Obesity Lessons for Liberals and Conservatives The obesity rate among low-income children in the United States is increasing at an alarming rate. Approximately one out of three kids is now considered overweight or obese. Although there are several options that could improve this problem, I believe that the W.I.C. reforms issued by the U.S.D.A. are a step in the right direction for reducing the obesity rate. According to a study conducted by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, “New York was the first state to implement the new W.I.C. food package and is the first to report that changing the foods provided to children under the program helped to improve their eating behavior and achieve healthier weights.” By including healthier food items that can be purchased under the W.I.C. program, low-income mothers can now expose their children to a more nutritional lifestyle. I am encouraged that changes to the program have yielded positive results. Parents have demanded and supermarkets have responded to provide access to fresh, healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods. Another way that parents can prevent childhood obesity is to help kids stay active by participating in daily physical activity such as walking, swimming, and dancing. Even though government incentives such as the W.I.C. reforms are having a positive impact on the obesity rates, parents still need to do their part and motivate their children to pursue an active and healthy lifestyle.

Bibliography
Walton, A. January 22, 2013. New York’s WIC Program Makes a Dent in Childhood Obesity.
The Doctor Will See You Now, www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/nutrition/art3932.html What’s the Trouble? Decision-making is a process that we go through each and every day of our lives. Perhaps one of the most stressful environments for decision making is in the medical field. Doctors face constant uncertainty under which they must make decisions. Although not obvious under the original context, this article made me think of the decision making process faced in the auditing profession. Auditors, like doctors, have to make timely decisions based on incomplete information. One of the keys to success for both auditors and doctors is developing good judgment skills. An example of a firm in the auditing field that exercised poor judgment skills was Arthur Andersen. The firm let their personal bias for Enron consume them causing them to neglect their professional responsibilities as an auditing firm. They took important concepts such as due diligence and professional skepticism for granted ignoring the questionable transactions that Enron participated in which ultimately led to the company’s collapse. I think one of the most important takeaways from this article is to never take information at face value. A questioning mind is an essential asset to have and can lead to the development of better decision making skills. Another important concept to remember is to never let personal biases negatively influence the stability of your decision making process. At the end of the day, remember that investigating the uncertain can make all the difference in the world.