Killing themselves with money

          One of the assignments for my English class was an interview. The interview was supposed to be about food in someone’s life. I really wanted to interview my father because I heard a lot of times that he had a hard childhood because at that time the damage of the Korean War still remained. I was able to compare the difference in diets during his childhood and now. Let’s explore!!  

Hangil:
              “What kinds of food did you usually eat when you were young?

Hyogyu:
               “The only food I had was vegetables such as lettuce, and Kimchi. We were only able to eat                    meats once or twice a year on Korean thanksgiving days and new year”

Hangil: 
“What was the reason for that”

Hyogyu: 
“As you know, the damage of the Korean war still remained terribly. Majority of us didn’t have enough money to buy meats. In addition, the vegetables we eat were all from the home garden.”

Hangil:
 “What was your favorite food?”

Hyogyu:
 “It used to be grilled pork but not anymore, now my favorite is seaweed with chili paste.”

Hangil: 
“How often did you go outside to eat”

Hyogyu: 
“I am not sure but I guess once in a year” I can’t remember since we hardly had any chance to go outside to eat.”

Hangil: 
“I know that you suffered from hypertension when you were around 40~45 years old, what was the cause for that?

Hyogyu: 

“As you know, I used to eat only vegetables and that was the only foods we could eat. At  that time, I really wanted to eat hamburgers, beef, pork, and some other delicious fast food. However if I think of it now I guess the vegetarian diet made my body really healthy. After the economic status of Korea has developed, our generation could afford other types of food apart from vegetables. I used to be really healthy but I guess the drastic change in diet caused me some health problems.” 

Hangil:
 “What do you think is the cause for teenagers having adult disease?

Hyogyu: 
“I am sure that it is because of diet. It was impossible to see any teenagers having adult disease during my childhood. It is good to eat fast food, meats, and some other meat type dishes. However, the real problem is they stopped eating vegetables.”

Hangil: 
“Do you think there is relationship between economic status of a country and people’s diet who live in the country?

Hyogyu: 
“I guess it is pretty much related. When they have no money they tend to eat vegetables. But when they have money their diet entirely changes into more oily diet like meats. But one ironic relationship between economic status and people’s health is that it is inversely proportional. Some people might this it is a prejudice from me. But even statistics about teenagers’ adult disease prove that it is getting worse and worse.”

Hangil: 
“What types of food do you like meat or vegetable.”

Hyogyu: 
“I like both but the balance is really important.”

Hangil: 
“The new diet called “Well-being” is getting really popular in Korea, what do you think about it”

Hyogyu: 
“I think it is a good idea. Try to eat more vegetables and having balanced diet to become healthy. However, the majority fans of well-being diet are people in my age. I guess even they experienced some kind of health problem like me and trying to change. However the next generation is also important. They will be the one who will lead this country in a very close future. I hope that well-being becomes more popular.”

Hangil: “Don’t you find anything ironic between diet and economic status? I found it really ironic                     that some people try to change their diet like how you used to eat during your childhood.” 

Hyogyu:
“Yes it is kind of ironic that people changed their diet from vegetables and meat types and again trying to go back as they got richer. Maybe they want to live longer as they got richer. Anyways, being healthy is really important. Even you used to have hypertension and some liver problem. I always used to tell you to eat a lot of vegetables. I hope now you understand why I said that. You should be the one who control food.

Hangil: 
“Thank you for your interview!!! Good night!!”

          I always wanted to know how economic status of a country could affect one’s health. This was because when I went to army I had a medical check-up and I was notified that I had a liver problem. The doctor who checked me said it used to be really abnormal for a person in my age to have liver problem like this. But it often occurs these days. According to him, the reason was because of inappropriate diet. My father was really upset when he heard about this result. I was only allowed to eat vegetable type food for 2 months. Surprisingly, my liver was cured completely. After this, I started having a lot of interest in diet. I came to know that as the world entered 21^st century the living standards became much better than before. However the health standards have gone down because of too much intake of meats and fast food such as hamburgers and fried chicken which were unaffordable during 20^th century. I was so interested in this topic when I heard that we will have an interview assignment. I thought my father would be a perfect interviewee since his life during his childhood and now is totally opposite. As I expected I could find out a lot of useful information I expected. I can’t mention too much about my essay here but my theme will be relationship between development of a country and people’s health status who live in that country. I will write about my home country Korea since I know about it the most and Korea had developed rapidly during 1960 to 2010 so we will also be able to read the real case. I will upload my essay here if anyone is interested in this topic after reading my post!! Have a great week!