Food is the essential vitality of life and the essence of survival. It nourishes one’s physical body to enable pursuit of passion. However, in overwhelming aspects of American society, food is viewed as an enemy. It is seen as the root cause of obesity which carries heavy condemnations of ugliness and weakness. Countless people have become obsessed with food as a means of exerting strength, displaying will-power, and achieving alleged beauty. The way society views nutrition has become misconstrued and disordered, resulting in unhealthy relationships with food, and thus emotional and physical harm. The most effective way to change society’s relationship with food is to target the presentation, practices, content, and intentions of nutrition …show more content…
Foods and body types are labeled in polar terms such as good versus bad, right versus wrong, and fat versus thin. Through use of scare tactics, students are taught to a negative standpoint rather than a positive one. Telling children what not to do is not only less effective, but also creates a consequence of guilt if they don’t do what’s ‘right’. Even if balanced nutrition is taught in the classroom, interactions between school staff outside of the classroom often model food obsession. Through their own actions and insecurities, teachers many times unintentionally encourage food restriction and judgment of bodies seen as ‘fat’ (O’Dea et al.). Extreme-based educational processes, along with the grossly exaggerated claims on nutrition and body ideals that saturate society, foster defensive and guilt-ridden relationships between children and food. Reshaping nutrition education to encompass a whole-health based curriculum that teaches balance, self-acceptance, and the overall view of food as a source of life, is a vital step in ameliorating societies’ overall relationship with …show more content…
The seventh grade health curriculum at Wayne Central teaches that foods are either gold, silver, or bronze; representing healthy, okay, and unhealthy retrospectively. This information is accompanied by instruction to not eat bronze foods and eat silver foods sparingly. Education that gives strict, polarized, definitions of food can cause adolescents to become pre-occupied with what they eat and dissatisfied with themselves. Welch, McMahon, and Wright conducted a study on the ways nutrition and health have become increasingly influential to children’s everyday behaviors and conceptualizations of food. The study included an interview of 32 primary students in which the children were asked, “What does health mean to you?” Students’ answers indicated extensive consideration was given to classifying foods as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’. All students, except one who answered “protein”, defined “healthy” or “good” foods as fruits and vegetables, well omitting mention of other essential food groups. Sugar, fat, and “junk” food such as chips, cookies, and cake were among answers describing ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’ foods. “In the interviews the consumption of the ‘wrong’… food was always regarded as dangerous and transgressive, signifying ‘bad’ or ‘sinful’ practices…. The consistency and intensity of this message shapes the thoughts of individuals in ways that can conjure up feelings of shame and disgust” (Welch et
“Food as thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating,” is an article written by Mary Maxfield in response or reaction to Michael Pollan’s “Escape from the Western Diet”. Michael Pollan tried to enlighten the readers about what they should eat or not in order to stay healthy by offering and proposing a simple theory: “the elimination of processed foods” (443).
There are many different beliefs about the proper way to eat healthy. People are often mislead and live unhealthy lifestyles as a result. Both Mary Maxfield and Michael Pollan explain their own beliefs on what a healthy diet is and how to live a healthy lifestyle. In the essay, “Escape from the Western diet” Michael Pollan writes about the flaws of the western diet and how we can correct these problems to become healthier. In the essay, “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, Mary Maxfield criticizes Michael Pollan’s essay about eating healthy, and explains her own theory on how to be healthy. She believes that Pollan is contradicting himself and that what he is stating is false. Mary Maxfield ponders the
I don't think our school lunch is healthy because it has fat and too much sodium. Although it is good it is fattening it is the reason for much of the obesity in the U.S. Many kids have no other option to eat the unhealthy school lunches or they will be hungry.
Food To Students." Points Of View: Junk Food In Schools (2013): 2. Points of View
One of the most insidious “diseases” plaguing our nation is poor nutrition. While obesity is an epidemic, we focus too much on heavy people and not enough on all the others around them that are truly malnourished and yet don’t show any “traditional” signs. These other portions of the population shows their irregular nourishment through high rates of chronic illness and even possibly through mental illness. Just because someone is “this”, does not mean they are nutritionally sound. So while in 10 years’ time almost 50% of our population will be obese, a much higher percentage will be malnourished if we keep on this trend. Inevitably malnourished populations will continue to be a public health crisis through the rise in chronic disease and higher medical costs due to the burden these populations put on the healthcare system. This is why we need to focus on reducing food deserts, increase nutritional education at a young age, and create a culture of mindfulness around cooking and eating whole foods.
We make personal choices about what and where to eat. The government is not going to eliminate the unhealthy food because we think it is the cause of obesity. Ultimately, we must decide to either stay away from unhealthy food or eat them in moderation. Despite all the efforts of education, media and guidance it doesn’t prevent us from grabbing that cheeseburger with fries on the way to work. In his essay “What You Eat Is Your Business,” Radley Balko argues that society should take full responsi...
America is one of the most obese countries in the world, and the reasons are quite obvious. Take a look around. Fast food chains on every block, more and more technology to make our lives easier, and high amount of stress are just a few factors to weight gain in our country. There are many different views on obesity and how the people think it should be resolved, whether it's government making the change or the people taking care of themselves. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Are we doing enough to bring these statistics down? No. In the last 40 years, there has been a growth to more than 160,000 fast food restaurants in America (“Adolescent and School Health”). Restaurants (such as Wendy's, McDonald's etc.) serve more than 50 million people per day, generating about 65 million in sales annually. Only since obesity has become a national epidemic have fast food restaurants changed their ways. But we need to do more than just change the kind of oil the french fries are fried in. Better yet, why don't we remove, or intensely decrease the number of the unhealthy fast food chains, and spread more healthy fast food chains, such as Subway? Is it something government could take act in? Should the United States government take measures to fight the rise of obesity in the country, or are choices concerning diet and nutrition better left to the individuals, free of government interference?
Many people in America, from toddlers to the elderly, have shown numerous signs of bad health. People have the desire to keep on eating due to more, new things being merchandised as “new and improved items” from the producers. For example, nowadays, people are eating pure junk that they find satisfying on the grocery food shelf. As, stated by Michael Pollan, in his article, “Eat Food: Food Defined” he affirmed that “real food is the type of things that our
When promoting plus sizes and television shows, are self-esteem or heart disease also being promoted? People throughout the world struggle with being anorexic, bulimic, overweight, or obese. TLC’s now popular reality TV show, My 600 Pound Life, displays the daily struggles of morbidly obese people. While encouraging women to love their body is appealing, there are many dangers in the fondness of obesity. Glorifying obesity can lead to being morbidly unhealthy, as demonstrated by Dominique Lanoise, a woman who died from morbid obesity.
Staying away from processed foods is the first step. Yet, to achieve a healthy diet, many people look to the internet. Many times finding that incorporation of all food groups is the best way to go. This is usually shown with the Food Pyramid, more recently with My Plate. The Food Pyramid was replaced with My Plate in 2011 because, “[like the Food Pyramid,] My Plate divides foods into five groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy. It is meant to teach people how to create a balanced meal” (“Nutrition”). This is something the Food Pyramid did not provide information to. It just categorized foods into five food groups, leaving out the recommended amount of what is meant to be consumed a day. This left people with a bad impression that as long as all food groups were incorporated into a meal, the meal would be considered healthy. In contrast, My Plate, painted a picture of the amount of each food group that should be consumed at each meal. Now, it is more common to see school utilize My Plate and serve healthier meals during lunch and break. If more schools were to implement healthier options, schools would be able to help prevent overweight and obesity. With not just lectures, but with physical engagement (“Nutrition.” Healthy Living.). By having them choose between an apple or a banana, instead of some bag of chips and a cookie, there is a higher chance for them to make healthier
Childhood obesity is a health problem that is becoming increasingly prevalent in society’s youth. For a number of years, children across the nation have become accustomed to occasionally participating in physical activities and regularly snacking on sugary treats. In result of these tendencies, approximately one third of American children are currently overweight or obese (Goodwin). These grim statistics effectively represent all the lack of adult interference, in regards to health, has done to the youth of America. The habits of over consuming foods and under participating in physical activities are all too common in the children of today. Children cannot solve this issue alone, though. These young people need to essentially be given the opportunities to make positive health decisions and learn about good, nutritional values.
Food is a great obsession to human beings; it also can say something about us beyond what we decide to put in our mouths. Michael Pollan’s research shows that we are not really eating healthy we are convenient eaters. We much prefer quantity over quality, and this is the reason why we have an issue with obesity today, however, eating doesn’t have to be complicated. Yes, we need to worry about how we eat but not to the extent where it is unhealthy. Food is everywhere it’s a part of our lives. Without it we wouldn’t survive, but are we taking the easy way and eating too unhealthy? Is eating unhealthy all we have really known? What can our food choices say about us, beyond what we choose to put into our mouths? Is being defined by our food a bad thing? How does Social Media influence how we eat?
Healthy and affordable food choices on the go or even just in the store is a huge and worldwide ongoing problem that of course cannot be fixed overnight. To help start and put one foot forward to improvements in the availability of healthy food options and choices in lower income neighborhoods, we as a community and a whole should do the following.
Eating Responsibly To eat responsibly means to know what you are eating and knowing what you are putting into your body, whether it is healthy for you or not. It’s a sad fact that the typical American diet (high in meat and processed foods) is not healthy. There are a lot of different ways to stay healthy, but it can also be very difficult to follow a good diet plan all the time. I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I have tried to eat well before all of my classes. I include the necessary protein of eggs and sausage, and include a fruit of some kind.
A healthy lifestyle is usually picked up as we get older. However, think of how much more beneficial it would be for our bodies when we get older, if we would have learned and adapted to a healthier lifestyle when we were younger? Teaching your kids how important a healthy diet is, will help them maintain that lifestyle in their older years. Not to mention have lower health risks, higher self-esteem and it will give them the energy they need to keep up with their eating habits and maintain their body weight.