Developed countries have industrialized and advanced over the past decades. We have evolved from gathering berries to drive-throughs and from walking up the stairs to taking a ride on an elevator. All of these advancements in society have created “a better world” for the people, but what we often misunderstand is that this dramatic progression in society has brought its own luggage of problems along. This “luggage” contains a variety of deadly conditions known as Lifestyle Diseases. These lifestyle diseases are harmful for your health and will continue affecting future generations if we don’t put a stop to it. The only way to do so is to work towards prevention, the best medicine for lifestyle diseases.
One of the major consequences of industrialization and modernization in society are lifestyle diseases. Lifestyle diseases are modern sicknesses that are caused or accelerated by the way we live our daily lives. This includes what we eat and the activities we do each day. Over time, wrong decisions will take a negative toll on our bodies. Lifestyle diseases differ from other diseases because it is caused by the way we behave and live our lives and there are simple preventions. Unlike a cold, lifestyle diseases such as diabetes cannot be “cured” with a dose of cold medicine or by waiting it off, lifestyle diseases are chronic and must be treated properly. This proves that there are consequences to our daily decisions and actions.
There are several factors that contribute to lifestyle diseases. Of course, for many of these lifestyle diseases, there are uncontrollable risk factors, such as your age, gender, and race, but by limiting the controllable risk factors, you can prevent the lifestyle disease all together. The f...
... middle of paper ...
...Foundation. February 2014. < http://www.brightfocus.org/alzheimers/about/risk/>
Diabetes Public Health Resource. September 2013. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. February 2014. < http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/consumer/groups.htm>
Hicks, Terry Allan. Obesity. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2009.
Nordqvist, Christian. “All About Obesity.” Medical News Today. October 2011. February 2014. < http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/obesity/>
Overweight and Obesity. August 2013. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. February 2014. < http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html>
Silverstein, Alvin and Virginia Silverstein and Laura Silverstein Nunn. The Diabetes Update. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2006
What is Tobacco?. October 2013. Palo Alto Medical Foundation. February 2014.
In “Bad Food” – What’s the Best Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables”, Mark Bittman suggests that the people of America should stop eating unhealthy foods so often. In the article, Bittman tells his audience that people with “heart disease, diabetes and cancer are all in large part caused by the standard American Diet” (page 35). He also states that eating healthy can result in a better health care system, saving millions of lives. The big issue is Americans eating unhealthy every day, but proposing a plan to help stop it from happening.
For some time, scholars and writers have continuously debated as to what constitutes or defines the idea of healthy eating, mainly because of the increase in the number of people diagnosed with ailments associated with bad eating habits. It has quickly become the forefront of issue, particularly in the United States. In recognition of this on-going debate, this composition seeks to compare and contrast two well-known authors concerning how we think about and consume food. In Michael Pollan’s discussion, “Escape from the Western Diet,” he discusses the negative sides of nutrition science, including conflicting theories surrounding the elements of healthy food consumption and why solutions are essential for the Western diet and lifestyle. “Escape from the Western Diet,’’ is among the articles that talks about the eating habits of individuals in the society. In the article, Pollan points out not only the numerous conflicts concerning what types of diets – including carbohydrate-based, the inclusion of omega-3s, other nutrition-specific needs - that are believed to directly affect general health or specific illnesses, but also how western nutritionism compares to other countries diets affect longevity outcomes. In the end, Pollan suggests that the United States must seek solutions that move towards more natural, unprocessed, plant-based lifestyles that ensure that individuals are making what they consume a primary
As the Western world experiences increasing occurrences of certain diseases, society is focusing not only on finding the source of this phenomena but also on finding a solution to the problem. In his essay “Escape from the Western Diet”, Michael Pollan places the blame on the Western diet, arguing that people need only to change their eating habits in order to prevent many chronic diseases. While the author makes a compelling argument, his usage of logical fallacies, his questionable credibility, and his apparent bias weaken his point; nonetheless, I agree with his overall surmise that the western diet should be improved.
Over the last several years, the United States has experienced the emergence of countless lifestyle based illnesses. We have seen an increase of inactivity, poor nutrition, an increase of tobacco use, and more frequent alcohol consumption; Americans are living unhealthy lifestyles that are surely factors contributing to the pervasiveness of chronic diseases. Chronic diseases use to be seen as problems that older generations faced, but over the past several years the United States’ working age group has become a main target. For example, Americans are experiencing higher rates of diabetes, and heart disease. Conditions like these only lead to a diminished quality of life, could possibly lead to shorter life spans, disability, and quite possibly in the long run increased health care costs. Businesses are also impacted by an employees lifestyle decisions; absenteeism and presenteeism.
Western diet causes many diseases; increases people’s medical need for supplements and vitamins. However one writer disagrees with him and suggests “Eat foods that are less processed” (Denis Burkitt) which is easy to say but hard to apply on. Future more Pollen’s purpose of writing this article was to show how bad the effects of eating Western dieting can be, and to introduce a way to escape and in order to create a healthier country. Pollan also mentions the fact that livestock is being raised on a Western diet too, which means they are raised genetically too which means nothing is healthy like it used to be. In order to strengthen his statement he shows the percent of income spent on food in countries where the diseases percent is smaller to prove indeed “Western diet” is unhealthy, this matters a lot because currently most of the people living in this country are suffering from chronic diseases caused by wrong diet. Michael
Since 1960 the age-adjusted mortality rates for cardiovascular disease (CVD) has declined steadily in the U.S. due to multiple factors, but still remains one of the primary causes of morbidity and premature mortality worldwide. Greater control of risk factors and improved treatments for cardiovascular disease has significantly contributed to this decline (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). In the U.S. alone it claims approximately 830,000 each year and accounts for 1/6 of all deaths under the age of 65 (Weiss and Lonnquist, 2011). Based on the 2007 mortality rate data an average of 1 death every 37 seconds is due to cardiovascular disease (Lloyd-Jones et al., 2009). Controlling and reducing risk factors is crucial for saving lives. There are a number of contributing risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which may appear in the form of hereditary, behavioral, and psychological, all of which ultimately converge in social or cultural factors.
Repeatedly the news will highlight a story about the obesity epidemic sweeping the nation. Although the news and health experts bombard the common citizen with quick and easy ways to eat healthier and exercise more, the source of the issue is kept hidden behind closed doors. Before placing blame on the eating habits, it’s essential to take a closer look at what is being consumed. With rapid change in the food industry, progress must be met with caution because “The way we eat has changed more in the past fifty years than in the past 10,000” (Pollan and Schlosser). It is easy for the common man to provide the blanket statement of eating “better”, yet few actually proceed to do this. The average American has one of the worst diets in the world although opportunity and variety of options are overwhelming. Food industries are deceiving by masking the true process of how their food is produced. Not only does the eye not see how the food was made, but there is also a false sense of variety in the grocery market. The grossly unbalanced American diets and genetically modified organisms both coexist to create a greater problem than previously thought of.
Public health is a concept that will always be subject to conflicting opinion. Over the year’s different ‘models’ of health have been formulated in order to categorise public health into dominant areas of cause and effect. The two models in which this essay will be focusing on are the Biomedical Model and the Lifestyle Theory Model. Although both models have equally arguable advantages and disadvantages, it is difficult to state either model as being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in defining the correct pathway to resolving the central health issues of today.
... and taking into account people’s lifestyles today, it seems that achieving the same kind of health is quite difficult, if not absolutely impossible. With all the fast food chains lurking right outside our doorsteps, with all of the restaurants tempting us to take a bite, it is really quite difficult to achieve and eventually maintain a much improved lifestyle.
"Global Dietary Changes Threaten Health." World Health Federation. Medtronic Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
There are multifarious reasons for their resurgence. The health of the people are related with different direct facets such as use of foods, practices, medical care and indirect ones such as monetary cost, communication, international law, security, international relations etc. It is also important to know that these synthesize with each other. Food and business can be taken as an example. Today, because some of the largest multinational companies are heavily involved in the creation and marketing of unhealthy foods, the challenge to control diseases causing epidemics or pandemics has been quite formidable (Chopra, Galbraith, & Darnton, 2002). With changes in diet, particuaarly with the rise of people having processed food diabetes rates have of people having ...
The poor food choices that men and women make is the cause of many illnesses, disease and chronic health conditions. Men and women generally have different thoughts and choices on the topic of healthy food. People’s bad health may be genetically occurred or their exposure to their past nutritional education was not helpful, but their bad health is primarily based upon the poor choices that the individuals choose in daily life.
Following a healthy lifestyle has now become an emerging trend. Research and many studies have proven that merely exercise will not entitle an individual as healthy. A good nutrition
With technology becoming a bigger factor in everyday life, diseases and other health issues that used to be less prevalent are now becoming epidemics (Rowan). For example, obesity, which is a condition in which a person is very fat or overweight. Obesity is caused by not getting a proper diet and exercise. Technology is causing this to become an epidemic in children, because children need at least sixty minutes of physical exercise a day and when they are watching TV, on the computer, or playing video games, they are not physically active (Loop). Also, when children are less active and on electronics, they are more likely to eat food that is not healthy for them, such as high calorie junk foods (Martin).
Access to Health: Kindle Edition Text Chapter 15: Preventing Cardiovascular Disease Text Chapter 16: Reducing Your Cancer Risk Presentation: Preventing Cardiovascular Disease Presentation: Minimizing Your Risk for Diabetes http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/109/25/3244.