of fruits is not just fewer in calories but also keeps you satiated for a long time, fulfilling your sugar cravings.

So, you see how you can swap your junk food for healthy foods with no effort to make them, and all these are so readily available in everybody’s kitchen. All these alternatives are not just healthy, but also very tasty. They can for sure fulfil all the cravings that your taste buds urge and are a sure-shot way to get you on track with a healthy lifestyle. With these healthy swaps, you will feel a change in your energy levels and notice visible differences in your waistline and overall weight. 

What are GLP-1 peptides?

About the Author

Parul holds a Masters of Medical Science in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and has worked across the globe from the U.K to New Zealand (NZ) gaining her License with the Health Professionals Council (HPC, UK) and the NZ Nutrition Council. From being a Gold medalist in Clinical Nutrition to being awarded an internship with World Health Organisation (WHO, Cairo, Egypt) and Contracts with CDC Parul has had a wide spectrum of work experiences. She is very passionate about Nutrition and Fitness and holds strong to her guiding mantras ‘ Move more’ and ‘Eat Food that your grandmother can recognize’!

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Junk Food Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on junk food.

The term ‘junk food’ itself says a lot about this food. It indicates how it is harmful to our health. Furthermore, junk foods are basically trash which harms our bodies in different ways. They have high levels of cholesterol, sugar, calories and more. We see how nowadays, the younger generation is getting indulging in more and more junk food. This is putting their lives in danger and giving them an unhealthy lifestyle .

Furthermore, junk food does not have a single benefit. It only has ill-effects as they do not contain nutritional value . Parents must teach their kids about the ill-effects of junk food. Moreover, they must provide them with healthy meals at home so they won’t have to go out to eat fast food.

Rising Popularity of Junk Food

We all know that the fast-food industry is increasing by leaps and bounds these days. People these days are more attracted to junk food because it is appealing. Why is that? People are using manipulative ways to entice people to buy their fast food.

Moreover, junk food is prepared very easily. It takes minimum time to prepare it as it does not have any nutritious ingredients. We see how junk food does not have any special ingredients. It just contains common harmful ones in excess like oil, sugar, and more.

Furthermore, junk food is very reasonable. As it does not require any healthy material, it is not that costly. We see how it is available at very reasonable pricing. It is one of the main reasons why people buy it frequently.

Most importantly, junk food has become very accessible now, more than ever. With the onset of numerous food delivery apps, you can now get junk food with a single click. You have a plethora of options now which will deliver all sorts of junk food right at your doorstep.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Ill-effects of Junk Food

The major characteristic of junk food is that it spikes the energy levels instantly. It does not really benefit your body, just satisfies your taste buds. If we intake junk food regularly, we get moody more often.

Moreover, regular consumption of junk food causes a drop in the concentration levels of a person. This is why we see how kids these days are easily distracted. Moreover, you may also notice how obesity becoming common these days. It is a very chronic disease which is only enhanced by eating junk food.

Further, you may also notice how junk food increases blood pressure and sugar. A person gets more prone to heart diseases due to the fattening products used in it. Similarly, junk food is not easy to digest. This may gradually damage your brain function because it creates a lack of oxygen levels.

Junk food does not only damage the heart but the liver as well. It causes diabetes amongst people from an early age. Moreover, the lack of fibers in junk food equals to a damaged digestive system. This may cause constipation as well. Therefore, we see how junk food companies are fooling people. They are deceiving them into consuming their junk food to increase their sales. Thus, we need to realize this fact as soon as possible. Try to replace junk food with healthy food. Prepare your meals at home instead of ordering outside.

FAQ on Junk Food Essay

Q.1 Why is junk food getting popular?

A.1 Junk food is getting popular because it is easily accessible now. It is appealing and fast food companies are fooling the public for increasing their sales.

Q.2 State the ill-effects of junk food.

A.2 Junk food causes a lot of chronic diseases like diabetes, cholesterol, heart diseases. It drops your concentration level and messes with your digestive system.

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Healthy Food Prices Increased More Than the Prices of Unhealthy Options during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Concurrent Challenges to the Food System

Associated data.

The data presented in this study are available in this article and its Supplementary Materials .

Food prices have escalated due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on global food systems, and other regional shocks and stressors including climate change and war. Few studies have applied a health lens to identify the most affected foods. This study aimed to assess costs and affordability of habitual (unhealthy) diets and recommended (healthy, equitable and more sustainable) diets and their components in Greater Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 2019 to 2022 using the Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing protocol. Affordability was determined for reference households at three levels of income: median, minimum wage, and welfare-dependent. The recommended diet cost increased 17.9%; mostly in the last year when the prices of healthy foods, such as fruit, vegetables and legumes, healthy fats/oils, grains, and meats/alternatives, increased by 12.8%. In contrast, the cost of the unhealthy foods and drinks in the habitual diet ‘only’ increased 9.0% from 2019 to 2022, and 7.0% from 2021 to 2022. An exception was the cost of unhealthy take-away foods which increased by 14.7% over 2019–2022. With government COVID-19-related payments, for the first time recommended diets were affordable for all and food security and diets improved in 2020. However, the special payments were withdrawn in 2021, and recommended diets became 11.5% less affordable. Permanently increasing welfare support and providing an adequate minimum wage, while keeping basic, healthy foods GST-free and increasing GST to 20% on unhealthy foods, would improve food security and diet-related health inequities. Development of a Consumer Price Index specifically for healthy food would help highlight health risks during economic downturns.

1. Introduction

Poor diet is the leading single preventable risk factor contributing to the burden of disease in Australia and globally [ 1 ]. Less than 4% of Australian adults consume a diet consistent with the recommendations of the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADGs) [ 2 ], with over 35% of dietary energy derived from unhealthy discretionary food and drinks [ 3 ]. Relatedly, more than two thirds (67%) of Australian adults and 25% of children aged two to 17 years are overweight or obese [ 4 ]. In Australia, rates of obesity, poor-quality diet, and diet-related chronic disease (including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers [ 1 , 5 ]) follow a socioeconomic gradient [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].

Ensuring food security is key to reducing prevalence of obesity and chronic disease particularly in low socioeconomic groups. Food security is a fundamental human right [ 9 ]. It means everyone is able to obtain at all times a sufficient quantity of quality (safe and nutritious) food that meets their preferences to sustain “an active and healthy life” [ 10 ]. Food security is determined by availability, accessibility, affordability, and acceptability of food.

The affordability of healthy diets is impacted by both the cost of food and drinks and the household financial resources available. Economic access to food implies that people “have sufficient money to purchase the food they want to eat, to meet cultural and social as well as health and nutritional norms; that this money is not absorbed in other expenditure demands (rent, fuel, debt repayment, etc.); [and] that people can … obtain food in ways which are dignified and in keeping with social norms” [ 11 ]. Income level, income shocks and rising costs of living are key determinants of economic access to healthy food [ 12 , 13 , 14 ].

As with all diets, recommended diets (which are healthy, equitable, and sustainable consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADGs) [ 2 ]) are considered unaffordable when they cost more than 30% of household income [ 15 ]. When a household needs to spend more than 25% of their disposable income on healthy food, they may experience “food stress” and are vulnerable to food insecurity [ 16 ]. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, families relying on government welfare/financial assistance had to spend over a third of their household income to buy a recommended diet, and households in rural and remote areas on low incomes needed to spend an even greater proportion [ 17 ].

Prior to COVID-19, estimates of the prevalence of food insecurity in Australia were around 4 to 14% in the general population and up to 82% in low-income groups [ 18 ]. Over the past three years, food insecurity has increased significantly [ 19 , 20 ]. According to the latest national Hunger Report from Australian food charity Foodbank, extrapolating responses from a nationally representative survey conducted in July 2022, 21% of Australians had experienced severe food insecurity in the past 12 months (up from 17% in 2021) [ 19 ]. Of those experiencing food insecurity, 64% cited increased or high living expenses and 42% reported “reduced or low income or government benefits” as a key cause [ 19 ].

Previous studies have assessed diet costs during the COVID-19 pandemic and, opportunistically, the impact on diet affordability of government economic responses that boosted incomes for many low-income households [ 17 , 21 ]. In response to COVID-19 impacts, including increased unemployment, in 2020 the Australian Government introduced “JobKeeper” payments to help businesses pay employees who were stood down, and also lump sum Economic Support Payments and a fortnightly Coronavirus Supplement (hereafter abbreviated as ESP and CS) for eligible recipients of some income support payments, including the unemployment benefit “JobSeeker” [ 22 ]. Diet costs increased from 2019 to 2020, largely driven by rising prices of most healthy food groups [ 21 ]. However, increased income support meant that for the first time, welfare-dependent families had economic access to recommended diets [ 17 , 21 ].

Food prices have continued to escalate since 2020 due to global, national, and regional shocks and stressors, including the impacts of climate change, increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events (bushfires and floods), the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and changing demographics (such as reduced immigration and increased internal migration to rural areas [ 23 ]), as well as disruptions to food production and supply due to impacts on workforces of COVID-19-related public health restrictions [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. These factors also contributed to increased costs of fuel, feed, and fertiliser, exacerbating increasing food prices.

This study aimed to assess costs of habitual (unhealthy) diets and recommended diets in Greater Brisbane in 2021 and 2022, and compared results with those reported from earlier studies in 2019 and 2020 [ 21 ], to explore changing costs and affordability in the context of these shocks and stressors.

2. Materials and Methods

The Healthy Diets ASAP (Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing) methods protocol [ 28 ] was applied to assess the cost, cost differential, and affordability of habitual (unhealthy) and recommended (healthy, more equitable and sustainable) diets in the Greater Brisbane region of Queensland, Australia annually from 2019 to 2022. Findings from 2019 and 2020 have been previously reported [ 17 , 21 ]. This study collected and analysed data in 2021 and 2022 and compared diet cost, cost differentials, and affordability across the four timepoints. All cost values are provided in Australian dollars ($).

The Healthy Diets ASAP protocol is consistent with the International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) framework’s ‘optimal’ approach to assess diet price and affordability [ 29 ], addressing limitations of earlier efforts to measure food cost and affordability in Australia [ 30 , 31 ]. Details of the background, description, collaborative development process, application, and testing of the protocol have been published previously [ 28 , 32 ].

The protocol has five parts: standardised habitual and recommended diet pricing tools; store location and sampling; calculation of median gross and minimum wage disposable income; food price data collection; and analysis and reporting [ 28 ].

2.1. Diet Pricing Tools

The diet pricing tools specify the types of foods and drinks in the habitual and recommended diets and quantities for a reference household of four (adult male and female 31–50 years of age, a 14-year-old boy, and an 8-year-old girl) per fortnight [ 28 ]. The recommended diet contains healthy food and drinks, in line with the recommendations of the ADGs [ 2 ]. The habitual diet is based on reported dietary intake data from the most recent Australian Health Survey National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) 2011–2013 [ 3 ]. It includes some healthy food and drinks in lower amounts than recommended in the ADGs, and many discretionary foods and drinks (defined by the ADGs as not being necessary for health and high in saturated fat, added sugar, sodium and/or alcohol) [ 2 ]. The recommended diet contains slightly less energy (33,610 kJ/day) for the reference household than the habitual diet (33,869 kJ/day), and is more sustainable, requiring less water, protecting biodiversity, and generating 25% lower greenhouse gas emissions in its production [ 33 ]. Table 1 lists the types of food and drinks included in each diet pricing tool. Detailed lists of components and quantities have been published previously [ 28 ].

Food and drinks included in the Healthy Diets ASAP diet pricing tools.

2.2. Store Locations and Sampling

Food and drink price data for 2019 were sourced from a previous survey using the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol to assess diet costs and affordability in locations throughout Queensland [ 17 , 21 ]. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Statistical Geography Standard classes medium-sized geographical areas into SA2 locations, where communities “interact together socially and economically” [ 34 ]. In 2019, SA2 locations across Queensland were stratified into quintiles of socioeconomic disadvantage based on the Socioeconomic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage [ 35 ]. Eighteen locations in SEIFA quintiles 1 (most disadvantaged), 3 (median disadvantaged) and 5 (least disadvantaged) were randomly selected for inclusion; the final samples included 10 locations in Greater Brisbane (3, 4, and 3 locations in SEIFA quintiles 1, 3, and 5, respectively). In 2020, restriction of movement implemented as a public health measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic meant data collection in stores beyond Greater Brisbane was not possible. Hence, only the 10 SA2 locations in Greater Brisbane included in the 2019 sample were re-surveyed for food prices in 2020 [ 21 ]. Additionally, because of the pandemic, one of the large supermarket chains did not allow ‘unnecessary’ store visits (e.g., for research purposes) so prices from that supermarket were collected from its website matched to the SA2 locations. Previous studies comparing in-store to online prices have found insignificant price differences [ 36 ].

In similar months in 2021 and 2022, food prices were collected in the same 10 locations in Greater Brisbane. At each location, two large supermarkets (one of each major supermarket chain), an independent grocery store, a bakery, a fish and chip shop, two fast food restaurants, and one alcohol outlet were surveyed. As per the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol [ 28 ], if a store had closed since the previous survey, a similar, proximate food outlet was surveyed instead. In 2021 and 2022, prices were collected online for the two supermarkets in all locations and collected in-store for the remaining outlets. In 2022, a duplicate set of prices were collected in-store from the large supermarkets in two locations for validation.

2.3. Price Data Collection

Price data were collected by trained research assistants, following the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol, between August and October each year. Collection of price data in 2019 and 2020 has been detailed elsewhere [ 17 , 21 ]. In 2021, food price data were collected by L.-M.H. and R.C.T. and in 2022 by L.-M.H., M.L., A.D., and S.N. Permission to collect data was requested and received from national head offices of large supermarket chains, and also from store managers in each outlet. The data collection protocol outlines the procedure followed if the stipulated brands and sizes were not available or were on price promotion [ 28 ].

2.4. Household Income Calculation

Household incomes were calculated as per the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol [ 28 ], using publicly available national data from government agencies. This study assessed diet affordability for three categories of income for the reference household.

For each timepoint, the median gross household income (before taxation) per fortnight in each SA2 area was sourced from the ABS 2016 Census Community Profile [ 37 ] and adjusted by the ABS Wage Price Index [ 38 ]. Minimum wage disposable and welfare-dependent household incomes were calculated based on the set of assumptions detailed in the protocol, using payment entitlement data from Services Australia [ 39 ]. Calculations of minimum wage and welfare-dependent household incomes for 2020 included the ESP and CS provided between May and September 2020, are detailed elsewhere [ 21 ].

2.5. Analysis and Reporting

Food and drink price data were entered into the Healthy Diets ASAP data collection web portal [ 40 ] by R.C.T., A.D. and S.N. Data were double entered, and any discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Data were cleaned and checked by M.L. and A.J.L. As per the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol, if a value was missing, the mean price of the item in other stores in the same SA2 location was substituted. Spreadsheet algorithms generated results for each location in Microsoft Office Excel files which were cross-checked by M.L. and A.J.L.

Diet costs and affordability were calculated for each SA2 area surveyed in Greater Brisbane. The mean costs of the habitual and recommended diets, and the cost and proportion of the total spent on different ADG food groups and components, were calculated for the reference household per fortnight. Results were reported for SA2 SEIFA quintile 1, 3, and 5, and for Greater Brisbane as a whole. Affordability of habitual and recommended diets was calculated for households with the three different income levels described above.

The results for each year were compared to relevant findings of previous surveys, to assess changes in diet costs, cost of ADG food groups and components, and affordability of the diets. Consumer Price Index of food and non-alcoholic beverages (CPI-food) data for Brisbane from 2019 to 2022 were sourced from the ABS [ 41 ] for comparison with observed changes in food prices. Statistical analysis was conducted by paired t -tests; statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.

3.1. Selected Locations and Stores Surveyed

In 2019, food prices were collected from 80 outlets in 10 locations in Greater Brisbane [ 17 ]; in 2020, price data were collected in-store from 68 outlets and online from 10 outlets (supermarkets) [ 21 ]; in 2021 prices were collected from 80 outlets: in-store for 60 and online for 20 (supermarkets); and in 2022, prices were collected from 80 outlets: in-store for 60 and online for 20 (supermarkets). For validation, prices were re-collected in-store for four supermarket outlets across two locations.

3.2. Diet Cost Data

The mean costs ± standard error (SE) of the habitual and recommended diets and diet components in Greater Brisbane from 2019 to 2022 are reported in Table 2 . Total costs of the recommended diets and the healthy and discretionary (unhealthy) components of the habitual diets for the four timepoints are also presented in Figure 1 . Diet cost data for each location surveyed ( Supplementary Figures S1 and S2 ) and by SEIFA quintile (Supplementary Table S1) are presented in supplementary files . Cumulative increase in the cost of the habitual and recommended diets and CPI-food is shown in Figure 2 .

Cost of habitual and recommended diets per fortnight for the reference household of four, Greater Brisbane, 2019 to 2022.

Cumulative increase in the costs of recommended and habitual diets and Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases, Brisbane, 2019 to 2022.

Cost of habitual and recommended diets and component food groups for the reference household (two adults and two children) per fortnight in Greater Brisbane, in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

* indicates p ≤ 0.05 difference from previous year; ** indicates p ≤ 0.01 difference from previous year; *** indicates p ≤ 0.001 difference from previous year; ^^ indicates p ≤ 0.01 difference from 2019; ^^^ indicates p ≤ 0.001 difference from 2019; Bold type indicates the total diet cost.

Within the manuscript, data are presented and analysed for Greater Brisbane as a whole, as change in food prices was similar regardless of SEIFA quintiles ( Supplementary Table S1 ). The duplicated diet costs for prices collected in-store were within 1% of diet costs for prices collected online from the large supermarkets in two locations.

3.3. Diet Cost in Greater Brisbane, 2022

In 2022, the mean cost of the recommended diet in Greater Brisbane was AUD 729.71 per fortnight for the reference household of two adults and two children ( Table 2 ). The habitual diet was 18.4% more expensive than the recommended (healthy) diet at a cost of AUD 863.93 ( Table 2 ). Shifting from a habitual to recommended diet would save households AUD 134.22 per fortnight on average.

In 2022, nearly 58% of the total cost of the habitual diet was required to purchase discretionary food and drinks, including takeaway foods (around 20% of total diet cost), alcoholic drinks (11% of total diet cost), and sugar sweetened drinks (around 4% of total diet cost) ( Table 2 ).

3.4. Changes in Fortnightly Diet Costs over Time

Between 2019 and 2022, in Greater Brisbane the cost of the recommended diet increased by 17.9% from AUD 619.04 to AUD 729.71 ( p < 0.001) ( Table 2 ). Around three-quarters of this increase occurred in the 12 months prior to the most recent survey in 2022, during which time the cost of healthy foods increased 12.8% ( p < 0.001) ( Table 2 , Figure 1 ).

Over the four timepoints, the cost of the habitual diet increased 11.9% from AUD 772.20 to AUD 863.83 ( p < 0.001). Again, most of the rise occurred between 2021 and 2022, during which period the total cost of the habitual diet increased by 7.8% ( p < 0.001). This was around half the rate of increase for the recommended diet; the main reason for this was that the cost of the discretionary (unhealthy) food and drinks in the habitual diet only increased by 7.0% ( p < 0.001) during that year ( Table 2 ; Figure 1 ).

The CPI-food for the period September quarter 2021 to September quarter 2022 in Brisbane was 8.6% [ 41 ], so the increase in the cost of the recommended diet (12.8%) was 49% higher than the relevant reported CPI-food and even higher (64%) than the increase in cost of the habitual diet (7.8%), as illustrated in Figure 2 . For the two-year period prior to September 2021, the CPI-food for Brisbane increased by 3.8%. During this period, the assessed cost increases of the recommended diet and the habitual diet were much closer to CPI-food; however, the cost increases in the recommended diet tended to be higher than those in the habitual (unhealthy) diet. This differential was exacerbated in 2022 ( Figure 2 ).

The differential between the cost of the habitual and recommended diets was 24.7% in 2019 and was similar for the following two years, being 23.9% in 2020 ( p = 0.90) and 23.8% in 2021 ( p = 0.98). However, the cost differential declined significantly to 18.4% from 2021 to 2022 ( p < 0.001). In 2022, the recommended diet was relatively more expensive than it had been compared to the habitual diet in 2019 ( p = 0.006).

3.5. Changes in Fortnightly Cost of Food Groups over Time

In the recommended diet, food groups with the highest cost increases from 2019 to 2022 and from 2021 to 2022, respectively, were: vegetables and legumes (20.5% and 34.9%, both p < 0.001), grain (cereal—mostly wholegrain) foods (15.6% and 11.4%, both p < 0.001), fruit (23.4%, p < 0.001 and 8.2%, p = 0.010), and healthy fats and oils (27.3%, 17.5%, both p < 0.001) ( Table 2 ). Notably the cost of ‘vegetables and legumes’ had decreased from 2019 to 2020 (−12.7%, p < 0.001) before increasing from 2020 to 2021 (4.8%, p < 0.001) and then increased markedly from 2021 to 2022 (34.9%, p < 0.001), as noted previously. Costs of products in the milk, cheese, and yoghurt group increased initially from 2019 to 2020 (7.4%, p = 0.012), before declining slightly from 2020 to 2021 (−3.1%, p = 0.018), then rising most significantly from 2021 to 2022 (10.3%, p < 0.001); an overall increase of 14.7% ( p < 0.001) from 2019 to 2022. The cost increases in the lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and plant-based alternatives group were more consistent throughout the three years, increasing by 6.1% from 2019 to 2020 ( p = 0.011), 3.5% from 2020 to 2021 ( p = 0.013), and 6.4% from 2021 to 2022 ( p < 0.001), leading to an overall increase of 16.9% ( p < 0.001) from 2019 to 2022.

From 2019 to 2022, in contrast to the marked increase in the cost of the healthy foods and drinks in the recommended diet (17.9%), the cost of all the discretionary (unhealthy) foods and drinks in the habitual diet increased by ‘only’ 9.0% ( Table 2 ). There was also a large variation in the price changes within individual components of the latter. For example, the price of alcoholic drinks was relatively stable from 2019 to 2020, decreased in the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic (−6.4%, p < 0.001), then increased by 3.2% from 2021 to 2022 ( p < 0.001), leading to an overall decrease of −1.8% ( p < 0.001) from 2019 to 2022. The cost of sugar sweetened beverages followed a similar pattern, increasing by 12.3% ( p < 0.001) from 2021–2022, while the cost of artificially sweetened beverages increased throughout the four timepoints by 21.5% ( p < 0.001) ( Table 2 ). Among discretionary (unhealthy) items, the highest price increases from 2019 to 2022 were in take-away foods (14.7%, p < 0.001); while increasing by 5.7% ( p < 0.001) from 2019 to 2020, the cost of takeaway foods did not change significantly in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, then increased from 2021 to 2022 (6.0%, p < 0.001).

3.6. Changes in Diet Affordability over Time

Table 3 presents household incomes at the three different levels for the reference household per fortnight and affordability of the recommended diet in Greater Brisbane from 2019 to 2022. Affordability of the recommended diet over time is also presented in Figure 3 . Calculations of the minimum wage disposable household incomes and welfare-dependent household incomes at the four timepoints are provided in Supplementary Tables S2 and S3 .

Affordability of the recommended diet for reference household of four in Greater Brisbane, 2019 to 2022.

Household incomes (for the reference household of four, per fortnight) and affordability * of the recommended diet, Greater Brisbane, 2019 to 2022.

* cost of diet divided by household income (‘affordable’ is <30% of income).

In 2019, median gross household income per fortnight (AUD 3188.00) was 35% higher than household income for those on minimum wage (AUD 2358.00) and 83% higher than households on welfare income (AUD 1739.68). Due to the ESP and CS payments, both the minimum wage disposable household income and welfare-dependent household income in Greater Brisbane increased markedly between May and September 2020, by 41.5% and 77.3%, respectively. After the ESP and CS payments ceased early in 2021, both incomes returned to levels only 17% and 11% higher, respectively, than in 2019 ( Table 3 ).

In 2019, the reference household on median household income would have needed to spend 20.8% of their income to purchase the recommended diet in Greater Brisbane, which was affordable. Those households on minimum wage had to pay 26.0% of their household income to purchase the recommended diet, so would have been in food stress. However, welfare-dependent households could not afford the recommended diet, which cost 35.6% of household income ( Table 3 , Figure 3 ).

In contrast, for the first time, due to the ESP and CS introduced in 2020, the recommended diet was affordable for the reference household on welfare income, costing 20.3% of household income ( Table 3 , Figure 3 ). In addition, in 2020 the household on minimum wage was no longer in food stress, with the recommended diet costing 19.3% of household income. Hence, affordability of the recommended diet and economic access to healthy diets was similar for vulnerable households and those on median income in 2020. However, the ESP and CS were withdrawn incrementally from late 2020 and removed in early 2021. In 2021, welfare-dependent households again could not afford recommended diets, which cost 34.6% of household income. Those on minimum wage fared better at this time, narrowly avoiding food stress as the recommended diet cost 24.1% of their household income. However, diet affordability continued to worsen in all households with the increasing cost of food from 2021 to 2022. While approaching the food stress threshold, those on median income could still afford the recommended diet which cost 23.2% of their household income in 2022. Those on minimum wage were again experiencing food stress with the recommended diet costing 26.4% of their household income. Most worryingly, recommended diets were once again unaffordable for welfare-dependent households, costing 37.7% of their household income. Since 2019, economic access to healthy diets had reduced by 11.5% for households on median income, 1.5% for those on minimum income, and 5.0% for those on welfare.

4. Discussion

The Healthy Diets ASAP protocol was applied to assess the cost, relative cost, and affordability of habitual (unhealthy) diets and recommended (healthy, equitable and sustainable) diets, for a reference family of two adults and two children at three different household income levels in Greater Brisbane once a year from 2019 to 2022. This enabled comparison of diet costs and affordability at timepoints before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and concurrent shocks and stresses at global, national, and regional levels that may have impacted economic aspects of food security in Greater Brisbane.

The study found that from 2019 to 2021 prices of food and drinks in greater Brisbane increased gradually consistent with the CPI-food of 3.8% but escalated markedly between 2021 and 2022 ( Figure 2 ). Between September 2021 and 2022, the cost of the healthy food and drinks comprising the recommended diet increased by an average of 12.8%, nearly double the rate of the increase in the cost of the discretionary foods and drinks in the habitual diet during the same period (7.0%), and 42% more than the Brisbane CPI-food in that period (8.6%).

A major contributor to the increased cost of a healthy diet from 2021 to 2022 was the increase in fruit, vegetable, and grain prices that has been attributed to heavy rainfall and flooding in key Queensland food production areas during that year [ 42 ]. Other previous natural disasters, including the wild bushfires of 2019–2020, were likely to have ongoing impacts on supply [ 21 , 43 ]. In October 2022, the Australian Government Treasury predicted fruit and vegetables prices would increase a further 8% in the six months following due to new flood events in Australian food growing regions [ 42 ].

Continuing COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions were also reported. These included reduced workforce, such as reduced availability of international seasonal fruit pickers due to Australian border closures and forced isolation of workers in manufacturing, distributing, transport, and retail, including those with COVID-19 and close contacts [ 44 , 45 ]. Other factors included high fuel, and hence high transport costs, and high fertiliser and feed costs due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine [ 25 , 27 ]. The war has also been linked with increased cost of cereal products/bread due to constrained global wheat supply and increased cost of cooking oil [ 26 , 46 ], which grew by 17.5% in the last year of this study.

Another key factor was increasing global and national inflation [ 25 , 41 ]. In Australia, this exacerbated the increased price of gas and electricity, which are used for cooking, and of fuel used for shopping [ 41 ]. The escalating cost of living also pressured essential spending, such as on rent and mortgages for housing, which impacted spending on food [ 41 ]. As cash rates rise to combat inflation, this can lead to increased interest payments on borrowing, also increasing pressure on household budgets [ 41 ].

As prices of healthy foods escalate, unhealthy (discretionary and/or ultra-processed) foods have become relatively cheaper, which influences dietary choices, particularly in an economic downturn [ 47 , 48 ]. In times of financial stress, families, particularly in low socio-economic groups, tend to purchase the cheapest and most affordable food; this is often the less healthy products on price promotion [ 47 , 48 ]. This is worrying given that, when last measured nationally in Australia (2011–2012), more than one third of adults’ energy intake, and nearly 40% of children’s, was derived from unhealthy, discretionary food [ 49 ]. Total intake of discretionary food and drinks is associated with increased body mass index, and lower consumption of fruit and vegetables [ 50 ]. The relatively greater increase in the price of healthy, compared to discretionary, food and drinks during the study likely contributed to reported reductions in the intake of fresh produce, increased intake of unhealthy foods and weight gain during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 51 , 52 ].

Price is just one of many factors influencing dietary choices. Other aspects of the ‘obesogenic’ food environment [ 53 ] that drive food choices include the constant availability and promotion of unhealthy food and drinks, and convenience. These factors may explain why the cost of take-away foods increased more than other unhealthy foods and drinks during this study ( Table 2 ). Better promotion of healthy food and drinks and improvement in the nutrient profile of some convenience foods (e.g., reduction of salt content [ 54 ]) may contribute to healthier dietary intakes.

A common perception that healthy foods are more expensive than unhealthy options is also relevant [ 2 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ]. However, the studies supporting this are not grounded in reported dietary intakes such as the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol [ 28 , 29 , 32 ]. For example, they often cost arbitrary ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ food lists and often exclude alcohol and take-away foods, which comprise 20–25% of the cost of habitual Australian diets [ 28 ]. Results are also reported in different units (price per energy or weight unit, serve or nutrient-density) and analysis is frequently spurious [ 59 ]. Corresponding with findings of previous research, this study confirmed that healthy diets can be less expensive than habitual diets. Studies applying the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol have found that habitual diets are 14% to 23% more expensive than the recommended diet in Brisbane [ 28 , 32 ], across regional and remote areas of Queensland [ 17 ], in Sydney and Canberra [ 60 ], in regional Victoria [ 61 ], in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities [ 62 , 63 ], and nationally in areas serviced by the two large supermarket chains [ 64 ].

However, the cost differential between the diets reduced in 2022, reflecting the differing pricing and relative composition of the habitual and recommended diets. As the recommended diet comprises only healthy food and drinks, its total cost increased at a higher rate than the total cost of the habitual diet, which includes lesser quantities of healthy foods but many unhealthy items. A similar differential decrease was identified also in remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia; in these communities between May 2021 and June 2022, the cost of the habitual diet increased approximately 5%, while the cost of the recommended diet increased by around 10% [ 65 ].

Despite the reduced cost differential (18.4% in 2022 down from 24.7% in 2019), the cost saving for households buying the recommended diet rather than the habitual diet remained significant in 2022—AUD 134.22 per fortnight for the reference household in Greater Brisbane. However, this was approximately AUD 20 per fortnight less than during the preceding years. Especially at a time of increased pressure on household budgets and financial stress [ 66 ], this likely reduced the financial incentive for households to improve their diet. Urgent action is needed to further increase the relative affordability of recommended diets compared to habitual diets.

The lower cost of recommended diets compared to habitual diets is largely attributable to the exemption of “basic, healthy foods” from the 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Australia, which helps to keep the relative price of healthy food and drinks down. Modelling studies support increasing the GST on unhealthy food and drinks to 20% to increase the incentive for consumers to choose healthier options [ 32 , 67 ]. Targeted levies, such as 30% GST on sugar-sweetened beverages also have been suggested to discourage intake of specific choices harmful to health [ 68 ].

Analysis of data collected annually from 2019 to 2022 highlighted the impact on affordability of recommended diets during the temporary increases to income support for the most vulnerable households during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘natural experiment’ created when the Australian Government provided the ESP and CS, effectively doubling welfare income for those on JobSeeker in 2020, demonstrated that increasing household income raised an estimated 646,000 people above the poverty line [ 69 ] and made healthy diets affordable for welfare-dependent families for the first time [ 21 ].

Affordability of the recommended diet improved dramatically for low-income households in 2020, due to government provision of the ESP and CS from April. Affordability of recommended diets improved by 42% for welfare-dependent households. More than 90% of recipients of the ESP and CS income supplements reported that they could afford more healthy foods, including fruit and vegetables [ 70 ].

Findings of other studies and surveys confirm a positive impact of increased income support on food security and households’ capacity to buy healthy food [ 19 , 71 ] and subsequent increases in the prevalence of poverty and food insecurity after the income supplements decreased and then ceased (March 2021) [ 19 , 72 ]. Recommended diets became unaffordable for welfare-dependent households again, requiring 34.6% of their disposable income in 2021, and 37.7% in 2022. Families unable to commit such a large proportion of their disposable income to food because of other escalating living costs (particularly rent, household utilities such as electricity, and fuel/transport) report not being able to buy enough food or skipping meals to save money [ 73 ]. Low household income is the most consistent determinant of food insecurity [ 74 ].

The results of this study have highlighted that CPI-food is a blunt economic instrument. To help more usefully and transparently identify the likely health consequences of the changing prices of foods, it is recommended that the CPI-healthy food be determined and reported. A potential model for this was the ABS Australian Dietary Guidelines CPI reported in 2015 [ 75 ].

Limitations

For this study it would have been ideal if COVID-19-related ‘JobKeeper’ payments made to businesses to support staff whose working hours were reduced during the pandemic could have been included in addition to ‘JobSeeker’ payments. However, it was too difficult to tease out ‘JobKeeper’ entitlements and payments at the household level; hence, the incomes calculated only reflect those made primarily to low-income households. It should be noted that median income may have varied for some employees ‘stood down’ during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this would not have affected the findings relevant to households on minimum wage or dependent on welfare.

There are inherent methodological limitations to the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol that have been reported elsewhere [ 28 ]. Most pertinent to this analysis, they include assumptions used in income calculations that did not include the possibility of low-income households receiving the JobKeeper supplement in 2020, for example.

The most recent available national dietary intake data were collected in Australia in 2011–2012 [ 3 ]. It is likely ‘habitual’ diets of Australian families have changed in line with changes in the food supply and environment in recent years, including the rapid growth of meal delivery services [ 76 , 77 ], but recent granular data on diet patterns are not available currently. It is anticipated that updated national dietary intake data will be available in 2025 from the planned 2023 Australian Intergenerational Health and Mental Health Study (incorporating the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey) [ 78 ]. For the first time, national food security data will also be assessed robustly in this study [ 78 ].

The price collection protocol of Healthy Diets ASAP includes collection of the prices of major Australian brands for packaged food and drinks. Some households, particularly low socioeconomic households, may choose to purchase lower priced generic products (‘home’ or ‘own’ brands) and/or shop at ‘budget’ supermarkets as a coping strategy to stretch food budgets [ 79 ]. However, when applying this strategy, recommended diets can still be stressful to afford for welfare-dependent households [ 79 ], and are likely to be more so given the identified price rises of unpackaged healthy foods (such as fruit and vegetables) in this study.

Surveys were conducted only in urban locations in one state capital city in Australia, hence observed changes in food costs are not generalisable directly to other locations nationally, or other countries internationally. However, particularly for low-income groups, they do highlight current challenges in maintaining economic access to food security and healthy diets and help explain diet-related health inequities seen in Australia [ 79 , 80 ].

5. Conclusions

Having the ability to adequately feed ourselves is a basic human right; this requires that food must be affordable without compromising any other essential needs, such as secure housing (rent) or medicines [ 81 ]. Over the three years since 2019, the cost of food and drinks has escalated, particularly in the most recent year, with the prices of healthy foods and drinks increasing at almost double the rate of increase in prices of unhealthy items. The recommended diet remains less expensive than the habitual diet, but the cost differential reduced significantly between 2021 and 2022, rendering recommended diets relatively less affordable than habitual (unhealthy) diets. The development and publication of a CPI-healthy food index would help better identify health and related economic risks.

Findings highlight the potential impact of government policy settings on the affordability of food and economic aspects of food security, and hence dietary choices and diet-related health such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. Despite effective relief conferred by the ESP and CS while paid, recommended diets have become increasingly unaffordable for Australian families on low income, and are less affordable now than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Affordability of healthy food could be guaranteed by government commitments to help families access essential needs, and also by commitments to keep basic, healthy food and drinks GST-free. Additional benefits would be delivered if GST on unhealthy foods and drinks was increased to 20%. This could help encourage healthier choices, and the revenue raised could be hypothecated to nutrition and health promotion programs. Permanently increasing welfare support and providing an adequate minimum wage would enable low-income households to meet the costs of living and afford adequate healthy food, to protect their food security and diet-related health.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph20043146/s1 , Figure S1: Total recommended diet and food group costs in all 10 locations (F to O) from 2019 to 2022; Figure S2: Total habitual diet and food group costs in 10 locations (F to O) from 2019 to 2022; Table S1: Total diet and food group costs by SEIFA quintile from 2019 to 2022; Table S2: Calculations of minimum wage disposable household incomes for the reference household per fortnight from 2019 to 2022; Table S3: Calculations of welfare-dependent household incomes for the reference household per fortnight from 2019 to 2022.

Funding Statement

Funding for this research study was provided partially by the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). The MRFF provides funding to support health and medical research innovation, with the objective of improving the health and wellbeing of Australians. MRFF funding was provided through The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre under the MRFF Boosting Preventive Health Research Program (BP3). Further information on the MRFF is available at www.health.gov.au/mrff (accessed on 3 January 2023). This project has also been supported in part by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded Centre of Research Excellence in Food Retail Environments for Health (RE-FRESH) (APP1152968). The opinions, analysis, and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the NHMRC.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, A.J.L. and M.L.; methodology, A.J.L. and M.L.; software: M.L.; sampling, A.J.L. and M.L.; data collection, L.-M.H., R.C.T., S.N., A.D. and M.L.; formal analysis, A.J.L., M.L., M.D.C., S.N., A.D. and R.C.T.; writing—original draft preparation, A.J.L., L.-M.H. and M.L.; writing—review and editing, A.J.L., M.L., M.D.C., S.N., A.D., R.C.T. and L.-M.H.; supervision, A.J.L., M.L. and L.-M.H.; project administration, A.J.L. and M.L.; funding acquisition, A.J.L.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The University of Queensland Research Ethics Committee assessed this study as meeting the conditions for exemption from Human Research Ethics Committee review and approval in accordance with Section 5.1.22 of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007). The Ethics Clearance numbers are 2019000561 and 2021/ {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"HE001933","term_id":"268747396","term_text":"HE001933"}} HE001933 . All data were obtained from publicly available sources and did not involve human participants.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

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Home » Health & Wellness » Ingredients And Uses

Healthy Food Vs. Junk Food: All You Need To Know

Because what's on your plate decides your overall health and well-being.

Karishma Shah Integrative Health Nutritionist

Expertise: Integrative Nutrition

Experience: 3 years

Karishma Shah is an Integrative Health Nutritionist and Holistic Wellness Coach with 3 years of experience. She has an extensive background in clinical nutrition, Ayurveda, and spiritual-mental health. She adopts a multi-disciplinary and wh... more

Sindhu Koganti BTech (Biotechnology), Certified Health & Nutrition Life Coach

Expertise: Ingredients & Nutrition

Experience: 6 years

Sindhu Koganti is a Certified Health and Nutrition Life Coach and has over 6 years of experience in writing on health and wellness topics. She has a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from Acharya N... more

Ravi Teja Tadimalla BSc, Professional Certificate in Food, Nutrition and Health

Experience: 8 years

Ravi Teja Tadimalla is a senior editor and a published author. He has been in the digital media field for over eight years. He graduated from SRM University, Chennai, and has a Professional Certificat... more

Himanshi Mahajan BSc (Life Sciences), Certified Health & Nutrition Life Coach

Expertise: Nutrition & Fitness

Experience: 2 years

Himanshi Mahajan is a Certified Health & Nutrition Life Coach. She has a bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences from Guru Nanak Dev University and two years of experience in writing SEO-based and re... more

Image: Shutterstock

We all are aware of the negative effects junk food poses on our health, and yet we tend to grab bites of junk very often because of their tempting taste. But, have you ever wondered why the junk food vs. healthy food debate is discussed so heatedly?

Learn about how the empty calories in junk food negatively affect your overall health and how eating clean can improve your wellbeing by reading this article. Also, have a look at the foods that have many detrimental effects on your health if you consume them regularly. Keep reading to know more!

In This Article

The Difference Between Healthy And Unhealthy Foods

Before diving deeper into the differences between healthy and unhealthy food, let’s be clear about a few aspects. on a few things. What exactly do junk food and healthy food refer to? Healthy food contains good fats and nutrients that are vital for your body. Healthy food items offer your body the strength and the capacity to fight against various diseases. Junk food is a highly processed food and contains a high amount of calories. These foods are harmful to your health. Most of the junk foods are available as packaged items.

To get a deeper understanding of the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods, let us first delve into junk foods in the next section.

What Is Junk Food?

Junk food refers to highly processed, nutritionally poor foods that are often laden with excessive sugars, salt, and unhealthy fats. These include popular fast foods such as pizzas and burgers, sugary beverages such as cola, and different kinds of candies.

Frequent consumption of junk food can take a toll on your overall health and cause nutritional imbalance as well as deficiencies in the absence of a balanced diet containing essential nutrients. It may also lead to unwanted weight gain and spike your blood sugar levels.

While the occasional indulgence is considered fine, a balanced diet, which majorly comprises fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, is essential for long-term health and vitality.

The difference between healthy food and junk food often depends on their calorie and fat content. So, it is always better to know how to distinguish healthy foods from their unhealthier counterparts. Following is a list of factors that you can check to keep yourself away from unhealthy/junk food.

1. Type Of Oil Used In Food: Makes A Big Difference

There are many varieties of cooking oils on the market. But do you know which is the best among those? The key difference between unhealthy and healthy oils is the amount of saturated and unsaturated fats they contain. The oils with a high percentage of unsaturated fats are considered a healthier option. Olive oil and sunflower oil are low on saturated fats and are considered healthy . Whereas oils with high saturated fats like palm oil, butter, and lard are considered unhealthy. Generally, junk foods are loaded with a high amount of saturated fats and are unhealthy to eat.

2. Nutrient Value Of The Foods: Shows Its Impact On Your Health

Healthy foods are rich in nutrients that are essential for your body. Nutrients like calcium, fiber, potassium, and vitamin D are available in leafy vegetables, dairy products, nuts, fruits, eggs, fish, whole grains, and legumes. Junk foods are rich in calories, but they don’t provide you with the vital nutrients. Also, People who frequently consume junk food with low nutrient values may have nutritional deficiencies .

3. Refined Or Unrefined Foods: Choose The Best One!

During refining, lots of enzymes, vitamins, and fibers are lost from the oils. The refined food becomes unhealthy to some extent. The vegetable oils are originally good for health if consumed reasonably. Usually, the oils are partially hydrogenated to increase their shelf life. It makes them into less healthy trans-fats, which are unhealthy. The processed oil has disastrous long-term effects on the body. So, always try to use unrefined, unprocessed, and natural ingredients for maintaining better health.

4. Are You Consuming Your Daily Quota Of Vital Nutrients?

Do you know how many people around the people have nutrient deficiencies? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 2 billion people worldwide are estimated to be deficient in key vitamins and minerals ( 1 ). Intake of foods rich in vital nutrients provides good health and also lowers the risk of developing health issues. At the same time, junk food has the opposite impact on your health. Fast food consumption increases the risk of metabolic syndrome i   X A group of conditions like high blood pressure, blood sugar, and abdominal fat that increase the risk of heart disorders and diabetes. by increasing triglyceride i   X A type of stored fat in the body cells that forms when you consume extra calories from butter, oils, and fast food. levels . Fast food also triggers blood sugar and blood pressure spikes. Such food also increases the risk of obesity leading to cardiovascular problems and type 2 diabetes ( 2 ), ( 3 ).

5. Which Type Of Food Has More Antioxidants?

Antioxidants are essential to defend the body from free radicals, which can cause cancer. Healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, and beans are rich sources of antioxidants. In contrast, junk food does not contain enough quantities of antioxidants essential for your body.

6. Are You Eating Healthy Snack Items?

Most of us tend to hog on snacks. Hence, it is important to choose healthy snacks. It is healthier to have crunchy, nutritious vegetables, such as celery and carrots with a low-fat dip instead of potato chips or French fries with an onion dip. Nuts and air popcorn are healthier than processed snacks like chips.

7. Problems Associated With Junk Food

Junk food rich in fat and sugar can be addictive. The blend of sugar and fat is mostly linked with addictive symptoms, including loss of self-control over food. Regular consumption of junk foods can further increase your cravings. Also, the added sugars, high fats, and simple carbohydrates in junk food can increase the risk of obesity and other diseases.

A 2018 survey conducted on 2537 adults found that 49% of them are ‘health-oriented eaters’ i.e., prefer wholesome and nutritious foods. The other 51% select healthy food half the time or less. Furthermore, health-oriented eaters limited their intake of artificial sweeteners (53% vs. 36%), sugar (51% vs. 26%), and artificial preservatives (47% vs. 20%) compared to less health-conscious eaters (51%).

Healthy foods

What Are The Benefits Of Eating Healthy?

Convenience frequently takes precedence over health when it comes to food choices in today’s fast-paced lifestyle. However, here are some benefits of eating healthy.

• Healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are high in fiber. Fiber releases energy slowly and keeps our stomach full for a longer time. It keeps you from overeating ( 4 ). High-fiber foods also keep your gastrointestinal tract healthy, thus controlling your cholesterol and blood sugar levels ( 5 ).
• The protein from lean meat and nuts improves your brain function. The antioxidants and nutrients in fruits and fresh veggies can influence the hormones responsible for mental health ( 6 ). Try to take foods rich in omega-3 fats that can influence your brain health and mental well-being ( 7 ). They hold all the nutrients intact, unlike fried foods which drain the essential nutrients.
• Healthy and organic food is not processed. Hence, it is low in calories and rich in essential nutrients. It provides your body with exactly what it needs to maintain good health. Having fruits, veggies, nut milk, seeds, beans, sprouts, pulses, and millets will give you good nutrition.
• Healthy food is the one which gives you balance along with satiety, and can help control your weight. If you are overweight or obese, consult a doctor or a nutritionist at the earliest and strictly follow a high fiber diet.
• A daily diet of healthy and nutritional food will also promote your heart health. It helps regulate your cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure levels.
• Foods high in fat and sugar can cause dry skin and dull hair ( 8 ). Nutrient-rich foods can give you a youthful appearance ( 9 ).

Brandon William, a health and fitness vlogger, stopped eating sugar, dairy, and gluten for 60 days and achieved clear skin. His acne scars and eczema flares reduced with healthy diet habits. He says, “My skin has almost completely cleared up with only faint red remnants of the previous acne healing. Also, the red and itchy eczema that I had in the inside of my arm at the beginning of the challenge is now completely gone now ( i ).”

Foods That Are Bad For Your Health

• Soft drinks: Consumption of soft drinks with high sugar content could cause type 2 diabetes, obesity, and dental erosion ( 10 ), ( 11 ). Sugary drinks are harmful to your health. There is a rising prevalence of obesity, mainly in children, with soft drink consumption ( 12 ). Also, when you drink soft drinks, your brain doesn’t register them as food. Hence, you could end up consuming more calories.

The high fructose concentration in sugary beverages leads to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease ( 13 ). Added sugar is associated with cardiovascular disease ( 14 ). A decrease in sugary beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and its related diseases ( 15 ).

• French fries:

French fries and potato chips have more trans-fat and salt and are associated with larger weight gain ( 16 ). These fried foods are high in calories too. Deep-fried potato foods contain large amounts of acrylamides. Acrylamide is a proven carcinogen in rodents and has a positive association with human cancer ( 17 ).

• Pizzas: Pizza is the favorite junk food for many around the globe. It is processed food with more unhealthy ingredients and calories. The highly refined grain products in pizza have been linked with weight gain. Regular consumption of these types of foods is linked with heart problems and obesity ( 18 ).
• Pastries: Pastries are one of the favorite baked items for many. These are made from hydrogenated fats that are unhealthy ( 19 ). These are sweet and tasty but contain many preservatives and no essential nutrients.
• Sandwiches: Sandwiches are high-fat breakfast items that have a negative impact on your heart. The high fat in warm bread slices, cheese, and processed meat can slow down blood flow in the arteries ( 20 ). These foods can impact blood vessel function and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Burgers are high in cholesterol, saturated fat, and salts. The high sodium content in burgers can elevate blood pressure ( 21 ), ( 22 ). This condition may also lead to stroke and kidney diseases.

• Processed Meat: Processed meat intake is linked with colon cancer ( 23 ). It can also be linked to coronary heart disease, diabetes, and stroke ( 24 ).

White bread, low-fat yogurt, high-calorie coffee, ice creams, most fruit juices, and full cream cheese could also negatively impact your health.

Infographic: Easy Ways To Stop Eating Junk Food

Illustration: StyleCraze Design Team

Get the high-quality PDF version of this infographic.

The secret to a healthy body is a balanced diet. So it comes as no surprise that the verdict of the junk food vs. healthy food debate heavily favors the latter. While junk food can trick you with its taste, its ingredients can contribute to a variety of health issues. Healthy food contains a higher concentration of nutrients, antioxidants, and beneficial minerals that are good for your health. Reduce the risk of long-term health issues by replacing junk food with fresh produce. Also, sleep well and exercise regularly to reap the benefits of eating healthy in the long run.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why being healthy is important?

Good physical and mental health is crucial for a fulfilling life. It empowers you to handle challenges and make the most of opportunities, both in personal and professional aspects. Your good health also benefits those around you, promoting well-being and progress in your community. Embrace healthy habits and reap the rewards for a better present and future.

What are the 5 healthiest foods?

Nourish your body with these five superfoods for optimal wellness: nuts, berries, kale, spinach, and broccoli. They are packed with nutrients, easy to incorporate into meals, and provide numerous health benefits. Embrace their goodness and boost your health and wellbeing.

How much junk food is OK?

It is not recommended to have junk food to lead a healthy lifestyle. However, there is no harm in having it once in a while. You can consume junk food once or twice a week if you are physically active. Also, it is important to have it in moderation.

Is junk food bad for the brain?

Junk foods like cookies, burgers, chips, and other packaged foods may contain trans fat. These have an adverse effect on the brain and nervous system as they can alter the ability of neurons to communicate and reduce mental performance ( 25 ).

Can I eat junk once a day?

No. Eating junk food once a day may not be good for the health and may gain more weight.

Is white rice junk food?

No. white rice is not junk food. It is a staple food source with a healthy nutrient profile.

Does junk food affect IQ?

Junk food consumption may affect the brain, as discussed above. However, there is no scientific evidence that suggests it affects the IQ of a person.

Key Takeaways

• Junk food is high in calories and is mostly available as packaged items.
• These are loaded with sugars, high fats, and simple carbohydrates that increase the risk of obesity and other diseases.
• Soft drinks, pizzas, French fries, pastries, burgers, sandwiches, and processed meat are certain food items that are not good for your health.

Image: Dall·E/StyleCraze Design Team

While you may know what foods are healthy and what are not, making the right choices is hard. But understanding the deeper differences between nutritious and unhealthy foods can help. Check out the following video and help yourself make healthier decisions for a better lifestyle.

Personal Experience: Source

StyleCraze's articles are interwoven with authentic personal narratives that provide depth and resonance to our content. Below are the sources of the personal accounts referenced in this article.

Articles on StyleCraze are backed by verified information from peer-reviewed and academic research papers, reputed organizations, research institutions, and medical associations to ensure accuracy and relevance. Read our editorial policy to learn more.

• Preventing and controlling micronutrient deficiencies in populations affected by an emergency https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/nutritionlibrary/preventing-and-controlling-micronutrient-deficiencies-in-populations-affected-by-an-emergency.pdf?sfvrsn=e17f6dff_2
• The Hidden Dangers of Fast and Processed Food https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6146358/
• Fast Food Pattern and Cardiometabolic Disorders: A Review of Current Studies https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772793/
• Dietary fiber and obesity https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/707393/
• High Fiber Diet https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559033/
• Fruit, Vegetable and Antioxidant Intakes are Lower in Older Adults with Depression https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3520090/
• Brain Health across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review on the Role of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6116096/
• Diet and Skin Aging—From the Perspective of Food Nutrition https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7146365/
• Discovering the link between nutrition and skin aging https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583891/
• Impact of soft drinks to health and economy: a critical review https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40368-019-00458-0
• Dietary sugar and body weight: have we reached a crisis in the epidemic of obesity and diabetes?: health be damned! Pour on the sugar Url
• Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1829363/
• Dietary fructose in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23390127/
• Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among US adults https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24493081/
• Resolved: there is sufficient scientific evidence that decreasing sugar‐sweetened beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and obesity‐related diseases. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/obr.12040
• Dietary Patterns and Changes in Body Weight in Women https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2006.164
• Acrylamide formation in fried potato products – Present and future, a critical review on mitigation strategies https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030881461101096X
• Fat, Sugar, Whole Grains and Heart Disease: 50 Years of Confusion https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5793267/
• Pastries https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/pastries
• Functional Foods as Modifiers of Cardiovascular Disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2847297/
• The variability of reported salt levels in fast foods across six countries: opportunities for salt reduction https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3381762/
• Sodium Intake and Hypertension https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770596/
• Processed Meat and Colorectal Cancer: A Review of Epidemiologic and Experimental Evidence https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01635580701684872#.VS5zDvmsVA1
• Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incident coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885952/
• Fact-checker

Sindhu Koganti Senior Health & Wellness Writer

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You will be amazed to know how beneficial this drink is, especially for people with diabetes.

10 Top Benefits Of Almond Butter, Nutrition, And Recipes

Learn why you should switch to this nutrient-dense nut butter and how it benefits your health.

11 Health Benefits Of Eucalyptus Oil And How To Use It

Address multiple health issues with this oil's analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.

All About Adzuki Beans – Benefits + Recipes

These fibrous beans are your best bet if you want to switch to a healthy diet.

13 Health Benefits Of Peppermint Tea And How To Make It

Add this refreshing drink to your daily routine, and your body will thank you for it!

What Is Yohimbe And Should You Use It?

Yohimbe is a popular ingredient in performance boosters, but it is not without its risks.

Sour Cream: Nutritional Value, Benefits, And Tasty Recipes

You will surely be impressed with its complex taste, texture, and nutritional goodness.

19 Clary Sage Essential Oil Health Benefits & Side Effects

This essential oil could be the one-stop solution to oral, nerve, and uterus-related issues.

Kabocha Squash Nutrition And Health Benefits With Recipes

From digestion to eye health - this veggie can benefit your health in multiple ways.

8 Health Benefits Of Falafel: Recipe, Side Effects, And More

Check your facts again before adding this deep-fried vegan snack to your regular diet.

2 Major Side Effects Of Hot Water – Think Before You Drink

Yes, drinking hot water may not be as great for you as it is made out to be!

Mamoncillo: Health Benefits And Recipes

Include this delicious fruit in your daily diet to transform your health!