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Obesity and society issues
Obesity and society issues
Unhealthy food in the school system
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Socio political ramifications of being overweight, the concept of eating to survive, and the good, bad, and ugly of school foods. These are all important concepts to address and I have my own opinion of all of them. I never thought of being underweight the same way as I thought of being overweight. I would say that being underweight would be based on how skinny someone is based off their age and the regular weight for people that are of that age even though I never thought of someone being underweight before. I would say that the ramifications for someone being overweight would be someone of large/obese size based off of their age and not from muscle but from body fat. I think that we have already gone beyond the concept of eating to survive because in this era people still eat in general when they get hungry but it's more for the taste of our food or the size of it for yourself because we have cravings for the taste of things because of things like sugar and just the fact that it is junk food provides a crave. The good school foods for me are foods that have low costs and are fresh. The bad in my opinion are foods that are either soggy or have not been kept warm. The ugly in my …show more content…
According to the same website being underweight is weighing much less than the healthy standard for a person's age and gender. According to hinnovic.org Social and political issues can and should be examined at two levels. The society level, which refers to structural issues (education, revenues), to power relations between groups (discrimination based on gender and race obesity and underweight). Even MedicineNet.com defines overweight in terms of BMI which is a person's weight in kilograms which is divided by their height in meters. Since the BMI describes the body weight close to height, it corresponds (in adults) with the total body fat
As for David Zinczenko, he grew up on the infamous fast food diet that once saved his life when hunger struck due to the affordable prices restaurants had to offer. “Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut” (Zinczenko 462). These unhealthy habits eventually caught up to him and resulted in an unflattering weight gain. Fortunately, he went to college, connected with the Navy Reserves and also became associated with a health magazine in which he learned how to manage his diet. He didn’t stop there; in fact, he is president of Galvanized Brands, a global health and wellness media company and he is also the author of multiple books: Eat This, Not That and the Abs Diet series. The most remarkable part, he was able to recover and become healthy again unlike many others who have gone too far to make a comeback, therefore, becoming obese. In “Don’t Blame the Eater”, Zinczenko talks to those who are consuming the
Nutritionism and Today’s Diet Nutritionism is the ideology that the nutritional value of a food is the sum of all its individual nutrients, vitamins, and other components. In the book, “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, he critiques scientists and government recommendations about their nutritional advice. Pollan presents a strong case pointing out the many flaws and problems that have risen over the years of following scientific studies and government related warnings on the proper amount of nutrients needed for a healthy diet. Pollan’s main point is introducing science into our food system has had more of a negative impact than a positive one, we should go back to eating more of a traditional diet. I believe food science has given us
Michael Pollan makes arguments concerning the eating habits of the average American. Pollan suggests, in spite of our cultural norms, we should simply “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.”
...). A future research idea piggybacks on this program by encouraging an initiation of state and/or national legislation, specifically for change moving towards healthier school nutrition and additional school nutrition education. This legislation would also mandate increases in the amount of time children are allowed for physical activity in their school day as a lack of physical activity is a huge risk factor for overweight and obesity. Another thought is to designate a school health coordinator who will be responsible for maintaining and continuing the positive work that this study began. Utilizing the success of this program and others like it in this regards will lead to action on all levels of the social ecological framework. Ultimately, a multilevel examination of determinants and interventions needs to be aimed at preventing child overweight and obesity.
Schools have policies on what food is being served in their cafeterias or in the vending machines. Cafeterias sell greasy foods such as curly fries, poutine, pizza and multitudes of cookies and other baked goods. The cafeteria food that is purchased is significantly cheaper in large frozen, junk food quantities which will keep the prices of foods down for the school. Nutritious food has not always been thought out for the children who are purchasing the food from the cafeteria or vending machine. The boards tend to care more about the costs saved on junk foods rather then the rise of obesity within the child generation. Cafeterias with greasy foods and vending machines that are stocked with chips, chocolate and pop continuously allow childhood obesity to be on the rise. Schools have vending machines that sell junk food which contribute to the evolution of childhood
After taking a closer look at the American diet, it 's clear to see Americans are in a lot of trouble. The average American diet is filled with lots of greasy fast food, large cuts of meat, salty junk food and sugar-laden sodas. This tradition is then passed on to the children and creates a legacy of ailments, disease and a lower quality of life. To many people, plant-based eating sounds like a death sentence. In reality, it 's all about getting creative with the foods you already like. It also involves intentional meal-planning and organization. However, your health is worth it. The ability to experience a better quality of life should be motivation enough to start changing your eating habits. Consider a few of these simple ways to incorporate plant-based eating into each meal without eliminating delicious taste.
Buddha once said, "To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." Students need a healthy body which leads to having a healthy mind. Once a child is in good health, they will feel better about themself which will make them succeed in everything else they do. A huge debate that is going on all throughout the United States is this- Should schools provide one healthy meal for students to help end the fight of childhood obesity? Schools are beginning to pick up the slack for the lost direction that children should receive at home. Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic all through our country. If we do not begin to take the initiative and stop this problem, then it may begin to spread worldwide. Americans need to realize the severity of the situation and begin to take in more seriously rather than brush it off as a light topic.
Nutritionism is an ideology that believes that the nutrients in foods are the key to understanding them. Nutritionism believers are so focused on the nutrients that food contains that they forget about all other aspects of food. The problem is that consumers rely on packaging to tell them what nutrients a food provides, since nutrients cannot be obviously seen, and they rely on science to tell us what nutrients are good and which are “evil”.
According to recent statistics, every year Americans spend about $50 billion on products and services promoted to help them lose weight. Many of the overweight and obese people that join commercial weight loss programs are looking for a quick fix to lose the weight, such as fad diets and dietary supplements that are marketed to burn fat fast. However, many of these diets offer little success or success for a short time, resulting in many gaining the weight back a short time afterwards. Fad diets are “a trendy practice that has widespread appeal among a population. After a period, however, people lose interest in the practice, and it becomes no longer fashionable. People often lose weight while following fad diets, but usually regain much of
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
Through various observations and assumptions, there have been conversations on whether or not overconsumption of food is an addiction. However, many have come to the conclusion that food is an addiction if it is overconsume excessively than it is necessary for an individual’s diet. Nevertheless, food addiction can create health issues that can affect an individual’s body. Even though, many individual may have such knowledge of overconsumption of food; however, many may choose to ignore the consequences that comes with food addiction. Becoming a food addict is harmful and dangerous to an individual’s health.
In this hectic world, people look for ways to save most of their time. They do not even have time to prepare a good and healthy meal for themselves. That's when the food companies come to their rescue with their low nutritional products. These are readily available packaged snacks with high sugar or salt content with little to no proteins, vitamins and minerals. Billions of dollars are spent each year for marketing these silent killer foods to people who are looking for alternative convenient snacks. "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" written by Michael Moss tells us about the reasons behind the popularity and addiction of junk foods. People are being manipulated into buying junk foods and fast foods which boosts their addiction.
We all know that everyone gets excited when going out to eat at different restaurants are fun but have you ever thought about the effects of it. Eating out is always a treat for plenty of families and have become a natural routine for many people. That’s why limiting your dining out experience can change your life in many ways; such as saving money, time, nutritional value, even bringing your family together.
Nowadays in United State, obesity is really a big problem. According to a report from Forbes in 2007, 74.1 percent of people who are over 15 years old in America are considered overweight, which ranked number nine in the world (Streib). According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 34 percent of Americans are obese (Salahi and Meaney). Among all the reasons why people get fat, eating unhealthy food constitutes a high proportion. Junk food, such as candies and fries, provides more fats, sugar, salt, and calories, which could easily lead to obesity. Why people eat fast food instead of healthy food? One main reason is that healthy food is 1.5 dollar expensive than fast food (Dwyer). As I am a government officer, I suggest government to increase the tax rate of unhealthy food and decrease the tax rate of healthy food to improve our eating standard and reduce obesity.
Previously to taking this class, I had never given much thought to my eating habits. I always thought of the way I chose to eat as one of those things I didn’t need to concern myself with too heavily now because I’m a young broke college student. The way I eat is pretty similar to the way most of my friends eat and when you live away from home, that seems like the norm for people in college. However, after applying what I’ve learned in this class to my life, I’ve realized that the dietary choices I make now affect not only my current health, but my future health as well. So overall, I would say that my eating habits are pretty bad, but I’m working on making them better.