FARGO, ND. – Financial incentives are more likely to convince the federal government to set aside more money for promoting whole grain consumption and other healthy eating patterns, said Kevin Miller, PhD, principal scientist for General Mills’ Bell Institute of Health & Nutrition. Reducing health care costs could be a key objective of the promotions.
Health care spending in the United States in 2017 reached $3.5 trillion, or nearly $11,000 per person, which was almost 18% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, Dr. Miller said. Those numbers compared to under $7,000 per person and 11% of the GDP in Canada and under £3,000 per person and 9.6% of the GDP in the United Kingdom.
“So there are opportunities to promote economics associated with health,” he said in a Jan. 11 webinar put on by the Fargo-based Northern Crops Institute. “Tell compelling stories because the governments are looking to where they can save more…
