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Dillon D. EDA Period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteDillon Dreier
Mrs. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
I thought the Weight of the Nation video was very interesting, as well as shocking. I found it particularly interesting to see just how many American people are obese. To me it really shows how significant this country’s obesity problem is. It was really shocking to me to see how much time American children spend watching television. It’s really different from what I, and I’m sure most people in general, expect of children’s behaviour.
The video also made me angry at the food companies who deliberately market their unhealthy products to the children of America, who, being that they are children, don’t understand how unhealthy these foods and can’t tell when someone is just trying to sell them something. The sheer amount of advertising and marketing towards children is, to me, disgusting. It seems that food companies don’t care about the children of their nation at all. They only care about money.
Another thing that shocked me was the lack of P.E. required by schools. I’ve always thought everyone in every state had to do P.E., just like I do, but I’m clearly mistaken. What’s worse is that the few states that do provide P.E. and exercise for students lack the funding and time to provide proper exercise. The lack of funding for education in general doesn’t help either.
The fact that schools allow junk food in schools also makes me angry. I would think the government would want to provide the best and healthiest food for their children, but it seems that they don’t. The whole video makes me think that the health and future of children in this nation doesn’t matter at all the food producers and the government. The food producers prey on children and the government lets it happen. I think it’s horrible.
The whole video shows how little the government and food producers care about our children. Neither of them seem concerned of the obesity problem that affects not only the adults of the nation, but the children as well. I think it’s good to see at least some people trying to do something about the country’s childhood obesity problems, but it seems like everyone else is too consumed with their own problems or just don’t care enough to want to make a difference. The whole lack of time spent on the country’s childhood obesity problems really disgusts me.
Bryce K EDA Period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteBryce Kulzer
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
Children in Crisis was very shocking, it states that 18% of children in America are obese. 18% does not seem like very much, but as time goes on, the percentage raises. To show examples for this, one in three children born after the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime, and obesity has tripled in one generation.
In America, five of the ten leading causes of death are obesity related. In many past years, the leading causes of death were things like the flu, or a cold. But with a flu or a cold, there is no cure, and not much someone can do to be healthy again. But with obesity, there is. Exercise, eating healthier, seeing a doctor at least once a month can prevent obesity, and make obese people more in shape. So it is not much of a crisis if there is a cure for obesity, I think the main problem is that people that are overweight or obese do not know what to do or where to go for help, or that they simply do not care. To add to this, only 10% of parents with obese kids get help for them. In the movie Children in Crisis, it states that just because sugary foods say that they are a good source of fiber or protein, it does not mean that the food still has a high fat and sugar rate. Which may make parents think that all of the unhealthy foods are healthy enough to feed their child.
School lunches were another big topic mentioned in the movie Children in Crisis, 40-50% of school lunch food represents a child’s daily calorie intake. To add to that, 99% of kids get a lunch at school. Even after passing the Healthy-Hunger-Free Kids Act, school lunches still served greasy pizza, unhealthy chip items, and sugary drinks. Isn’t school supposed to be for education, where kids can learn to do what is right and wrong, and how to make the right choices? Maybe in class it is, but at lunch, schools are teaching kids that it is okay to eat unhealthy and drink sugar mixed with liquid out of a bottle. This goes to show how much schools really need to step it up and make children healthier. If a child or teenager becomes obese, it is most likely that they will stay obese their whole life. If every child becomes born like this, we will have a nation of obesity.
William Kempema
ReplyDeleteMs.Pelfrey
Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis Reflection
This documentary, Children in Crisis, is about children becoming obese in todays society. There were a couple children on the documentary that were struggling with their weight and they needed help from becoming obese and having unhealthy lives as teenagers and adults. Many of them will have their parents seek help for them so they do not become unhealthy later in life.
The documentary shows how to habits of the country is affecting children with obesity as well as adults and what helps cause obesity in the United States. One of the many things that helps cause obesity in the United States is the fruit juice and soda in the country. The soda and fruit juice has a lot of sugar and can cause diabetes if drunk too much. Another thing that they say is affecting obesity in our country is the fast food that is cheap and tastes good. Many people do not have much money or time, so in turn many people eat this cheap unhealthy food and a lot of those people do not lose the weight that they gain from eating this food. Lastly the unhealthy food at the grocery store is cheap and people will buy it over more expensive healthy food.
Many of the children that are struggling with their weight in this film do not go outside to much or play any sports. Lots of the kids play video games or watch TV/movies in their house and do not get any exercise. This causes many children to be lazy and gain a lot of weight from sitting down and not burning the calories that they take in. In turn they get obese and it makes it harder for them to exercise.
Abraham Orozco
ReplyDeleteMiss Kristen Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
Weight of the Nation: Children in Crisis is an interesting and factual documentary brought to us by HBO describing the dangerous affects of obesity, and how this plague is affecting America’s youth. This documentary takes us in the lives of a few men, women, and children that have had to face obesity, or had to deal with a family member who is obese.
The American lifestyle has brought along a great range of consequences, and most of them come from obesity. It is stated in the film that 5 out of 10 of the most deadly diseases come from, or are related to obesity. The dangers of obesity are escalating, and the number of obese people in the US is rising. At this moment ⅓ of the US population is obese, now it is expected that in 3 years, ½ of all adults will be obese. The US’s obesity rate is rising dramatically, over 17% increase in merely 3 years is outstanding. The only way to cease this epidemic, is to stop our dangerous habits while we are young, and seek medical help whenever we see a change in our bodies.
The documentary showed the effects of believing that a sudden weight gain in your child is natural. The video demonstrated that a child may seem slightly chubby, but in reality they have grave health problems. There were children that did not look extremely overweight, but they had dark rings on their neck, which is insuline working outside of the body. Obesity is making us prone to shorter life spans, and it is time for this epidemic to stop.
Ben Oliver
ReplyDeleteMrs. Pelfrey
E.D.A. Period 2
4 March 2013
Is it acceptable to ignore the fact that our nation is getting more and more obese? When you hear something like, the current generation of children has a shorter life expectancy than their parents due to obesity, it’s kind of hard to ignore. Within one generation, childhood obesity rates have tripled. To me, that statistic deserves some attention. Obesity can cause many health problems including diabetes, heart disease, asthma and much more, and when people grow up overweight, it’s a big problem. It’s not easy, these days, to keep children fit and healthy, when we live in a commercialized world that glorifies exactly what we don’t need. Our bodies are wired to crave sugar, salt, and fat, because, in nature, those aren’t easy to find. But today, they aren’t easy to lose. We grow up craving McDonalds and Taco Bell, because that’s what our parents give to us. And it tastes good. And when you’re trying to raise kids, money is very important, and this food is cheap and fast. And usually, parents don’t want to believe that their child is obese. Studies show that only 10% of parents seek help for their children's obesity problems.
Studies also show that having a television in your bedroom increases the rate of obesity. For two main reasons. One, the addictiveness and easiness of it makes it hard to want to get up and exercise which takes some effort, and two, all the advertisements that are fed into our brain. These ads are made to look good because these companies want you to buy their products. But the most attractive ads, are the ones aimed at children and teens. They’re cute, funny, and make you want to buy their product next time you are at the grocery store. Approximately, 1 and a half billion dollars is spent on marketing ads per year. Studies show that these ads are building the basis for our children’s diets. The foods that are the worst for you are marketed the most aggressively.
40-50 of children’s caloric intake, is consumed at school. Unless a kid brings lunch to school, they are going to get pretty much what they’re getting at McDonalds, but this is everyday. As humans, we are wired to eat as much as we can when we can. This may not be as true nowadays, but studies show that if you are served more, sure enough, you’ll eat more. And also, as I mentioned earlier, we are wired to crave salt, sugar, and fat. So when the lunch line at school is practically a buffet, a kid isn’t going to pick an apple over tater-tots, or a salad over a cheeseburger. And what food they do get, will most likely be a lot.
Elizabeth A, EDA Period 2, Ms. Pelfrey.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Anthony
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
Obesity is a really serious epidemic, which is shocking to me that not everyone takes it so serious. Obesity is nearly as dangerous as cancer. Obesity can take someone’s life just as easily as a lot of the major causes of death. In fact, obesity causes five out of the ten leading causes of death in America. This is why childhood obesity should be taken care of right now! One out of every three children in America are overweight or obese. This scares me because it is said that if a child has obesity at a young age, they are more prone to heart problems and type two diabetes in some time of their life.
Seeing ten to twelve year old children have type two diabetes was just not seen twenty to forty years ago. Now, it’s very common to walk into an elementary school and see three out of ten children be overweight. A factor to this is school lunches are absurdly unhealthy these days, along with P.E. not being required in five out of six schools across America. Weight of the Nation states that only four percent of elementary schools provide P.E., along with eight percent of middle schools and 2% of high schools. Those percentages are mind bending because you’d think that a nation would at least try to fix itself. It’s not only the childrens’ fault nor is it only the government’s fault. I’d say everyone is at fault because without PE how is a child supposed to know how to properly exercise? On the other hand, parents should be helping by going out and playing some basketball with their children. However, in whatever way you put it, without physical exercise, the nation’s scale numbers are only going to increase.
~A Spud of Joy, Elizabeth Anthony
Searcy EDA P2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteEric Searcy
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
While watching the video Weight of the Nation: Children in Crisis, I learned many shocking facts. People dropped many cold hard facts such as “18% of children in the United States are obese” or “1 out of 3 kids born in the U.S. after the year 2000 will have Type 2 Diabetes.” To me, these statistics were rather frightening because the generation they are talking about is the generation I live in, and I know changes will have to be made in my lifetime to prevent these things from happening. Additionally in the video, it said that only 10% of parents seek help for their overweight or obese children, leaving it completely up to the children to make a change or die young. I think more parents should be more active in their child’s diet to teach them what to eat and what not to eat.
One of the main two causes for obesity, as I learned, is diet. Almost half of the food children consume is in school. As we saw in the video however, cafeteria food isn’t all that healthy. Because the school is responsible for providing healthy options for children to eat, the “Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act” was passed in 2010. This groundbreaking act added twice the amount of fruit to school meals, added vegetables to meals, made half of grains whole grains, cut sodium from school meals in half, and lowered the fat in these meals. I completely agree with this act. I have eaten at the cafeteria daily since the first grade, and I know firsthand that i will eat whatever they put out. This act would have personally improved my diet, and the diet of many others, but i think more has to be done to further improve the school lunches.
The second main cause of obesity is lack of exercise. Physical activity is key in any healthy lifestyle, but it is not mandatory daily in 5 out of 6 schools nationwide. Physical activity is good for releasing energy and stress, plus it has been proven to improve the attention span of kids in other classes. I think it is terrible that P.E. is not required by all schools and believe it needs to be for our generation to grow up with healthy habits. We are all supposed to have 1 hour of vigorous to mild exercise daily, and most children just aren’t getting enough. A statistic that downright disgusted me was that only 4% of elementary schools, 8% of middle schools, and 2% of high schools have daily P.E. That is simply not enough and needs to change. This video really opened my eyes about the subject of obesity, and I will definitely try to improve my diet and exercise habits to avoid the health risks.
Claire D.
ReplyDeleteMs. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
Children in Crisis
After seeing the section entitled, Children in Crisis I was rather irritated. This was partially because of the fact that this section, just like all of the others that we’ve seen is ridiculously biased and left-leaning. That does not make it bad by any means, but the fact that the producers did not include the justification of the opinions of the more conservative authorities. I would like to ask both Ms. Pelfrey and Ms. Carr to tell their classes of this bias at the very least, but preferably choose a movie that gives equal justification to both sides of this argument. If not, then please allow me to address the class on this issue.
There is however an aspect of this film that I like. They showed that it is not just food that makes a difference in your weight, but also the amount of exercise that you recieve daily. I like this because I have said many times that it is not just what you take in, but what you burn off that makes a difference. This only goes to show that even if you cannot afford healthy food you can still keep your weight under control simply by exercising.
I think that everyone can do this, and you don’t need a personal trainer or a special gym to lose weight. It is easy and fun to go and get exercise, either with friends or on your own. Again, I would love to have the opportunity to address the class about this in the hopes that they may see a fair view of things. I would also be happy to talk about other issues related to this one.
Whitney T. EDA Period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteWhitney Tice
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and so many other life changing health problems are rising because the people of our nation have lost control of their weight. Right now over 18% of children are obese. This is not hard to believe considering that 40-50% of a child’s daily caloric consumption occurs at school. Following this statistic, 94% of schools serve lunches that do not meet USDA standards. The parents are not doing anything about this ridiculous issue, because 90% of parents believe their kids eat healthy at school. It is hard enough for adolescents to choose an orange over a bag a chips when they have the choice, so how should we expect kids to eat healthy when their not even given a healthy option? We cannot continue feeding America’s kids what is cheap and easy to prepare, we must give them nutritional meals; if we do not, their life-span could be shorter than their parents.
Food is meant to be our source of energy and nourishment, we are not supposed to pick something up and eat whenever we feel like it. Sadly, the environment we live in tells us just the opposite. Food advertisement is a huge industry. Every year approximately one and a half billion dollars is spent marketing food to children alone. This could be a good thing, if the foods being displayed to these young vulnerable eyes were healthy, they’re not. Kids develop loyalty to certain brands when they are young, and make lifelong eating habits. I do not think these advertisments are fair at all. So many people do not even know what is healthy anymore with sugary cereal brands saying they are made with whole grains. We need to educate our nation’s young generation regarding nutrition properly, so that the food entering our bodies can help us instead of harm us.
Keaton Dadigan EDA Period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteKeaton Dadigan
Mrs. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
8 March 2013
Children in Crisis
In the documentary Children in Crisis, the facts about the growing trend of obesity came alive. The ways that people are now treating their diet has changed over the last 30 to 40 years. Less exercise and more cheap junk food is a big factor of this problem. Schools are cutting out PE time for more class time to help with test scores. In the long run, this is hurting the children's diets. Also, to cut back on the time and cost of school lunch, school lunches are becoming more “Fast Food Like” and packaged to make it easier. Parents are starting to become concerned with their children's health because now in the United States, over 63% of people are overweight or obese.
There are some states that have no laws about how many hours of PE a child must take. It is recommended that every child has at least 60 minutes of some type of physical activity at least 5 times a week. In most schools, this does not happen. I think that there should be a US law passed that makes every school require all students to take a PE class for physical fitness.
Statistics show that a child can now view hundreds of advertisements each day. The cheaper the companies can make their food, the more money to advertise, and that is why almost all food advertisements are for junk food. I think that there should be a tax on junk food, and ways to help local growers get more profits. This will help everyone, and kids may see the importance of eating healthy.
Kailey S. EDA Period 2 Ms. Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteKailey Schuyler
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis Reflection
I found weight of the Nation extremely shocking, disturbing and most importantly, sad. I knew our Nation was in the midst of an obesity epidemic, but I didn’t know it was so widespread, such a danger, and that it is affecting almost everyone, directly or indirectly. The fact that the five highest causes of death in our Nation are associated with, or symptoms of obesity is not acceptable, and it is a problem that needs to be solved.
The first main issue with our Nation today that is causing obesity, is the quality of lunch provided in public schools. School lunches are typically extremely unhealthy; 94% of schools that serve lunch failed to meet the USDA standards for a “healthy school meal.” Parents are surrendering their child during the day (under penalty of the law I might add) , and trusting that their school will provide for and protect them. Most schools, however, are failing to do that by feeding them unhealthy lunches, with an average of 40-50% of their daily calorie needs in just one meal. The worst part is, that 89% of parents believe school lunches are somewhat healthy and don’t realize that their child’s school eating habits are potentially causing life-long obesity. Furthermore, the children are young and don’t know better, they just eat what looks and tastes good, and usually, that is the most unhealthy food. A teacher admitted that if he ate the school lunch every day for a month or so, he would begin to gain weight, so he brings his own lunch. That is great for the teacher, but some children don’t have that option, or any other one, and are stuck eating the cafeteria food, or nothing. I understand that the school department can’t spend money on providing healthy foods because they need to supply school products such as desks and books, but this is a child’s life they have in their hands, and I definitely think this is something more important than the quality of their desks.
Audrey F. EDA Period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteAudrey Franada
EDA Period 2
Mrs. Pelfrey
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis Reflection
Children in Crisis was a very shocking film. I was aware that America had a widespread weight problem; I didn’t know was that it had affected two-thirds of the country. If I may, I would like to point out that obesity is caused by a number of factors-genetics, living habits, etc., so even if someone finds a way to get children to eat healthier and get up and moving, it may not help depending on the child. I’d just like to put that out there.
First off: statistics. Eighteen percent of American children are obese; if a child is obese, then there is a high probability that they will be obese adults. Obesity is the risk factor for five out of ten leading causes of death in the United States. This is obviously a huge problem, literally and metaphorically, and finding a way to control it at an early age is of the utmost importance. But, is it possible to do so when today’s children, starting from toddlerhood to adolescence, are constantly being swamped in deadly food advertisements? I say deadly because these foods most likely have a high sugar, salt, fat, or calorie count-or some combination of the four. It’s somewhat disturbing to think that anyone could take advantage of innocents. From a business point of view, it’s advantageous considering that kids are easily impressionable: Young children don’t know any better, and teens are probably trying to fit in while maintaining some degree of individuality. This is food, though, and when the stuff that’ll make you sick is the stuff that is your breakfast, lunch, and dinner-and being displayed as such, um, there’s a problem.
Secondly, school lunches: They’ve been described as “nasty”, “disgusting”, and “gross”. The pizza tastes like cardboard with ketchup, the chicken nuggets bounce, and sometimes, the food doesn’t even look like food. And not only that, but they’re unhealthy, too. The kids that eat school food for their breakfast and lunch are being deprived of quality nutrition in favor of profit. Yes, school cafeterias are responsible for making their own profits, but is sacrificing the health of the future an equal trade?
Lastly, what are we as a nation going to do about it? How can we bring not only the people together but the government, as well? The time to acknowledge this problem is NOW, not when the whole darn nation is obese.
Beka Steward EDA Period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteBeka Steward
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children In Crisis Reflection
I was more or less shocked about the obesity epidemic now effecting children. I now see that it isn't really the kids fault but it is the parents that let their kids sit around all day and watch tv or play video games. Kids need to play with other kids and be outside. Also kids should be able to walk to school if the just live a few blocks away. I have walk to school everyday since kindergarten.
I also think it is the easiness of getting fast food on the road quickly is another leading factor of overweight children. After a baseball game it is easier just to go grab a quick burger than go home and make a whole meal. plus it seems a lot cheaper to go and get 5 cheeseburgers than buy a whole meal at the grocery store. Fast food has created the perfect place for kids to become chubby.
Its sad that the Healthy Hunger-Free lunches has been having problems with getting healthier lunch options for kids. Kids deserve to have healthier options given to them. Another things kids need in school is P.E. I might have hated it when i was doing but it sure did beat sitting in a classroom for another hour of of my school day. It also was fun to learn new sports and play with friends. with the way the schools are looking now it would be a great idea to teach kids what is healthy to eat and to play outside when your bored instead of sitting around looking at a screen for four hours. I remembering be taught the food plate in elementary school. The one where 50% of your plate was veggies and others meat and grains. School should be a place of healthy fun learning.
Camille Spittle
ReplyDeleteMs. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
Over 18 Percent of children in America today are overweight. But that is not necessarily their fault. The parents of these children are not taking responsibility for their children and not seeking medical help. In fact, only 10 percent of parents with overweight kids are looking for medical help for them. when they do take their child to the doctor, they are finding that they, are having the same health problems of a 25 year old adult.
A Lot of people will blame the big food companies for kids eating as much as they do, and none of it is probably healthy. A large portion of it is, all the commercials being shoved in their face to try the newest flavor of cereal, or whatever they are advertising for. But, who let the child watch up to 7 hours of T.V. that week, or day? Who let them buy that junk food at the grocery store? The parents. If parents actually took control over their kids and made them eat a veggie or two with almost every meal, I think the rates of obesity would start to go down dramatically.
In the video, I found it interesting that only 4% of elementary, 8% of middle, and 2% of high schools required physical education. I also found it interesting that those kids test scores were higher than kids who don't take Physical Education. I think that if schools pushed kids to take PE, Obesity would go down, and so would the cost of health care for taxpayers, because the kids aren't getting sick as often.
Both of these are simple things to think about, and they aren't really that hard to do. So, I don't think the government needs to get involved on this. I think they should help by putting programs out to help families with obese family members, but when it comes to banning food, and telling us what we can and what we can't eat, they have gone to far by “trying to help us”.
Kim EDA period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteHaeYoun Kim
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
The video about the Weight of the Nation we watched made me angry because in the video, people are blaming on the advertisement how they're “affecting” the way kids are becoming less active and becoming more obese when the real problem is the how the environment are being raised inside the house. In the video, parents have said that they had put TV or computer in their room and wondering why they aren't being active. I believe the problem is the parents. Parents shouldn't have put the computer or TV in their room because parents should have known by doing so, kids would be less active and focus on like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or play video games etc.
Not only that, what Michelle Obama had said before that instead of limiting the advertisement on the fast food, we should increase the advertisement of the healthier foods such as broccoli, peas, or carrots. Just because we are limiting the advertisement of the fast food, doesn't not always guarantee that it will solve the problem like Michelle Obama had said so in the video. By doing so, kids will start to eating vegetables more and start eating less junk food.
One thing I didn't understand after watching the video is that, why couldn't they lower the price of the vegetables and fruit? If we do, that would solve almost 90% of the problem. By doing so almost anyone can afford to buy healthier foods and wouldn't have to complain how expensive they are. That way, instead of going to McDonald or In and Out, people would buy vegetables so they can make them at home which would be a lot more healthier. I know that even if by a miracle that does happen, not everyone will be guaranteed to buy it and instead go to some fast food place but at least it will help the majority of people who does buy it.
Another thing that made me angry after watching the video, why did the majority of the school doesn't do PE anymore? I know not everyone enjoys doing them by that didn't give them any rights to do so. By cancelling PE, It does gives you more time to focus more on your academic which is fine but at other schools, they have the best test scores like Foothill Technology High School because they have PE. Study have shown that after you exercise, it relaxes your brain and work better. Just because the government are afraid of the results doesn’t mean they should just cancel PE.
A second major issue presented was advertising for unhealthy products, directed at children. One and a half billion dollars a year are spent advertising to children, and usually these are the unhealthy brands. Marketing shapes what kids want to eat, and their life habits. If they don’t eat this certain brand, perhaps they won’t be ‘cool.’ Or maybe the lucky Charms are simply portrayed in a more exciting way, and consequently more appealing than some healthier brands of food. But parents want their kids to be happy, and buy them what they think will fulfill this, not thinking that something as simple as a breakfast cereal could change their child’s lifestyle. I think this is definitely something that should be stopped, or at least reduced, but I realize that might be difficult. One way to help would be to increase advertising in healthy foods to persuade children to eat those, and reduce the rate of unhealthy food advertising, that way unhealthy foods wouldn’t be knocked off the market, but they wouldn't be purchased and consumed quite so largely as they are currently.
ReplyDeleteThe final, and most important step to eliminating or decreasing our obesity rates are parents knowledge, willpower, and decisions. Obviously, the problem that we are facing are the children in crisis, and it is estimated that 1 out of every three children born in the United States after the year 2000 will become obese. But the children aren’t becoming obese of their own accord, it all comes down to the parents decisions. Yes, it is true, as I have stated, that advertising and school distribution are some problems, but I believe parents have power over both of these. As far as school lunches, if the parent doesn’t like what the school is feeding their children, they can simply pack them a healthy lunch. I realize it is not an option for all people due to time constraints or other issues, but my mom packs my lunch every night, and it takes no more than five minutes. I feel that if parents were genuinely
concerned, they could give five extra minutes a night to improving their child’s health and eating lifestyle. As far as advertising goes, there are several steps parents can take to prevent their children from falling for their persuasion. First of all, parents can not allow their children to watch channels on television that have unhealthy food advertisements, or they can simply encourage their child to do something else during commercials. Also today, many people have TiVo or Time Warner Cable, and can simply fast forward commercials to avoid the advertising. If the advertisements simply cannot be avoided, then when children ask for their parents to buy them a certain brand while shopping, they can simply say no, because they are parents, and have that authority, it is really as simple as that. Despite the arguments that school lunches, and advertisements are our main concerns causing today's obesity epidemic, I sincerely believe that it all comes down to the parents; if they are educated and make informative decisions, I feel they can be a major contributing factor to the reduction of obesity rates in children today.
Ashley I. EDA Period 2 Ms. Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteAshley Inocando
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
Before watching the film, I expected it to simply be about the usual problem that America is facing with obesity. I thought that it was going to talk about food industries, like McDonalds, and how it has affected our nation over many years. But after watching the film, I realized how different it was from other videos having to do with obesity. Instead of focusing on food companies and calories, the film concentrated more on the individuals who are facing obesity and the different factors that associate with it.
One of the main things that shocked me in the video was when it talked about how one a half million dollars are spent on food ads to influence our generation. I knew that there were food industries targeting many teens and children to eat their food, but I never expected that they would spend so much money to accomplish that job. Do food companies really rely on advertisements that much? Could these ads be one of the main factors of obesity? Another thing that surprised me while watching the video was when it showed how schools have become a huge factor to our health. For example, the video mentions that 40 to 50 percent of our daily calorie intake comes from school. I’ve always expected that schools would offer many healthy choices to help students focus more on education, but after hearing that 94% of schools failed to meet the USDA standards for healthy school meals, I’ve now become more cautious of what I buy during lunch time. I wonder what schools have to say about this statistic. Would they try to prove it wrong or simply agree? Maybe some schools are desperate for more money coming in, rather than thinking about the students’ health first.
All in all, watching the “Children in Crisis” video has taught me a lot of new reasons why many people are becoming obese. I now know that America is easily influenced and exposed to unhealthy food whether it be in advertisements or at school. Thanks to this film, I hope that many people will think twice about how their surroundings can really affect their mind and body.
Quinn McAvoy
ReplyDeleteMrs. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
Obesity is a very serious issue in the united states. Not only are adults eating unhealthy, but obese parents are only teaching their children unhealthy eating habits. Two thirds of Americans are obese and more than eighteen percent of children in the U.S. are obese. Child obesity rates have tripled in a single generation and this may be the first generation of children with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. This is absolutely insane. In addition being obese as a child increases their risk for asthma, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many other diseases, while also increasing the odds that obese children will become obese adults. Also, doctors are recognizing these diseases in children and being astounded, as just a few years ago these illnesses were considered “adult problems.” This could become a gravely serious thing in the future if it does not get better, as a large portion of the population will be stricken by these heinous diseases. The worst part of it is, the health of the people is in the peoples’ hands, and all they need to do is take care of themselves to be healthy. They are not ill with some disease that they were unlucky enough to catch, rather they are ill with a disease that they gave themselves.
Some parents are also teaching their kids unhealthy exercise habits or providing their children with access to televisions in their rooms. In addition, having a television in kids’ bedrooms is directly associated with obesity, because of the “predatory” commercials and eating unhealthy foods that are marketed in those commercials while watching tv. The foods that are the worst for people are the ones that are marketed the most vigorously, and kids end up eating unhealthy food while also participating in sedentary activity. So it stands to reason that if children watch less tv, they will not eat as much unhealthy food. Additionally, lots of schools do not have mandatory P.E. and if children are not moving at home, and they are not moving at school, then they are never exercising. No federal law requires P.E. in schools and only two percent of high schools provide daily P.E. Also, it was brought up in WotN that lots of schools cut out P.E. to focus on test scores. However, later it was said that kids who have P.E. sometime in the course of their day will learn better in their classes. I agree with this assertion, as when I have a plethora of energy, but have to do homework, my homework ends up being finished quickly and sloppily so I may go outside and skateboard. Parents need to teach their children healthy eating and exercise habits, and provide them with health food and time to play
Kenedy H EDA Period 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteHolden Kenedy
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
School lunches need to be healthy, and the schools are responsible for providing a nutritious lunch. When children enter a school, the school is then liable and responsible for the child’s well being and safety. This is a key principle that our school’s are forgetting. Isn't what we are feeding our kids an aspect of their well being? Can the cause of health problems later on in life be ignored when they are traced back to the high caloric lunches provided by school’s. I think that there needs to be more regulation in the school lunch industry. Companies should not be making money at the expense of the next generation’s health. About 88.9% of parents surveyed thought that the food being served was “reasonably healthy” while in reality 94% of school lunches don’t meet USDA standards. Obesity is linked to a shorter life-expectancy and this next generation might be the first one in years to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. I think that something needs to be done to make the next generation healthier.
I agree with the government passed act that required schools to have stricter health standards. People need to stop saying that the government is infringing on our freedom. They are governing. It is a good step in the right direction to make changes in vegetable and fruit servings. 50% of grains must be whole grains and more and more vegetables are being added to the school lunch diet. They have also demanded that chocolate milk must be fat free. These are all things that will have a large impact on children across the nation. If we can regulate how food is served and what type of food is served, then we can change the downward trend of childhood obesity.
Another contributing factor to childhood obesity is television or computers in the childrens’ rooms. It seems like parents are afraid to tell their child no. Parents shouldn't be scared to parent. This variable is in direct correlation with obesity rates and something needs to be done about it. Parents are in denial of their part in obesity and the role they play in prevention and treatment. One of the mothers in the documentary said that her daughter is always on the computer and that that’s the reason why she’s obese. Take the computer away! It is the role of the parent to care for their child and to keep them healthy. Children need to get off the couch and be more active.
Brenna Franke
ReplyDeleteMs. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
8 March 2013
Children in Crisis
The video “Children in Crisis” was about how children aren't eating as healthy as they should be and aren't as active as they should be. I think that since 5 out of 10 deaths in america are related to obesity, parents with obese kids should get help for them, but only about 10% do. Also i think the parents should make sure there kids are active instead of letting them watch TV or play video games. Most kids spend around 7 ½ hours of media a day when it should only be about one hour. Not only should parents make sure there kids are active but they should also make sure that there kids are eating right. Parents are giving their kids stuff like apple juice, orange juice, fruit loops, lucky charms, etc. thinking they are healthy when the truth is, it's not. Also they should make sure that their child's school provides healthy food because 40-50% of a kids daily intake during the week is of school food. There was a study that showed that 94% of schools served a lunch that failed to meet standards for healthy school foods. This could be a cause to why there are so many obese kids in america. Another cause is soda. I think that parents should not allow their kids to drink soda because there is nothing healthy about it. If a person doesn't eat healthy and drinks a lot of soda it could lead to obesity and maybe even diabetes. 40% of deaths in america are because of diabetes and 90-95% of people who have diabetes have type 2 which is caused by eating very unhealthy.
Hanna M. EDA Period 2 Ms. Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteHanna Malco
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
In the film, The Weight of the Nation, part three, it was very upsetting to see children so young struggling with their weight. Eighteen percent of American children are obese, and only ten percent of parents seek medical attention for their obese children. The parents of overweight girls featured in the film have made an effort to help their children lose weight by minimizing portions of sugary food and increasing their exercise levels.
Statistics show that kids get fifty percent of their caloric intake from their school meals. In my opinion, I think schools should only be allowed to serve kids healthy meals and not even give them the option of buying something sugary. I think it is unbelievable that a school would serve pizza for lunch and have side options such as cookies and chocolate milk. They may serve broccoli as a side, but in reality, what kid is going to take broccoli over tater tots? Kids eat foods with no nutritional value at school which are packed with fat and sugar, then they come home and sit on the couch. They don’t exercise to burn off extra calories. Teen’s BMI have increased twenty percent caused by the junk food they eat at school. Whether it be sugary beverages, which is forty eight percent of people’s sugar consumption, or Cheetos children eat with every school meal, the calories add up and weight is gained.
Kevin Cortes
ReplyDeleteMs.Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
In the documentary Children in Crisis talks about how the food industry targets young children with lots of advertising on television. Children want to eat what the cartoon show on TV like Cocoa Puffs or Fruity Pebbles. All of these food, cereals, Juice, Sodas can lead to obesity. Kids who are obese when they are young run a risk of having diabetes when they are older. About two thirds of the people in the US are obese. Playing video games every day instead of playing outside, play football kids and teens rather be inside sitting in a computer for 3 hours. This can also lead to health problems and become obese in no time. More than a billion dollars are spent every year on marketing. This can show up on TV, video games, computers, children will see these products and ask parents to buy it for them.
Studies have shown that having a TV in the room are one of the causes of diabetes. Leading to less physical activities which is bad for your health.
Child obesity has tripled in the past decade, due to poor diet eating too much junk food everyday. Even beverages can be unhealthy, twelve ounces of apple juice contains ten teaspoons of sugar. This is a major problem for kids who do not get any physical activity throughout the day. Kids have seven hours of media a day. That includes TV, phones , computers, tablets, and other electronic devices. Obesity is five to ten leading causes of death. Its time for a change.
Isaac C. EDA Period 2 Ms. Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteIsaac Cervantez
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis
18% of america’s children are obese and that’s not good because obesity will lead to high blood sugar which will be diabetes and if the children grow up obese, their kids will be born with it like in the year 2000 when 1 out of 3 kids were born with diabetes. But most of the time it’s not really their fault, it’s the parents that buy them unhealthy food voluntarily in the first place and only 10% of those parents actually seek help for their obese kids. But it’s not just the parents fault but it’s also the TV’s fault because all unhealthy food are marketed the most on TV and most of the kids in the US have a TV in their room for some reason. In the end it’s both the parent’s and the TV’s fault. But they aren’t the only one’s to blame, kids eat at school and only 94% of schools serve lunches that fail to meet a healthy food standard and because of that in 2010 congress passed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids act. It’s good that congress because the foods and drinks that they used to have were pretty bad for example 12 ounces of coke has 10 teaspoons of sugar in them and 12 ounces of orange juice has 8 ounces of sugar. It’s very ironic because 48% of peoples sugar consumption comes from soda. With all that sugar and calories the schools must have P.E to burn it off right? WRONG!! Currently in the US 4% of elementary schools, 8% of middle schools, and 2% of high schools provide P.E. This is my opinion on children in crisis.
Josh Lakin
ReplyDeleteMs. Pelfrey
EDA Period 2
8 March 2013
Weight of the Nation: Children in Crisis Reflection
The problems introduced by the food industry as explained in The Weight of the Nation are that massive food companies are dominating the food industry and running amok. The reasons for this are that they produce foods that are engineered to appeal to the human brain - fat, sugar, and salt. They are taking advantage of something has been hardwired to humans for millions of years. Hence, one of the main reasons why people are so obese is because vegetables don’t give us that illusion of scarcity. In society nowadays, unhealthy foods that contain fat, sugar, and salt are way more common than fruits and vegetables. This sole fact right there is one of the main reasons why obesity is so prevalent. Switching the two around would make vast improvements in our health. However, there are definitely some obstacles that guard that from reality.
Not only does unhealthy food have an advantage over healthier foods taste-wise, but definitely an advantage moneywise and in the ability to be grown. Corn and soybeans are cheap to mass produce and have so many different uses. They have been genetically modified to resist pesticides and can be stored for longer periods of time. Fruits and vegetables on the other hand, can spoil in way shorter amounts of time and take a lot of work to grow and make sure they are left unharmed. Soybeans and corn can also be found in a huge amount of products, most notably the unhealthy kinds. If that wasn’t enough, corn and soybeans have been subsidized by the government since The Great Depression. During The Great Depression, people had barely enough money to farm and grow crops, so the government gave the farmers subsidies so they could grow more crops to help the economy. However, farmers today have been so successful with corn and soybeans that they have formed massive corporations. Because of this, do these “farmers” still really need all these subsidies for corn and soybeans despite all of the profits? Why not give these subsidies to people who grow fruits and vegetables? The people who grow those healthy foods do not make nearly as much profits and it would really benefit society if the foods they grew were made cheaper.
Let’s compare humans today to humans only a couple hundred years ago. What is here today that makes people so obese that isn’t there in the past? The answer lies in what you are looking at right now. People today did not have as much widespread access to computers as we did years ago. Nowadays, people’s lives are heavily influenced by technology like computers. Technology such as computers, cars, and cellphones take away most of the hard work we had to do many years ago. Let’s say you want to see a movie or you want to talk with friends. Technology provides everything you need, so you don’t need to walk all the way to a friends house or a movie theater. You can just talk to that person on a chat program like Skype or download a movie on Netflix. Furthermore, technology not only eliminates the need for extra work, but is one of our main sources of entertainment. Technology provides a huge abundance of entertainment through television shows, video games, social media, and is heavily advertised and carried out all across the world. At least a few decades ago, people did not have so much entertainment through technology, so they went outdoors and played sports. The increase of technology can also lead to parents being preoccupied with technology to even tell them they need to exercise more. The children will then not have a role model who is physically active enough. It also leads to having more curriculum needing to be taught in school, which takes away from physical education. It all boils down to show that the rapid development and promotion of technology also correlates with sedentary behavior, which then leads to obesity.
Angel Cruz
ReplyDeleteMr.s Pelfrey
Period 2 EDA
4 March 2013
CHILDREN IN CRISIS
I believe that children should be fed healthy foods during schools and get more than 1 hour of P.E.at their schools. This would reduce the chances of getting heart disease as well as a many obesity related disease. I was surprised that only 20% of the kids nationwide walk to school. I find it unexplainable that only five states require physical education while the other states do not required doing physical education. Also I was surprised that during school lunches they would serve Twinkies and other fattening foods that are high in sodium.
Only 4% of elementary schools required physical education in the country, a person of middle schools also provide a few hours of physical education, and 2% of high schools provide at least two hours or more physical education in the country. Me just hearing that astonish, me pretty much cause for me I usually do at least two hours of exercise. The craziest thing that I heard was that Forty percent of sugars that a human consumes daily comes from soda which is pretty astonishing to me.
Now in school lunches schools are adding twice the amount of fruit and also dark green vegetables. Also children who live in low income places and families have more of chance of obesity with high blood pressure. But a child watches seven hours and 30 minutes of media for sugary foods each day which is pretty surprising because that’s pretty much the same time I spend at school.
Matt D EDA 2 Pelfrey
ReplyDeleteMatt De Santi
Ms. Pelfrey
EDA 2
4 March 2013
Children in Crisis Part 1
This video revealed some very disturbing information to me. It illustrates my fears are justified, in that the people of this society are replacing rationality and reason with dramatic emotion. It is nothing more than an instrument to further the anti business cultural trend amongst Americans today. The idea that another human beings failure to keep themselves healthy is a “public health threat” is nonsense. It is by no stretch of the imagination any other party's fault than the individual who failed themselves. This campaign to create healthy lifestyles for children is a pathway for state intervention in the individual’s daily life. There is no argument they could make to justify their goal to a rational mind.
Let me start by saying why their arguments are not rational. It is currently universally known amongst the populace of the United States that the majority of food that is available cheaply is not healthy. It is also known that an over consumption of these foods along with little to no physical activity will lead to obesity. This then leads us to the conclusion that anyone currently overweight in the United States, achieved this with full knowledge of their errors. Therefore it can be concluded to a logical mind that it is not society’s nor the food suppliers fault, that these consumers decided to cripple themselves. If you buy a hammer and smash your finger you cannot blame the hardware store you bought it from. Then comes the argument that the food companies hold a monopoly over the food market. Granted these companies are huge and very powerful, but as I have explained before in the case of the e coli in packed meat, these companies become large with state intervention. I have always supported a free society, that is to say, a society without state intervention amongst private individuals. The state interventionists support legislature that subsidizes materials, and other free market tampering laws that allow monopolies to be created. They also support the legislature that takes money from taxpayers and gives it to the obese patients. If you do not like the industrialized food system you would not support the legislation that allows it to exist. Likewise if you wanted to create incentive to not be obese you would not want to create a safety net for people. These flaws illustrate the lack of rationality in the interventionist arguments, as well as explain their true motives.
ReplyDeleteMatt D. EDA 2 Pelfrey
Children in Crisis Part Two
We have established that the interventionists support many different agendas, but none of them help the obese. Instead, they would have private individuals and companies regulated by the state. In a free society, there is no definition of how one should live their life. The idea that the state knows what is best for individuals is the prelude to all dictatorships. One individual’s choice to be obese, and yes it is the individual’s choice, is not a problem to the rest of society, so long as society is not made to pay for their mistakes. The arguments against these ideas contain an offensive lack of logic in my opinion. No other individual should be made to suffer either physically or through his tax dollars, for the sake of another person. Especially when the person in question knowingly damaged themselves. The interventionist would say something to the effect that I am heartless, ignorant, and support greedy corporations. I support a free market society, a society that forces all individuals to be accountable for themselves. The interventionist supports the opposite society, not because he cares about his fellow man, but because he can exploit people’s tendency towards irresponsibility of their own actions. They promise the people a world in which we are all our brother’s keepers, in order to secure their own political power.
These are the true motives of interventionists. It is they who by providing safety nets for the obese and the obese themselves who are responsible for this health trend, not food suppliers. The idea of everybody being accountable for themselves frightens most people. They say that the state needs to exist to protect us from ourselves. I believe it is time that people just face the facts and realize that obesity is their own problem. The worst offenders, as shown in the video, are parents who blame outside influences for their child’s weight. This lack of responsibility is disgusting. They want to lash out at others because they failed as a parent. How one could let themselves fall to such a low as a human being is beyond my comprehension. If we truly want to reverse this health trend, we must advocate a society of self reliant individuals, not blaming others. I bet if we did not make life for the obese so comfortable, i.e health benefits or any measures like that there would be less obese people in our nation.