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Obesity in children has become a common health problem. Obesity in children is a result of indulging in fast foods and spending time in front of the television or being stationary playing video
Supportive arguments
Food Factors
There is an over-abundance of food availability in America's supermarkets and restaurants, particularly fast-food restaurants (Hill and Peters, 1998). The portion-sizes of food in America's restaurants are unreasonable and uncontrolled (Hill and Peters, 1998). There is an increase in consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas and sweetend food (Bray, 2004). There is also an over-abundance of high-fat food choices paired with a lack of palpable low-fat choices. Most importantly, studies show that a diet of 35% fat or higher contributes to obesity in sedentary animals (Hill and Peters, 1998). It is no wonder that children having this unnutritious food become obese.
Sedentary Lifestyle
Another factor is the increasingly sedentary lifestyle...
Studies show that increased activity and improved aerobic fitness can significantly reduce bodyweight and prevent obesity, particularly in children (Epstein, Paluch, Gordy & Dorn, 2000).
Counter arguments
Pollen presents an interesting argument stating that it is the American food that makes us obese and nothing to do with the sedentary lifestyle. The industrial food chain that American man is sustained on is largely based on corn, whether in its direct form, fed to livestock, or processed into chemicals such as glucose, and the cheapest forms of these are high-fructose corn syrup and ethanol. The former, particularly, through a combination of biological, cultural, and political factors, appears in the cheapest and most common of foods that constitute the…
References
Branon, L., & Feist, J. (2007). Health Psychology. USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Bray, G. (2004). The epidemic of obesity. Physiology & Behavior, 82, 115-121.
Bell & Standish, (2009) Building healthy communities through equitable food access. Community Development Investment Review, 75-87
Pollan. M. (2006) The Omnivore's Dilemma. Penguin: UK
In person interviews can be an effective research tool but for the purpose of this study it would not be the most effective tool. Asking children in person how many hours they watch of television may not get accurate answers or results. In addition, asking the parents how much television they allow their children to watch may garner inaccurate answers as they may not know for sure, or they
Obesity in America: The prevalence of obesity and related health problems has increased dramatically in the past few decades to an extent that it's now regarded as one of the most pressing public health issue in the United States. Generally, obesity and overweight are usually brought by various factors such as socioeconomic, behavioral, cultural, metabolic, environmental, and inherited effects. This health issue contributes to the increase of the risk of several
Obesity in the United States The extent of the Problem Obesity as one commentator says, is not just a "matter of aesthetics" but has become a major public health problem in the United States. Similarly, Federal health officials have categorically stated that "the growing prevalence of obesity in the United States represents a significant health threat to millions of Americans." Obesity is seen by health officials in a serious light and is
S Gubbels. Talks about how obesity is a major problem of our society and how it is affecting the children and adults. The article talks about the causes and the consequences of obesity and provides certain prevention for this problem. The article relates the problem of obesity with the Health Belief Model and talks about how the Model contributes in motiving the people to bring Health behavior change in their
In some cases, doctors can prescribe weight-loss medicines along with a program of diet and exercise." Researchers believe that anyone with a BMI of 30 or higher can improve his health through weight loss (Gilles, 2003). This is particularly true for those who are severely obese. Sometimes a weight loss of just 5 to 10% can vastly improve health by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels. An increase in physical activity
During the study a number of factors were considered for the evaluation of the fact that females unlike males in Saudi Arabia constitute a larger proportion. Themes Lifestyle and dietary Adolescent boys and girls were studied for at least two weeks on their feeding habits, for this period, females were observed to consume more snacks than male in that males could only consume snacks once a fortnight unlike their female counterparts who