...Advocacy Program on Childhood Obesity Name: Institutional Affiliation: Date: Part 1: Childhood Obesity Statistics and studies on childhood obesity indicate that obesity disproportionately affects individuals from racial minority groups and that the prevalence of the condition is increasing among such populations. Childhood obesity is a significant health issue that has numerous consequences on the affected persons and their families. The increase in childhood obesity incidences among minority populations arises from economic, cultural, and political conditions that have had an impact on the environments in which children from such groups grow. According to Caprio, Daniels, Drewnowski, Kaufman, Palinkas, Rosenbloom, & Schwimmer (2008), minority populations such as Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and African Americans experience higher prevalence rates of childhood obesity than other ethnic groups. For instance, non-Hispanic whites had 14.1%, non-Hispanic blacks had 20.2%, and the Hispanics recorded 22.4% of childhood obesity (Ogden et al., 2014). The prevalence of childhood obesity also depends on other factors such as the literacy levels of the household heads and the gender and age of the children. Members of minority populations experience numerous challenges accessing affordable health care, healthy foods and live in neighborhood environments that predispose them to obesity. Although childhood obesity is caused by several factors, the...
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...Poverty and Childhood Obesity Linda Weems English 122 Instructor: Craig Smith October 5, 2012 Poverty and Childhood Obesity Over the past years, more people have become underprivileged. America used to have a strong middle class, but now the middle class is gradually retreating due to many jobs going overseas and local companies closing due to the 2007 economic crash. Because of the state of the economy, people will have to make tough decisions about what to spend their money on. Childhood obesity in America is an increasing ailment that has become an epidemic that has lasting emotional effects, because of the limited access to healthy foods. In more recent months, middle class families have been finding it hard to keep up with the rising cost of food and many of them have turned to the State for public assistance. In Nevada, “The picture of the food stamp spike is framed by the recession: About 145,000 Nevadans were collecting food stamps in fiscal 2007; in March of this year, the government counted almost 354,000 recipients statewide”. (Demirjian, 2012) In my neighborhood, I look around at the kids surrounding me. More than half of these kids are what one would consider “obese”. Childhood obesity is increasing in the United States – and the kids that I see today are a direct result of America’s unawareness to this crisis. The key causes of childhood obesity are a deficiency of exercise and deprived nutrition; these contributors must be conquered...
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...FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR FS 5833: FAMILY ECONOMICS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY SCIENCES TEXAS WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION BY SARAH KERAMATI ______________________________________________ DENTON, TEXAS APRIL 2012 Introduction Over the last few decades, the world has drastically changed, and the effect on the family dynamic has been profound. Today, there are more single parents, dual earner couples, and parents with more than one job living in both rural and urban areas in the United States than at any time in history (Miller, 2007). There is approximately one in five American children who live below the national poverty level (Meyer, Cancian & Nam, 2007). In today’s society, many people live below the poverty line and those numbers continue to increase because of our high unemployment rates. The Census Bureau reported that 12% of Americans live in poverty. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the poverty level in 2009 for a family of four was $22,050. Working parents have no time and their finances are often strained. Welfare reform in the United States may pressure single mothers to be employed even though child care is expensive and they may barely make minimum wage (Miller, 2007). If a child experiences poverty during their preschool or early school years, then they are less likely to graduate from high school (Duncan, Ludwig, & Magnuson, 2007). Poverty is everywhere. It is in every...
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...students were. These conditions have improved to a degree, but not enough that Americans can say that real equality is offered to students when poor schools have a greater minority population,...
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...Minorities face so many inequalities on an everyday basis. They fall behind their Caucasian counterparts in employment, education, and even longevity. Moreover, minorities lead the categories of incarceration rates, poverty and overall population. I will discuss the most important inequality that should have the most effort put into it to be eliminated. Inequality in our education systems amongst minorities is an issue that every city in every state faces. Our goal as a nation is to help eliminate these inequalities in our educational system. This can only be done if everyone is on the same page and has the best interest for our youth, no matter the race. To understand the inequalities that minorities face on an every day basis, one must understand...
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...State of America's Children® 2010 Report Billie Jo Gary Argosy University PSY260 Abstract This assignment I will discuss child poverty from the “State of America's Children® 2010 Report”. I found that poverty does not exclude anyone. Poverty hits every race, every country, anytime, it is a sad truth that negatively effects the lives of many children and families poverty continues to rise and it is now at an all time high. Not to mention the unemployment rate. What can we do to put a stop to these rising factors? Introduction Over the last decades, the world has made many changes, and the effects of those changes have profoundly been felt by many families everywhere. Today, children are being raised in single parent homes and it is hard when one parent has to work two jobs because absence of the parents can have very drastic effects on the child. (Miller, 2007). Sadly the numbers are at an all time high, when it comes to families and children living in poverty. Unemployment rates are growing and will continue to grow. Sadly more and more families are out of work and having to live without their basic needs being met. Many children...
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...& ANTHROPOLOGY CAPSTONE PRINCIPIA COLLEGE APRIL 2015 ABSTRACT Throughout history, the struggle of minorities has been seen in many facets of life such as in history, literature, music and film: Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi fought for the right of unrepresented minorities. Books such as Too Kill a Mocking Bird spoke to the prejudices of a community. Movies such as Roots illustrated the hardship of the slaves. From the Roman’s persecution of Christians to today’s rap song lyrics about economic disparities the plight of the minority has been fought for millennium. This research examines the struggle of minorities within the juvenile justice system and the differential rates of adjudication and length of sentencing between the white majority and the black minority juvenile offenders. During the course of this research, additional insights were gained from an internship at a youth correctional center as well as drawing on my own personal experience as a refugee from Gabon. The findings of my research demonstrate that minority offenders do receive harsher sentences than the whites, and that there are several factors contributing to higher rates of juvenile delinquency among African Americans; primarily education and community. To consider the struggle of minorities is important because it creates awareness that the maltreatment of a minority group by the dominant majority often ends in violence and destruction. If we can understand what cause the inequality...
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...I. Introduction Youth who grow up in disadvantaged neighborhoods fare substantially worse than those who grow up with more affluent neighbors on a wide variety of health and socioeconomic outcomes. A fundamental question in the design of appropriate education, health, and social policies for low income families and communities is the extent to which these correlations reflect the causal impacts of neighborhoods as opposed to family and individual attributes that are not directly affected by the residential environment. This paper uses data from a randomized housing mobility experiment to estimate the causal effects on teenage youth of moving out of high-poverty neighborhoods. There are a variety of theoretical views about the potential effects of neighborhoods on youth.1 One school of thought argues that disadvantaged neighbors and neighborhoods have adverse causal effects on adolescent development through exposure to violence and poor peer influences, absence of appropriate adult role models, and lack of school, community, and health care resources. Indeed, teenage youth are often seen as the age group most susceptible to the adverse influences of disadvantaged neighborhoods (Ellen and Turner, 1997). An alternative view is that neighborhoods have only limited effects on youth outcomes since a wide variety of peers and role models are available in all neighborhoods, and even those in the poorest areas can find peers who stay out of trouble....
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...between the years 2010 to 2050 minorities will increase from 36% to 54% of the population. (Schaefer, p. 4, 2012)(p.4). Immigration is the main reason for this estimate. It is estimated that in 2050, 67 million people will be immigrants and another 47 million people will be the children of immigrants. (The "Pew Research Center") (2012). While there are benefits of such a diverse nation, the United States still faces many challenges, because of prejudice and discrimination. With the rising population of immigrants, the population of people living in poverty will also rise. With the rise of people living in poverty, there will also be a rise in crime. The reason for this is, people who live in poverty have less access to high paying jobs are more likely to participate in illegal activities, such as dealing drugs to make money. Minorities and immigrants are statistically paid less than whites, for doing the same jobs. So this is what leads to poverty. The rising crime rate among minorities and immigrants also leads to the separation of families. Many children in poverty ridden neighborhoods are raised by single parents. The rising number of crimes in these neighborhoods leads to more parents, mostly men put in prison, therefor leaving the women to raise the children on their own. Another disadvantage is more prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice and discrimination can be seen in the workforce, neighborhoods, and schools. Minority workers are paid less for their...
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...important to their success. It is a societal issue and something that is important to address, community-to-community and parent-to-parent,” said Ron Fairchlid, (2006). Executive Director of the Center for Learning at John Hopkins University). Summer Slide is a name given to the face that student who does not keep up with their level of academic skills over the summer loses them. This situation is usually found in low-income areas. This loss of memory is usually done to the lack of mental stimulation. Since this is a known problem, there are various ways to limit of even preventing this from happening to the students. Summer slide occurs for more than one reason, but the main one is lack of access to books, magazines, or newspapers in the home. In some cases there are no libraries or clubs in the immediate community. Then, there is the lack of education the parents have, most have no higher education themselves and therefore, are unable to persuade the children they need education, so there is a lack of motivation. There is a way of preventing this and for the middle or higher classes it is already being done, but for the lower class help is needed to defeat the problem. It is going to take more than just family to help these children; the community as a whole has to help these children so they do not fail. For many children, summer is their favorite season, a once-in-a-year chance for them to enjoy the sunshine, play with friends, and go outdoors without having...
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...There are higher rates of substance use within Caucasians, but higher rates of African Americans being incarcerated for drugs. In 2009 African Americans were incarcerated at a 6.7% higher than Caucasians and 2.6% higher in the US than Hispanics. Part of the reason being there is additional crimes in lower income neighborhoods, there are less people graduating in...
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...The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was enacted in 1965 as part of the Johnson Administration War on Poverty campaign. This major federal law authorized federal spending on programs to support K-12 schooling. ESEA is the largest source of federal spending on elementary and secondary education. Since the initial in 1965, ESEA has been reauthorized seven times, but only the last four (4) will be mentioned. In 1994 the Improving America’s School Act was reauthorized under the Clinton Administration. This reauthorization puts into place key standards and accountability elements for local and state schools to receive funding under the law, and Goals 2000 a special interest group. In January 2002 another reauthorization came into play with the No Child Left Behind Act under the Bush Administration. This came in the form of testing and accountability. This required that states test students annually in reading, mathematics, and science. Also each individual school, and school district must publically report the test results. The aggregate results must be specific to student’s subgroups, including low-income students, students with disabilities, English language learners, and major racial and ethnic groups. The NCLB also required states, school districts and all schools ensure that all students are proficient in grade level math and reading by 2014 During the Obama Administration the President called on Congress to work across the aisle and fix the problem that the...
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...Head Start began in 1965 to provide childcare and preschool education for low-income families (Administration for Children and Families [ACF], n.d.). Since its inception, the program has served more than 30 million children and their families (ACF, n.d.). Head Start and Early Head Start targets pregnant mothers and children up to age 5 (ACF, n.d.). This program has the characteristics as a family policy because of the intersection between this public service and the impact on the family system. Most Head Start programs include a family intervention to enhance the educational experience. The program also allows low-income families access to childcare, which is a large family cost, so that the parents or guardians may work and use their income for other family needs besides childcare and preschool education. This paper uses the Popple and Leighninger’s policy analysis model to review the Federal Head Start Program (Chapin, 2014). This model was selected because of the historical, social, and political contexts in which the Head Start program was developed as well as for...
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...conferences and under any academic and personal circumstances. Bilingual teachers from kindergarten through fifth grade (at least), should be available for the Hispanic parents, assisting them to learn the school system and strategies to help their kids to read at home and do their homework. Newsletters and all school information need to be sent home in both languages. School counselors also need to either be bilingual or work with interpreters, as well as social workers and the school psychologists. Speech pathologists should test students’ speech in English and Spanish. Furthermore, it is essential that parents get involved with the education of their children; the school system should do everything possible to avoid institutional disadvantages to minority groups and get this ethnic group of parents involved with the school and their students’ education. Parents need to learn the language, not only to help their kids, but to build a better future for them and their families. Getting a better job, parents can afford to have a computer at home, which nowadays is an instrument of instruction, which can also be used to learn the language. Even today not everyone has a computer at home, but teachers should encourage parents and students to go to a public...
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...body in order to see the disastrous effects of fast food on the human form. After a month of eating nothing but McDonald's, Morgan suffered from a 13% gain in body mass, cholesterol levels of 230, rapid mood changes and embarrassing sexual inadequacy. He was unable to complete the program after being told by a medical professional that “he was going to die” if he continued on the current diet. Thankfully, Morgan was able to quit and return his body slowly back to the healthy shape it once was in, but this happy ending isn't always the case for millions of Americans. Left untreated, obesity will surpass smoking as the main cause of preventable death. Between the ruthless marketing, placement of restaurants in low income neighborhoods and near schools, massive portion sizes riddled with fat and carbohydrates and more than 46 million people eating out at only McDonald's daily, fast food has easily gone from a “once in a while treat” to one of the most menacing killers in the country. Portion size and ingredients play a grand factor in the fattening affects of fast food. According to research gathered by Washington State University, Fast foods contain substantially fewer vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin A, carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, magnesium and zinc. (“Does Fast Food...,” 2011) Doctors Lisa R. Young and Marion Nestle state that portion sizes started to grow in 1970, rose very sharply in the 1980s, and from there continued to grow in...
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