...The rates of obese children have increased in most parts of the world including the UK. It has been termed as an epidemic. It can be seen to increase at an incredible rate in years to come( Johnson et al 2010). Childhood Obesity is a Public health issue.The article was written by Philipsen et al (2008) titled Childhood Overweight; Prevention Strategies for Parents. This article gives a review on Childhood obesity, causes and prevention strategies for parents. According to Philipsen et al, Childhood obesity have increased globally, it is not just the occurrence that makes the situation troubling, but the negative result connected with children being overweight. Overweight children are affected both physically and psychologically. Furthermore overweight children are more likely to grow up being overweight .Philipsen et al (2008) states that, the increase in obesity has been caused by different factors, for example, environmental and biological factors. Finding the most effective solution is difficult because childhood obesity increases. (Ahearne-Smith 2008) highlights that childhood obesity could lead to diseases such as cancers and lung disease at a later stage. Body mass index (BMI) is defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, Overweight means being at or above 95 percentile (philipsen et al 2008). Children being overweight is attributed to genes passed from parents to children ( Perusse $ Bouchard, 1999), Children should be prevented...
Words: 1231 - Pages: 5
...Are We to Blame For Obesity? Fast food is becoming a major issue world-wide causing problems and disease such as obesity, asthma and diabetes. Fast food has become an addiction to almost the entire nation but who is to blame? In the articles, “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko and “What You Eat Is Your Business” by Radley Balko two different viewpoints are expressed on fast food and what it does to the individual as well as the economy. In the articles both authors show their awareness of the problem at hand but point the finger at two very different groups of people using factual and statistical evidence as well as personal opinions. Although both arguments are very valid, David Zinkzenko’s essay provides the reader with a lot more than opinion. The title in every essay brings it to life. A spunky title will keep your audience yearning to read what the writer has to say, while a boring title will readers doped up on energy drinks to get through what the writer has to say. David Zinczenko’s title, “Don’t Blame the Eater” catches the reader’s eyes. The title as a whole has the audience asking questions about the “eater”, and who blames them? However, the title of the second article, “What You Eat Is Your Business”, by Radley Blanko comes off as arrogant and insensitive to the reader. An example of a less arrogant title would be, “All You Can Eat”, this title would be more pleasing to the reader allowing them to imagine an all you can eat buffet. As a reader, I take immediate...
Words: 1448 - Pages: 6
...(Bachtel, 2010). But also according to two visual sources, watching too much seems to be the main problem with childhood obesity because children eat bad foods as they watch television (Giany, 2010), (Perez, 2006). But if parents monitor more of their kids’ television time, maybe obesity would not be such a huge problem. In the text by Bachtel, it was an essay in which she describes that “times have changed” (Bachtel, 2010). Back when she was younger, and when most of us were also, we played outside most of the time. But today with so many types of entertainment, for example, TV, video games, and computers, kids do not want to go outside. Many kids today are considered latch key kids so when they get home from school they have to stay indoors. So of course they are going to watch television. Then as they are watching TV, they are going to want to eat a snack. This in turn is causing less exercise in children, which can cause obesity. The essay also states that if there were no televisions in the home, there would be no choice to get outside more and would not be able to just sit around and eat junk food (Bachtel, 2010). Another text article from the GCU library researchers say children who watch televisions for 2 to 4 hours are more likely to develop hypertension (Howe, 2008). But hypertension is not the only problem with too much television, but also obesity. The American...
Words: 1055 - Pages: 5
...Obesity in the United States is becoming an increasing epidemic. Several people and agencies have indicated ways to help Americans lose weight. Even the government has made suggestions on losing weight. In the article “The Fed’s Fib about Low-Fat”, written by journalist Michael Fumento, the government’s approach to have a low-fat diet is being critiqued. This article is read by adults of different cultures throughout the country, which arose in the syndicated newspaper The Washington Times. Michael Fumento is a medical journalist; currently living in Floridablanca, Colombia. His work appears in many newspapers. Fumento argues that the government’s approach to have a low-fat diet, precisely to “reduce the fat in their diets to 30 percent or less of total calories”, is inaccurate and does not point to weight loss or a healthy user. Fumento seems extremely concerned and worried about the government’s suggestions to have a low-fat diet. He also seems angry at the food industry for bringing forth such things that can cause the nation to continue to rise in obesity. In this article it shows that he is a cautious and caring individual. Although Fumento reveal very little about himself throughout the essay, because of his knowledge about the government and the food industry readers will know that he has participated in some type of study regarding to it. He also states that he has written a book about the prone matter, which helps intensify his reputation to be a force in writing this...
Words: 502 - Pages: 3
...Assessing Population Health Introduction: This essay is about assessing a community profile of Lewisham population. The health issue to be discussed is childhood obesity in Lewisham Borough. The essay will define population health, and give a brief overview of childhood obesity. It will give the rationale why the writer decided to write on this issue. The essay will describe the population, and explain briefly why it is important. It will explore the factors that influence this particular population including geographical location, neighbourhood, educational attainment, family members, peer groups, social economic factors and culture as well as ethnicity. It will critically discuss the health profile of the population group and exploring the factors that lie beneath the profile. More importantly, the essay will analyse the main factors that influence the contemporary health of the given population in relation the determinants of health of the population health as well as the indicators of the population's risk and morbidity rates. It will look at the health needs of the population and examine the external and internal factors that could influence their behaviours and choice. It will make conclusion and recommendations on how to improve this health issue and enable the writer to understand the subject in great depth. The primary reason why the writer has chosen to focus on childhood obesity is because she wants to meet the learning outcomes of the module in order...
Words: 2530 - Pages: 11
...One In Week 1 you chose a topic to research for your final essay, and in Week 2 you narrowed this topic to a specific area of discussion that reflects your particular point of view on it. For this assignment, you are now asked to identify three ways in which you can support that point of view. For example: Topic: Video games Points of View: Video games can help young players develop some important skills. Main Points of Support: • First Main Point: Video games can help young players develop academic skills in literacy and math. • Second Main Point: Video games can help young players develop decision-making and logic skills. • Third Main Point: Video games can help young players develop social skills. Step Two Create a thesis statement by using your selected topic, point of view, and main points in the following formula: Identify your specific and narrowed research topic. This is A. Identify your opinion or position on the research topic. This is B. Identify at least three main points that would support this opinion or position. This is C. The way this looks, when it's all said and done, is: A+B+C= Thesis Statement. For example: A = Playing video games B = Benefits to young players C = Benefits of playing video games include academic, thinking, and social skills. Once corrected for readability and grammar, it might read as: Video games help young players develop academic, thinking, and social skills...
Words: 664 - Pages: 3
...no bun. Today, we see fast food all over America, whether it is through television advertisements, billboards or magazines it is always going to surround us. So when we start to gain weight due to our busy life style is it our fault or the fast food industry? In 2002 there were multiple complaints filed against the McDonald’s corporation. One family claimed that McDonald’s was the cause for their child's obesity. This lawsuit raised some controversial questions about corporate responsibility versus personal responsibility. Is McDonalds truly the cause for this child's weight problem or the individual or even the parents themselves? There are studies that show an individual could be obese due to genetics but it is absolutely a matter of personal responsibility. Mcdonald's advertising did not force this family into their restaurant or force feed them double cheeseburgers everyday to their child. It certainly did not mislead this family's knowledge about the importance of a living a healthy life style and the importance of eating right. In some ways the idea that obesity could be a matter of corporate responsibly completely undermines the decisions of American people and how they live their lives. People who think that McDonalds advertisements are unfairly advertised to society and to children forget to realize that is the companies rights to advertize however they freely want. In the first amendment of the constitution it clearly states the protection of freedom of speech and...
Words: 949 - Pages: 4
...Nicole Andrews P.Killough English 114 15 March 2014 What factors can lead to obesity? Obesity has become an epidemic battle that experts are still trying to understand. What causes obesity? Various combinations can cause this problem. This epidemic affects half the population. To help end an epidemic battle with obesity we need to find out its leading factors. So many factors lead to obesity it can be a complex combination of lifestyle choices. Many people now a days aren't physically active spending hours in front of their television or computer spending most of the day doing work, school work, or leisure actives. From my own experience I spend about 2 or more hours in front of the television or computer. People who are inactive gain weight due to the fact that they do not burn the calories that they take in from eating and drink. Inactive lifestyle raises other health risk such as heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and many other health problems. “Other reasons for not being active include: relying on cars instead of walking, fewer physical demands at work or at home because of modern technology and conveniences, and lack of physical education classes in schools(NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). “Our environment doesn't support healthy lifestyle habits; in fact, it encourages obesity” (NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). Most people don’t have time for physical actives with working long hours and or attending...
Words: 1257 - Pages: 6
...the world. This essay will focus on the benefits of exercise for both physical and mental health. It is obvious that exercise helps people prevent a variety of diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular, depression and Parkinson’s. This also raises an argument on whether government should play an important role in promoting physical activity. This essay will clarify that it is reasonable for the state to take responsibilities in order to make sure that social health would be improved in the following years. 1/ Introduction A healthy lifestyle and longer lives are always the target that everyone wants to achieve, specifically; it is obvious that one of the most effective ways to do this is through exercise. Exercise generally means physical activity that makes your body strong and healthy. In addition, exercise also benefits mental health, especially in stressful work conditions which can affect individuals who lead busy lives. Therefore, in my opinion, it will be reasonable for the government (the state) to be responsible for ensuring regular exercise of all citizens. This essay consists of three main parts which will discuss the reasons why physical activity is beneficial to everybody. Firstly, the piece shall discuss the positive effects that exercise brings to our physical health. After that, it will focus on mental health as it is clear that physical activity plays a crucial role in keeping our mind active and productive. Finally, as a result, the essay shall represent...
Words: 2279 - Pages: 10
...An At-Risk Youth As a fish that cannot go without swimming, Samantha cannot go without food. At age four, Samantha Stevens weighs fifty-four pounds and is among the obese range for her age and weight (Donvan and Patria). According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, about 17% of children from the ages of 2-19 are obese. This has become a hot topic throughout America during the last decade, therefore, the government has been forced to take action and provide hop to society. Two main programs have been seen to be effective, both having a different approach to reducing the obesity rates in America, those are the WIC (Women, Children and Infants) and the We Can! program. By demonstrating the structure of both programs, the benefits provided, and the impact and results on children’s health, this essay will demonstrate that by providing families food as well as empowering them, the obesity rate is most likely to decrease. Women, Infants, and Children (known as WIC) is a Federal Grant program that targets low-income and naturally at-risk families (WIC). WIC provides vouchers for supplemental, nutritious foods, along with counseling and health-related screenings for prevention. “1-4 Low income is a risk factor for poor dietary quality and for low consumption of fruits and vegetables (Herman).“ Low-income people have a lower intake of fruits and vegetables, creating a bigger possibility for them to get sick more often or obtain at-death-risk diseases. In order to receive...
Words: 1367 - Pages: 6
...Communication and Information Literacy Expository Essay The choice to fight obesity is a life altering decision. Fighting obesity can be a struggle but is worth it in the long run. Exercise is a great way to lower obesity because it is convenient, everyone can participate, and it can reduce health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past thirty years. Today more than 23 million U.S. children and adolescents are either obese or overweight (Green, Riley, & Hargrove, 2012). The only way to fight obesity is to do something about it! Exercise is a great way to lower childhood obesity in the United States because it can be done as a family and lowers health problems. Exercise can be done almost anywhere, thus making it convenient. The use of a treadmill or dumbbells doesn’t constitute as exercise. According to the Encyclopedia of Human Development (2006), exercise is “sustained activity over a period of time that utilizes and strengthens the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems.” Therefore, exercise can be as simple as riding your bike or running around the backyard. Since the use of workout equipment, such as a stair stepper, is not essential to exercise everyone can participate. It is very important for children to get outside and play. You as a parent can help to encourage activity by challenging your child to a race or taking them to the park. Exercise doesn’t have to...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
...Health is defined based on three dimensions: physical, mental and social health; a fairly recent modification from the 18th century viewpoints (Ware,1987). Health is perceived differently according to the different models of health that help in guiding and understanding of health and health issues. In relation to the following essay, two models; biomedical model and social model will be discussed and compared in terms of their relevancy in the modern times. The second half of the essay will focus on the effectiveness of the social model in explaining the increasing prevalence of health conditions related to the obesity epidemic. During the early part of the 20th century, infectious diseases predominated as the highest cause of mortality in both developing and non-developing counties affecting 42% of the world’s population (Tulchinsky and Varavikova,2000; Boutayeb and Boutayeb,2005). This is the era that was heavily reliant on the biomedical model to diagnose illness which focused primarily on the proximal causes of disease (factors that act directly to cause a disease) and was confined to the objective measures for disease treatment (diagnosis solely based on medical facts without considering other possibilities)(Johnson,2012). Since the leading causes of death at those times were infections based i.e. pneumonia (11.8%), T.B. (11.3%) and diarrhoea (8.3%) (National Office of Vital Statistics,1947), the biomedical model’s germ theory which stated that all diseases were caused...
Words: 1832 - Pages: 8
...in particular obesity, has become a major concern in the past few decades (Allison, Bray, & McElory 2006). Australia has always been viewed as a country full of healthy and attractive people, however in the last two decades there has been an increase in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension among adults and children (Gavin, Dowshen, & Izenberg, 2004). These adverse health conditions are more common in Australian obese children, than children of a healthy weight (Troiano, 1995 as cited in Stunkard & Wadden 2002). The World Health Organisation reports that obesity is a global health concern (Lean & Sattar, 2007). In the past decades obesity in children was not always the centre point of health speculation (Allison et al, 2006). In recent times it has become a serious health concern in Australia (Brand-Miller, Foster-Powell, Colagiuri & Barclay, 2007). A study done by Mossberg (1989) shows there has been a dramatic increase in obesity since the 1980’s. In 1980 Australia had eight percent of children classified as obese (as cited in Mcdermott, 2006). The same study done in year 2000 showed obesity had more than doubled to 18.4% in under 18 year olds (Mcdermott, 2006). Gaven et al, (2004) mention that challenges arise for parents to provide a healthy lifestyle for children in modern day society. Maintaining a healthy weight is about balancing food consumption and energy use through physical activity, Lara (2000) remarks that “obesity is a disorder...
Words: 550 - Pages: 3
...The PRECEDE-PROCEED model provides a comprehensive structure of assessing health and quality of life needs and for designing, implementing, and evaluating health promotion and other public health programs to meet those needs. PRECEDE: (Predisposing, Reinforcing, and Enabling Constructs in Educational Diagnosis and Evaluation) outlines a diagnostic planning process to assist in the development of targeted and focused public health programs. It has four phases * Phase 1: Social Diagnosis- Identifying the ultimate desired result. * Phase 2: Epidemiological, Behavioral, and Environmental Diagnosis- Identifying and setting priorities among health or community issues and their behavioral and environmental determinants that stand in the way of achieving that result, or conditions that have to be attained to achieve that result; and identifying the behaviors, lifestyles, and/or environmental factors that affect those issues or conditions. * Phase 3: Educational and Ecological Diagnosis- Identifying the predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors that can affect the behaviors, attitudes, and environmental factors given priority in Phase 2. * Phase 4: Administrative and Policy Diagnosis- Identifying the administrative and policy factors that influence what can be implemented. PROCEED: (Policy, Regulatory, and Organizational Constructs in Educational and Environmental Development) guides the implementation and evaluation of the programs designed using PROCEED. ...
Words: 1027 - Pages: 5
...------------------------------------------------- Cause & Effect Essay ------------------------------------------------- Diana Diaz Mr. Radcliff- Comm 105. 8/12/10 The Leading Causes Of Childhood Obesity When a child is above normal weight for his or her age, a child can be considered obese. According to The Center of Disease control one of seven children is obese (CDC, 2010). Children who have an obesity problem suffer from being rejected and teased at school by other children. Obesity contributes to physical and psychological issues in children; there are several causes leading to child hood obesity. One of the causes of childhood obesity is the lack of exercise. Children rather stay at home and play videogames instead of going outside and exercise. Because technology has advanced so much, T.V. has become a priority in a child’s life. Sports and outdoor games are not an option for children any more, when they can just stay home and watch their favorite show on T.V. show or even play video games that stimulate their mind. The use of electronic devices in children such as using the computer, watching T.V. and playing video games has influenced children to leave outdoor activities. Children are not thinking about their looks or staying healthy, they are becoming sedentary because all the technology that they can use to keep them occupied. Eating too much causes childhood obesity. Children who stay at home get bored and start snacking much more, most of the...
Words: 754 - Pages: 4
