...As discussed in our debate paper obesity is on the rise and has been a growing health concerns for the United States for many years. Childhood obesity has become an epidemic issue worldwide and some Asian countries are seeing an increase among childhood obesity for instance, country like Japan. Before discussing the obesity issues in Japan there are cultural differences that needs to be taken into consideration in order to fully understand the reason for the increase of childhood obesity among the Japanese There are numerous connotations to describe and point out differences of one’s culture, many sociologists describe culture as an adoption and process of behavioral patterns that influence people within a society. Cultural factors that play a key role in the increase of obesity within the Japanese population are; attitudes and customs. Japan’s cultural and eating habits has for many years included a seafood-based cuisine, rice and fresh vegetables. Japanese food portions are smaller compared to American portions and simply prepared with fresh ingredients. 50 Years ago a stable meal consisted of soup and rice three meals a day. With the adaption of Westernized eating habits, Japanese are eating bigger portions for breakfast, eating lighter lunch and having a big dinner. With the influence of bigger portions, Japanese are increasing their diets with more sweets and fatty calorie rich foods. With a change in life styles and a more westernized eating habits, there has be...
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...Research Paper – Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity is an important issue because of the staggering proportions that this disease has reached in the past few years. Certain genetic factors paired with changing lifestyles and culture has produced kids (and adults) who are generally not as healthy as people were just a few decades ago. Widespread obesity has been the extreme result of these changes. I chose this topic because I have worked with children all of my life. I plan to continue my work with children in the future, possibly in an academic administration setting. Because schools are seen as an important player in the battle with childhood obesity, it is important that educators are aware of the health risks and that they learn what they can do to change the situation. The Center for Disease Control Website distinguishes between the terms overweight and obesity. The term overweight refers to a person with a weight that is high compared to others his same height and technically has nothing to do with an individual’s amount of body fat. For example someone could have a higher weight due to having lots of muscle mass (Defining). In consideration of this, one source points out that it is probably more accurate to say that someone is overfat when referring to a condition of having too much body fat (Insel and Roth, 237). Obesity on the other hand is defined as “an excessively high amount of body fat…in relation to lean body mass” (Defining). The prevalence...
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...Obesity in America’s Children Ann L. Stanford ENG 122 English Composition II Prof Louisa Verhaart January 20, 2014 Annotated Bibliography Clark, S., & Dittrich, L. (2010). Alternate fat taxes to control obesity. International Advances in Economic Research, 16(4), 388-394. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=da6fd1fc-d4b1-4774-ba2f-effd96f032e8%40sessionmgr4004&vid=3&hid=102 This paper takes a closer look at three different “fat taxes” as an approach to control the epidemic of obesity that is sweeping the nation. The decision to implement fat taxes was based on how effective the tobacco taxes reduced the number of adults were smoking in America. This reading does an excellent job at breaking down how the taxes are determined and specifically, which types of foods would be taxed. Huber, B. (2012 October 29). Michelle’s Moves. (First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program). The Nation. 295(18), 11, 5. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=fd1a6f48-ff03-4f55-b287-f021022605b1%40sessionmgr113&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.306624403 This article discusses First Lady Michelle Obama’s "Let’s Move” initiative. It is discussed how Mrs. Obama urged the manufactures of many of the processed foods to cooperate with the government on new food labels, and to take a serious approach about reining...
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...Obesity rates tend to be higher and increase more rapidly over time in the child. Obesity is a serious concern in the US public school, especially from Arkansas to Illinois. “Fat letter” are send home to parent that it will help alert the parent about their child health status. However, when the letter sends to the teenager which does label their weight, and it can cause them to be eating disorder, to using pills, to losing balance of nutrition, to leading bullying in school or to entering the privacy. It is also does not help the parent recognize their children health status without consideration. On the other hand, ‘Fat letter’ can help the parent’s student to recognize their child health stage which is tell the parent what their child...
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...Health Advocacy on Childhood Obesity Janeane Horan Walden University August third, 2014 Introduction According to the Center of Disease Control approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese. Since 1980, obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled (CDC, 2012). Today’s nurses are faced with a growing trend in overweight and obese children and have the responsibility to be the patient advocate and help. Health promotion is one of the most important aspects of nursing, and no matter what setting a nurse is in; they have the power to provoke change. Childhood obesity will be discussed in detail throughout this paper. Public policy needs to address the arising concern that childhood obesity has on today’s society. Creating an advocacy program based on two effective childhood obesity programs; The Power Up Initiative and Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) can do just that. The potential community-based advocacy program in this paper will address what needs to be included in school and after school programs to promote health and prevention of obesity. The program will also need to have a specific plan on what and how to educate local pediatricians and nurses regarding childhood obesity. What is it and what is the cause? Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of fat in the body (Mckinney, E., James, S., Murray, S., Ashwill, J., 2009). Fat is accumulated in the body when there is a combination...
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...Obesity: The Killer of Our Youth? An Explanatory Essay Giovanni Atkins Goldey-Beacom College Obesity: The Killer of Our Youth An Explanatory Essay Everyday across the country, children practice unhealthy eating habits. Throughout the day they indulge in fatty foods that greatly affect their health, especially during school lunch. Schools lunches normally consist of quick and easy options like pizza, chips, soda, etc., all foods that when eaten regularly can lead to serious health problems. Children are prone to these eating habits everywhere and have learned from school. It’s for reasons like this that obesity in children has doubled in the last 25 years. What was once known, as Adult-Onset Diabetes is now common within our youth and caused from childhood obesity. An article from USATOADAY titled “Unhealthy Risks for Kids Tip Scale” explains this, also going into detail about the debate between enforcing healthy lunches for students and keeping junk food in schools. Though fattening foods may be easily prepared, is the timing really worth the lives of our kids? Could a healthier diet at school make for a healthier lifestyle? These questions need answers. Let us begin. In order to get something accomplished, you must involve the government. An article from the Washington Post titled “Junk Food Widely Available at U.S Elementary Schools Despite Anti- Obesity Push” explains this and how federal regulation is necessary in order to enforce healthier school lunches. With...
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...Advertising effects on children Never there been a subject that has aroused as much discussion as that of advertising. These last few decades have seen a development of this powerful marketing process and major tool of communication practices. Nowadays, advertisements are present in all fields of our modern societies. The debate about the positive and the negative effects of advertisements is still relevant today. Despite the fact that the main purpose of publicity should be the informational aspect, advertisers use their influence in a distinct way. Sometimes manipulative, their controversial techniques use psychological appeals in order to increase purchases. Publicity has unfavorable side effects on individuals, especially on young and vulnerable consumers: children. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that food habits, lifestyles and behaviors are guided by advertising detrimental models. Teenagers represented core targets for advertisers because media has become one of the most substantial socialization agents known today. Adolescents spent 140 billion dollars a year in 2004 in various products, and 12 years old kids 25 billion dollars, but they are also able to act upon a $200 billion dollar budget (Mary Story and Simone French, Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US). According to the Professor Sharon Beder, “[y]oung children are increasingly the target of publicity and marketing because of the amount of money they...
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...Title Fast-Food Restaurant Advertising on Television and Its Influence on Childhood Obesity Author Shin-Yi Chou, Lehigh University and National Bureau of Economic Research Inas Rashad, Georgia State University Michael Grossman, City University of New York Graduate Center and National Bureau of Economic Research Introduction Childhood obesity around the world, and particularly in the United States, is an escalating problem that has received much attention of late. In less than thirty years, the prevalence of overweight children and adolescents in America has more than doubled. In the 1963-1970 period, 4 percent of children aged 6 to 11 years and 5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 19 were defined as being overweight. The percentage of children who are overweight has more than tripled by 1999, reaching 13 percent. For adolescents, the incidence of overweight has nearly tripled in the same period, reaching 14 percent (Centers for Disease Control 2001). Finding the causes of this dramatic increase in obesity among children and adolescents is an important input in designing prevention policies. On the simplest level, weight gain is caused by more energy intake than energy expenditure over a long period of time. The problem of energy imbalance is not purely due to genetics, since our genes have not changed substantially during the past two decades. Researchers have tended to focus on environmental factors such as the availability of highly palatable and calorie-dense fast...
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...according to Eggerton (2007) in Linn’s and Novosat’s (2008, p. 134) research, this number has reached 15 billions of dollars, expended only on food and beverage marketing directed at youth. Additionally, in the last decades, as stated by de Onis, Blossni and Blogher (as cited in Carter, Petterson, Donovan, Ewing & Roberts, 2011), obesity and other health problem rates among kids have been rising along with the marketers’ attention to children. These simultaneously growing processes have led to the debates of marketers’ responsibility related to increasing rates of childhood obesity, diabetes and food preference distortion (Linn & Novosat, 2008, p. 134; Carter et al., 2011, p. 962; Boyland & Halford, in press, p. 1). As acknowledged by Carter’s et al. (2011, pp. 962-968) research, children are a vulnerable and easily persuadable group of society, which should be protected from marketing’s aspirations. In accordance with Boyland and Haford (in press, p. 2), the adopted regulations deviate between countries. With regard to previous studies about drawbacks, beneficial sides of existing restrictions related to marketing to youth, this paper will evaluate whether food and beverage marketing to children should be regulated by government or within the industry. The evaluation will be made first of all regarding literary review about the reasons for targeting children, marketing techniques used to appeal to kids and the linkage between...
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...PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY? Can Breastfeeding in the First Six Months Prevent Childhood Obesity? Introduction Childhood obesity is an issue that has baffled many in the United States and the United Kingdom. Various researchers such as Charlesworth (2013) assert that the trend has significantly increased since the 1960s, an issue that has necessitated further research on the subject .For instance, Akabas et al., (2012) assert that 14 to 16% of 5 years old and 17 to 19% of 19 years old are overweight. This has been necessitated by the fact that the older/obese a child becomes the likelihood that the child will become obese in adulthood (Charlesworth, 2013). Thus, considering this became a matter of global concern. Further, studies have been done to ascertain the probability of a child becoming obese if not breastfed in the first six months. For a thorough comprehension of the topic, it was concluded that it is necessary to explore issues such as defining overweight and obesity for children, genetic predisposition to weight and obesity, behaviours that affect childhood overweight and obesity. Also, how breastfeeding aids in curbing obesity and overweight in children and how the role of a mother and family in preventing obesity and overweight in children is also addressed. Finally, recommendations were made regarding how childhood obesity can be curbed. This paper researches whether breastfeeding can play a critical role in the first six months in curbing childhood obesity...
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...Health Advocacy Campaign Childhood obesity is considered one of the major pressing health issues of our century. The rate of childhood obesity has increased alarmingly, with the number of obese children under five globally standing at over 42 million today. Approximately 35 million of obese children are living in the developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) children who are obese and overweight are very likely to stay obese into their adulthood; further, they stand a high chance of developing non communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease while they are still young (Cheng, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the gravity of childhood obesity based on statistics and the health effects that the issue has on the children and impacts in the society. Further, the study will develop a health advocacy plan for the problem. Review laws, regulations, and ethical issues that could impact health advocacy plan in regards to childhood obesity. Population Health Issue and Population Affected Childhood obesity has spread to global dimensions and is progressively affecting many low- and middle-income countries, and particularly those that are domiciled in urban settings. In the US alone, one in every five children is obese or overweight; this number is on the rise. Although weight problems can be traced back to the family genealogy, however, this is not all children who come from families that have a known...
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...Do parents need to take control of childhood obesity? Looking at Childhood Obesity Statistics and Various Causes RJ Mcckleene Western Governors University WGU Student ID# 109456 Do parents need to take control of childhood obesity? Childhood obesity has been increasing over the last 2-3 decades at an alarming rate. The U.S. Surgeon General says that in the last two decades the percentages of overweight children has tripled (“Surgeon General’s call”, 2012). Being obese can affect more than just health. For a child, being obese can cause physical, social, and psychological damage, and can ultimately affect the child’s overall quality of life which can follow the child into adulthood (Maziak, Ward, & Stockton, 2007). The food industry has not made significant improvements to production or food marketing toward children. Therefore parents must take control of childhood obesity to help with a better future for America’s youth. Research suggests that childhood obesity rates will continue to rise because children are targeted by marketing strategies, the food industry is not showing signs that substantial changes to marketing and production targeting youth that are needed will happen any time in the near future and also because the evolution of society has aided in creating a sedentary lifestyle. Health and government officials have seen alarming statics in the increase of childhood obesity rates. The increase and health concerns have had severe enough increases...
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...media advertisements by companies that want to sell their food products to us. There are many factors that we as consumers must take in to consideration. Do we accept that the advertisement is true, should we trust what is shown to us or should we research the product and compare the cost and nutritional value to other products on the market? Evidently, it’s up to consumer to make a decision on what they eat, nevertheless if we’re frequently exposed to food advertisements every time we read a glossy magazine or watch TV then we may be influenced in what we choose, especially when the advertisement is directed toward children . In this essay I will outline some influence towards one’s food choices and the links between media and children obesity and the effects television food commercials have on children’s food preferences. Food choices are influenced by vast quantity of interrelating factors and theory “it is not solely determined on physiological or nutritional” (Shepherd, 1999, p. 807). Other factor that may influence food choices are biological for example hunger, appetite and taste and then there economic and physical this may be prejudiced by the cost of the food and a individuals income the availably of food choice or education or the skill needed to cook the food. Psychological reason may have a effect on the food we eat for example what type of mood we in. when a we are stress we might eat more or less and it could also come down to ones knowledge of food, is it good...
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...Responsibility: Childhood Obesity Name Here Devry University Parental Responsibility: Childhood Obesity Obesity causes approximately 300,000 preventable deaths that come with an annual price tag of 161.3 billion dollars a year (Hojjat, 2015). Childhood obesity has become a worldwide epidemic that is leading to a multitude of severe health and emotional problems in children. As this epidemic has progressed, society has gone through many changes that have brought about new acceptable behaviors. These changes include an increase in single parent households and/or both parents requiring working outside the home. In return, 680 billion dollars a year are spent on meals purchased from fast food restaurants, resulting in higher caloric intakes ("America's Best & Worst Fast Food," 2014). Schools have faced budget cuts affecting their physical fitness and food and nutritional programs. Children's entertainment has moved indoors in front of the television, computer, and video games, decreasing physical activity contributing to obesity. For the first time in modern American history, today's children may be the first generation to live a shorter life than the previous generations (Hojjat, 2015). In addition, it is important to keep in mind that complications from can obesity can also decrease a child's quality of life. Figure 1&2. ("NSCH 2011/12:Weight status of children based on Body Mass Index for age BMI-for-age, Nationwide") There has been a rise in childhood obesity over the...
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...media advertisements by companies that want to sell their food products to us. There are many factors that we as consumers must take in to consideration. Do we accept that the advertisement is true, should we trust what is shown to us or should we research the product and compare the cost and nutritional value to other products on the market? Evidently, it’s up to consumer to make a decision on what they eat, nevertheless if we’re frequently exposed to food advertisements every time we read a glossy magazine or watch TV then we may be influenced in what we choose, especially when the advertisement is directed toward children . In this essay I will outline some influence towards one’s food choices and the links between media and children obesity and the effects television food commercials have on children’s food preferences. Food choices are influenced by vast quantity of interrelating factors and theory “it is not solely determined on physiological or nutritional” (Shepherd, 1999, p. 807). Other factor that may influence food choices are biological for example hunger, appetite and taste and then there economic and physical this may be prejudiced by the cost of the food and a individuals income the availably of food choice or education or the skill needed to cook the food. Psychological reason may have a effect on the food we eat for example what type of mood we in. when a we are stress we might eat more or less and it could also come down to ones knowledge of food, is it good...
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