Subsidise healthy food in Budget 2017

People here and elsewhere do eat some healthy food, but we also eat unhealthily. For example, we do not consume two servings each of fruits and vegetables every day, as recommended by Health Promotion Board (HPB).

Unwise food choices play a role in the rise in diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers, like colorectal cancer, that are sweeping Singapore and the rest of the developed world.

These diseases wreak havoc on our quality of life, family and friends, workplace productivity and our family budget.

The educational efforts of the HPB and schools are important, but they need help, as there are other dietary influences, for example food prices.

Accordingly, researchers at the World Health Organization and Rand Corporation recommend the use of price subsidies to increase consumption of healthy foods.

Prices play a crucial role for people in lower-income groups, who spend a higher percentage of their income on food.

Furthermore, many people in all income groups equate healthy food with expensive food, even though many healthier foods, such as tofu and tempeh, can be less expensive than meat and other food high in saturated fat and trans fat.

Price subsidies to increase consumption of wholegrains, such as brown rice, and of fruits and vegetables could change perceptions and people’s eating habits.

Improved diets would mean improved health, which translates into healthcare savings for the Government and fewer losses owing to absenteeism and reduced productivity.

For example, if children ask for a snack, and there are apples and candy in the supermarket that cost the same, the fruit becomes an even wiser choice, for the family’s health and their wallets, if its price is subsidised.

So we urge that Budget 2017 should contain subsidies for healthy food (“Concerns over economy, support for families key issues in Budget 2017: Minister”; Jan 14).

The investment can pay for itself because better diets lead to lower healthcare expenditures, increased productivity and a happier, more vibrant Singapore.