...Epidemiology Study: Teen Obesity N J Nur 408 January 9, 2012 Felita Patterson, MPH, RN Epidemiology Study: Teen Obesity Teenage obesity is on the rise this country. In the last couple of decades, the world has changed in a startling and dramatic way. Computers, computer games, the Internet, and extended free time have pushed the numbers of teenage obesity to an alarming figure (Teen obesity, 2011). While there’s no one cause of obesity; the factors that can make someone obese are a variety of genetic, biological, behavioral, and cultural factors (AACAP, 2011). As the official website of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry explains, childhood obesity is often related to bad eating habits, overeating or binging, no exercise, family history, medical issues, stress or extreme life changes, family issues, low self-esteem, or depression (2011). Although a few extra pounds are not dangerous for most people; obesity is a serious health issue as it puts a definite strain on the human body. It can cause issues like an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing problems, trouble sleeping (AACAP, 2011). In fact, “Teenagers who have a weight problems now—that continues to increase or stay the same in terms of their weight—will likely have a much higher risk of premature death” (Gay, 2006)(p. 26). This clearly shows the tremendous and serious threat that obesity poses for teenagers. Demographical Data Every individual has an ideal...
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...Fast Food Workers’ Rights At a glance it is easy to see that the winning formula for the high economic success in the fast food industry is comprised of cheap food and cheap labor. Their ability to sell food at a low price in a matter of minutes caters to families or individuals limited on time or money, and in many cases both of these factors are of equal importance. Inordinately the consumption of low cost labor in the fast food industry has resulted in an underpaid and under protected workforce. In many ways limitations on workers’ rights in the fast food industry have been instrumental in the high profitability of the corporations that dominate it; however, the formation of unions or other sources of support for fast food workers would have implications on the price and/or quality of the final products sold. These implications, in particularly the price of the food, would force a complete restructure of the expectations and needs of customers who currently frequent the restaurants. A key element in sourcing low cost labor has been the excessive employment of teenagers. The fast food industry has exploited the needs and vulnerability of teenagers in order to create a high turnover workforce that is willing to accept low wages and easily taught. The industry has capitalized on assembly line production models, which require little skills from the workers; however, the machinery necessary for these conditions is often times dangerous and violates OSHA guidelines for...
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...Obesity is an extremely dangerous factor that is continuing to grow within America. Obesity has been proven to lead victims to higher chances of cancer and heart disease, which happen to be two of the leading factors of death in America. Due to these negative effects, many agencies, organizations, and other outspoken activists continue to try and battle this epidemic within America. Although many of their campaigns and ideas are effective, obesity rates are still drastically rising in America. Contrary to most campaigns and movements, instead of trying to present a positive approach to this problem, like Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, or just solely presenting pieces of evidence and statistics against the food industry, like Fast Food Nation, a documentary titled “Fed Up” tries to focus on showing the negative effects that this disease leaves on it’s victim and his or her family. While the other types of campaigns and movements were effective to some extent, “Fed Up” does a better job with making the viewer re-evaluate his or her food choices and become an advocate against obesity....
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...Merchant. “Childhood Obesity, Prevalence and Prevention.” Nutrition Journal (2005). 25 July, 2007. Retrieved from www.nutrition.com/content/4/1/24 This article discuss the alarming facts that 25% of children are overweight and 11% are obese. It also information on the physical and psychological effects of an obese child. The article states that obesity is said to be a disease of many factors including lifestyle biological and cultural factors. Obesity is believed to be caused by excessive calorie and fat intake but sugar is also believed to contribute. Mahshid along with the other researchers in this article agree that prevention could be the key to controlling the epidemic. The article discuss why children are a big target to become obese. Therefore, children need to be taught at an early age how to eat healthy and exercise daily. This article was used from the University of Phoenix library. It is a peer-reviewed article because it was reviewed before being published. Han, Joan C., Lawlor, Debbie A., Kimm, Sue YS. “Childhood Obesity, The Lancet.” Volume 375, Issue 9727, 15-21 May 2010, pages 1737-1748, ISSN 0140-6736, 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60171-7. Retrieved From www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii This is a great article that contains information relevant to the epidemic of childhood obesity. This article...
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...Running head: PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN 1 Preventing Obesity in Children Ashley Walker Professor Avalos English 102 28 August 2009 APA Sample Paper 6th Edition [Universities may ask for other information on this page, i.e. college name, etc. Always check your class syllabus for this information or see APA Publication Manual 6th Edition] Running head: PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN Abstract Obesity is a recent health epidemic that has dire consequences for America’s health, especially for its children. The causes contributing to this epidemic include sedentary life styles, caloric intake, and major changes in the eating patterns of American families. Among these changes in eating habits is the amount of food Americans consume, how often they consume those foods, and the types of foods themselves. 2 Top Margin 1 in. Header & Page # 1 in. Running head: PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN Preventing Obesity in Children Americans are the fattest people on the planet and continue to expand. According to a 3 survey of adult men and women in the United States during 1999-2000, published in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 30.5% of Americans are obese, up from 22.9% ten years earlier, and nearly two-thirds (64.5%) are overweight (Flegal, Ogden, & Johnson, 2002). Excess weight isn’t just a matter of looks. Obesity magnifies the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments thus overtaking tobacco as the...
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...PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN Preventing Obesity in Children Kindra Henderson Kristen Scott English Comp. PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN Obesity is a recent health epidemic that has dire consequences for America’s health, especially for its children. The causes contributing to this epidemic include sedentary life styles, caloric intake, and major changes in the eating patterns of American families. Among these changes in eating habits is the amount of food Americans consume, how often they consume those foods, and the types of foods themselves. Preventing Obesity in Children: Americans are the fattest people on the planet and continue to expand. According to a survey of adult men and women in the United States during 1999-2000, published in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 30.5% of Americans are obese, up from 22.9% ten years earlier, and nearly two-thirds (64.5%) are overweight (Flegal, Ogden, & Johnson, 2002). Excess weight isn’t just a matter of looks. Obesity magnifies the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other ailments thus overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of chronic illness (Brownell & Horgen, 2004, p. 4). An especially disturbing aspect of this trend is that children are increasingly obese. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2002) reports that the percentage of obese children aged 6 to 11 almost quadrupled from 4% in 1974 to 15% in 2000, and the percentage of obese children...
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...Title Fast-Food Restaurant Advertising on Television and Its Influence on Childhood Obesity Author Shin-Yi Chou, Lehigh University and National Bureau of Economic Research Inas Rashad, Georgia State University Michael Grossman, City University of New York Graduate Center and National Bureau of Economic Research Introduction Childhood obesity around the world, and particularly in the United States, is an escalating problem that has received much attention of late. In less than thirty years, the prevalence of overweight children and adolescents in America has more than doubled. In the 1963-1970 period, 4 percent of children aged 6 to 11 years and 5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 19 were defined as being overweight. The percentage of children who are overweight has more than tripled by 1999, reaching 13 percent. For adolescents, the incidence of overweight has nearly tripled in the same period, reaching 14 percent (Centers for Disease Control 2001). Finding the causes of this dramatic increase in obesity among children and adolescents is an important input in designing prevention policies. On the simplest level, weight gain is caused by more energy intake than energy expenditure over a long period of time. The problem of energy imbalance is not purely due to genetics, since our genes have not changed substantially during the past two decades. Researchers have tended to focus on environmental factors such as the availability of highly palatable and calorie-dense fast...
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...type of connection is an indirect connection, meaning a couple’s friends’ friends’ friend can affect the original couple. STD’s are spread indirectly through a community. Supposing that couples follow the no-partner-swapping rule then theoretically, a person could contract an STD from another person through five connections. These different connections referred to as networks. These different networks can range anywhere from a high school setting, to an entire community. It is thought that the “core” of the network is made up of the sexually active individuals; relations between two people in the core continue to sustain the epidemic. The outer portion of the network, or the periphery, consists of the less sexually active people (Christakis and Fowler, 2009, p.102). Through connections between people and sexual relations, STDs have become an epidemic and spread from one person to another through indirect...
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...A Sedentary Lifestyle Becomes Risk Of Obesity Bracky D. Wyckoff DeVry University A Sedentary Lifestyle Becomes Risk Of Obesity Obesity is a recent health epidemic that has dire consequences for America’s health, especially for its children. Humans are made to be physically active and not indolent, which is known to have a sedentary lifestyle. A sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle with inadequate or infrequent physical activities. The primary reason why Americans are obese includes, lack of exercise, and low self-esteem. Which can be prevented with frequent exercise and healthy diet. Many have blamed the rise in obesity on a more sedentary lifestyle, including the move to suburbs, where people drive instead of walk, and increased viewing of television. One study of children watching television found a significant drop in the average metabolic rate during viewing. There is little doubt that children who exercise less tend to weigh more, but the couch potato argument does not explain why the enormous weight gains have occurred over the past twenty-five years. The move to the suburbs and the widespread viewing of television began in the 1950’s. Furthermore, the couch potato argument neglects the extraordinary rise of female participation in athletics. The number of young women playing a sport in high school has risen almost tenfold, yet girls, like boys, have gained weight. A distinct reason for obesity is low self-esteem. People with sedentary lifestyles...
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...In the case of Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp, the parents of two teenage girls claim that McDonalds was responsible for their daughter’s obesity. One of the girls said that a “McMuffin for breakfast and a Big Mac meal for dinner was her regular diet.” (Wald, 2003) While the other one would eat Happy Meals three to four times a week. When this case went in front of the court, Judge Robert W. Sweet stated this “opinion is guided by the principle that legal consequences should not attach to the consumption of hamburgers and other fast food fare unless consumers are unaware of the dangers of eating such food.” (McLean, 2003) He felt that if consumers knew the potential risks of eating McDonald’s, they wouldn’t be able to blame McDonald’s when they supersize their meals. There were many counts that were brought up in the lawsuit: Counts I and II stating that the value meal was not actually a value, therefore they were deceiving their customers; Count III stated that they were negligent because their food products were “high in cholesterol, fat, salt and sugar when studies show that such foods cause obesity and detrimental health effects”; (McLean, 2003) Count IV stated that McDonald’s failed to warn their customers that their food products could cause health problems and cause individuals to become obese; and Count V stated that McDonald’s failed to market their food products as addictive, both physically and psychologically. This case was dismissed in court in 2003. Judge...
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...In recent decades, the prevalence of obesity has dramatically increased pushing it to replace tobacco in becoming the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. Obesity triggers the offset of an array of medical ailments, most that are considered serious chronic diseases, that include hypertension, diabetes, asthma, orthopedic problems, sleep deprivation, and various forms of cancer including breast, cervical, ovarian, and prostate cancer. In addition to the detrimental effects of obesity on the medical prognosis of those affected, Obesity reduces the overall quality of life and can cause major psychological and emotional disorders such as severe depression and anxiety. Consequently, this radically increases healthcare costs to provide the necessary medical care and treatment needed in order to allow those afflicted by obesity to lead somewhat normal lives with chronic conditions. Obese people spend an average of 30% more in health costs and 70% more in medication costs when compared to their healthy counterparts (Ludwig). Obese people also spend a lot more on food as they require more foods that are high in “empty” calories to provide needed energy. Childhood Obesity, in particular, has become the main focus of increased attention in the media and among health organizations. In a statement made in n the documentary “Weight of the Nation”, concerns were voiced that this is going to be the first generation of children who are going to have a shorter life expectancy...
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...“A Tragedy That Is Ours to Stop”. This news article was writing by Colbert I. King and published by The Washington Post. The news article was centered on the death of a 5 month old infant. Once again the murderer is the mother of the infant. King opens the eyes of many readers by revealing that the death of the 5 month old infant is much deeper than the average child abuse case. The death took place when the 15 year old mother rolled over on the 5 month old infant when she was asleep, causing the infant to suffocate. He appealed to readers not to focus on the mother but rather look at the bigger picture of the death of the 5 month old infant. He related the infant’s death to the increasing number of teenage mothers in the Unites States. King stated that “children of teenage mothers are more likely to be abused, neglected, or...
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...Today’s session is on obesity issues. I will explain the causes, mechanisms, and treatments involved with obesity. After my explanation I will open the floor to questions and I will try to answer them to the best of my knowledge. Obesity rates are up in most of the world. In Ohio in 2010 the obesity rate was 29.2%. It jumped to 30.1% in 2012. That is .9% increase in two years. According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 1/3 or 34.9% of adults are obese. Obesity occurs more often in non-Hispanic blacks with an obesity rate of 47.8%. Genetics do play a role in obesity. There are at least 100 human chromosome loci that are linked to obesity. Although genetics is part of the reason for obesity, it is certainly not the entire reason. Exercise and diet are crucial in the fight against obesity. There are three ways to burn excess energy. The first is basal metabolic rate, the next is diet-induced thermogenesis, and the last is NEAT (non-exercise activity thermo-genesis). NEAT is “generated by activities such as fidgeting and the maintenance of posture and muscle-tone”. Pinel (2011) Additionally, another factor that adds to the obesity epidemic is that manufacturers substitute flavors such as salt, sugar, and fats, for nutrients. The company would rather make money off of pleasing the taste buds instead of keeping the product at its healthiest, optimal level. Junk food does not have to be completely cut out but it does need to be eaten in moderation. Obesity is a contributing...
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...SCI/241 January 31, 2013 Eva Hall It is many of ways to measure the body composition. It should be done at the doctor or at the gym, and the current flow throughout the body called the bioelectric impedance analysis. When people have excessive “fat it can cause fat under the skin (subcutaneous fat) it carries less risk than fat is deposited around the organs in the abdomen. The visceral fat is associated with a higher rate of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and breast cancer. The obesity epidemic with overweight in the world is people will not exercise. When people think they are hungry they are not. People want to overeat and this is putting more fat on top of the fat that the body has. People are not watching the high-sugar diets they are eating or the high fat foods. They have to stay away from Trans fat and saturated fat food because it is full of high fats, sugars, and carbohydrates. People have to eat the healthy fats to make sure they are not harming the heart or other harmful diseases. People consume a large amount of alcohol; either from a restaurant or having a gathering at home. Anorexia nervosa is when people have a fear of eating because they want to decrease their food intake. Anorexia nervosa is a mental or emotional disorder that has a behavioral component and physical and dietary consequences that can be severe. Anorexia nervosa is around people that have a fear of weight gain and they want to remain thin; they over exercise, so...
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...Breast Cancer: The Fight in Men and Women Abstract Cancer is made up of many diseases. There are over 100 different types of cancers. Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells split without control and intrude the likes of other tissues. Cancer cells normally spread to other areas of the body through the blood and lymph system. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the United States when it is referred to women. Breast cancer also can be found in men. It is said to be a rare occurrence, but it is a growing problem among the male species. Breast cancer has many risk factors that can play a huge part in the wake of this disease. There are several different tests that can determine your status. Cancer is a disease that is a major problem within our country. There are many naive people who may be unaware of the seriousness of this unfortunate disease. Cancer is the leading cause of death in the United States today. Breast cancer is the most common of all cancers that consumes the lives of many women each year. However, breast cancer is also a problem that attacks men as well. Breast cancer is considered a rare occurrence in men, but it is a growing problem that should be recognized. Because breast cancer is a disease that is more common in women, it is silently overlooked and rarely talked about in men. [Thesis might be revised further so that it summarizes the main idea of your essay more clearly.] In the United States there are 234,580 new cases of breast...
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