In
the article, “Blood Levels of Trans Fats Are Declining in Americans” by
Anahad O’Connor in the New York Times (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/blood-levels-of-trans-fats-are-declining-in-americans/)
I learn about how public health advocates’ changes made an improvement
in American’s health. In the year 2000 it was found that American’s blood
levels of trans fats rose 60 percent. Being linked to obesity and heart issues,
the public health advocates took charge to make a change.
Trans fats are in packaged, baked
and fried foods, which American’s are known to eat a lot of unfortunately. City
officials realized the health risks that have gone unnoticed for so long that
they decided to get into action. They banned trans fats in restaurants and
pressed companies to go without them in making their cookies, crackers and
other fatty foods. After nine years of these dramatic changes, American’s blood
levels of trans fats fell 58 percent. “Over all, trans
fat levels fell 58 percent, but there were also improvements in cholesterol and
triglycerides.” This is a quote from the article showing that not only the
trans fats levels dropped but also cholesterol and triglycerides became more
manageable. Reducing trans fats has been a great outcome in the health of
America.
I
believe that it’s a great thing that public health advocates have fought for
our health and have been so successful. As we know, cholesterol builds up in
the arteries and ruptures leading to heart attacks, which can lead to death. Also,
in the article it talked about the difference between good fats and bad fats.
We learned that bad fats come from products like meat, butter fried foods, etc.
Good fats come from plants. Like vegetables and oils. Good fats reduce the risk
of heart attacks by having less build up in arteries.
Picture:http://restmkt.blogspot.com/2007/11/are-you-still-using-trans-fats-hfcs.html
Nice job Christina! I also think it's great that public health advocates have taken such a lead on promoting healthy eating. People are incredibly lazy, too lazy to begin eating healthy. Hopefully the fact that healthy eating is being "pushed" on the public will continue to have a positive impact on the health of America. It's almost disgusting to think of the food we eat. It's about time that this issue was addressed publicly by health advocates. Again, good job!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that Americans have started to eat healthier. Even doing the little things, like reducing our intake levels of trans fats, is a step in the right direction. After many years of the health advocates pushing for the much needed changes, we have finally seen results. Like Mary Beth said, when we really think about what's in the food that we eat, it's almost disgusting. People really need to start eating healthier if we want to reduce the amount of obesity in our country. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThanks you public health advocates for making it easier to eat healthy. Pushing to eliminate trans fat has had such a great impact on Americans already. Just think of what could be achieved if other bad things, such as cholesterol, were forced out of our diets too. The healthier eating could be key to living longer. The public health advocates could have saved many lives from stepping up and getting rid of unhealthy attributes. Great article! I'm so happy that there is hope for Americans on becoming healthier!
ReplyDeleteI found this blog post very interesting. I was surprised to find out that America has become healthier since 2000. I would expect that America’s health would be on the decline because of the recent change in the policies at our schools’ cafeterias. I think that you could expand on the paragraph about the different fats that we talked about in class, including how trans fats and cholesterol are linked and how the other fats help to prevent against clogged arteries.
ReplyDeleteI really like what this post is talking about since all we ever hear is how bad health in America is. I think its great people are noticing that things are getting better (even though obesity is a large problem still today)and that people are trying to change the bad habits. I have also noticed similar changes as George mentions in the cafeteria. All our vending machines have healthier snacks and drinks. I really like how you connected it to what we learned in class about nutrition and the disease that can come from not eating and treating you body the way you should. I thought this was a great change to see in a post.
ReplyDelete