In recent decades, American society has seemed to become aware of the importance of nutrition and the negative effects that malnourishment to the body can cause. It is believed that a clear indication of whether someone is malnourished can be seen through a correlation between their diet and their productivity levels. Those who have lower productivity levels are typically associated with having unhealthy eating habits and lack the proper balance in their diet. The excess consumption of cholesterol and fats in everyday meals prevents the body from receiving the nutrients it needs to produce energy. This along with social and political aspects greatly contribute to the levels of productivity that people show while trying to accomplish a task. The government plays an important role in the way Americans’ diets affect their moral which ultimately effects their productivity. 

In order to fight childhood obesity, first lady Michelle Obama began campaigning for a healthier America and proposed various ideas to the U.S government involving regulations on food distributed by government funded organizations. In 2010 the government implemented the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act which drastically revamped the way schools across America provide food to their students. Over time it could be seen that the act did an outstanding job of decreasing childhood obesity rates throughout the county, however not all students reacted the way the government had intended. Some students showed improvements in their productivity due to regulations in their diets which helped increase energy levels, but other students’ work ethics were hindered from the inability to choose what they wanted to eat for breakfast and or lunch. Aside from this issue, the act increased productivity in America as a whole by boosting the involvement of the agricultural industry, causing a rapid economic growth for consumable crop producing companies. 

It is reasonable to think that the extent to which consuming nutritionally beneficial food clearly outweighs any reason to which someone might want to eat unhealthy. This assumption is flawed by the underlying positive effects eating unhealthy has on a person. A research survey showed that in adolescent people their importance to eat unhealthier food is far greater than some might think. This is due to the fact that aside from the nutritional role of foods consumed, they are also a variable in determining the quality of social and cultural aspects of someone’s life. The survey data explained that there is a direct correlation between food and its association with a person’s interpretation of pleasure relaxation and friendship within society. Do to the impressionability of adolescent people it becomes obvious to why unhealthy foods are so popular within the younger communities. Healthy food tend to lack the advertising and social impact with younger age groups which cause them to become less desirable. Eliminating the nutritional aspect to the unhealthy foods causes young individuals to be easily manipulated by unhealthy food producers through social influence. The producers of these foods associate their products with entertainment and are structured around a social aspect while healthy nutritionally rich foods focus more on older age groups that are more susceptible to advertising focused on the improvement of quality of life. The great influence unhealthy food producers have on adolescent people ultimately causes an increase in productivity by developing a physiological sense of satisfaction and motivation to accomplish being part of a bigger picture.

Nutrition effects adults slightly differently. Research reviewed and approved by the Surgeon General’s office on various businesses across America involving the comparative productivity between obese employees and workers that are not considered obese shows that there is a clear distinction between both groups. Through a series of surveys and examinations the research concluded that those who have consistently consumed unhealthy foods did not perform as well on physical and mental examinations. Soon after the trials were conducted, the participants were asked if they felt less or more productive, the majority of those who were considered to be obese felt less productive. It is evident that those who have a more balanced diet are more inclined to perform better on everyday tasks because their bodies have received the nutrients from the foods they eat in order to do so. Along with this studies have found that it typically takes more energy for an obese person to accomplish the same task as someone who is physically fit and maintains a healthy balanced diet. Another case of how the workforce is affected by variations in nutrition can be seen by observing a research survey conducted in September of 2011. This research consisted of a company that was able to influence worker productivity by implementing wellness programs into their jobs. The study was conducted over the span of several years in order to monitor how the productivity employees were affected as they lost weight by eating healthier and exercising. The research concluded that sixty eight percent of employees both felt more productive and performed better on tasks that they had initially done prior to the experiment. This shows that there is a direct correlation between physical health and productivity. SABC News covered a segment on if productivity in the workplace was in fact affected by the nutrition and physical activity of employees and they found that although the employees were not directed to follow a certain diet or exercise plan, employees that were eating balanced diets were more motivated to get work done and felt less exhausted after the work day was complete.

Similar data has been collected by other companies studying how variations in physical activity and nutrition affect rates of how often employees show up to work while enduring some type of sickness or injury, in other words “presenteeism”. It was found that fifty seven percent of employees who practiced healthy eating and exercised moderately were more inclined to show up to work while injured or sick than those who did not. This is to say that although someone might be enduring a type of sickness, depending on the food they eat and the amount of exercise they do, it could be enough to get them though an average work day.

It has been seen in various cases that there is in fact a distinction between the productivity of someone who maintains their nutrition and someone who does not and in some cases become obese. These distinctions are so widely accepted that government programs have been established to lessen these variations in order to increase productivity. Starting as early as 2011 studies have been conducted examining various subject groups including students in schools, healthy and obese employees in various companies, and employees that are ill yet remain at work. A common trend in the results of these studies include those who maintained regulated diets and participated in physical activity were much more productive when it came to work related activities. Some of the studies conducted focused on specific companies which were interested in increasing productivity in the workplace. Although these companies conducted the studies out of personal interest many of them have been approved and examined by government agencies and the data conducted appears to be credible. The presenteeism of workers that were sick was examined and those employees who had shown consistencies in their diets nutritionally and showed reoccurrences in physical activities out performed many employees that were sick and also considered morbidly obese. In conclusion through the observing and analysis of various subject groups all with distinct differences in nutritional maintenance and levels of physical activities it can be seen that when it comes to productivity in regards to work ethic those with higher levels of physical activity and those who maintain a more consistent and healthy based diet are found to be more productive than those who are not active and do not maintain a healthy balanced diet.
