John Tierney
Small Steps
Reduce Childhood obesity
The article “Obesity in Young Is
Seen as Falling in Several Cities” By Sabrina Tavernise can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/health/childhood-obesity-drops-in-new-york-and-philadelphia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
In major cities childhood obesity is
finally starting to see a decline. In major cities like New York City and Philadelphia
are reporting a 5% decline in obesity between 2007 and 2011. These declines are
very small but they are significant because they show the first sign that the
obesity epidemic, one of the nation’s worst health problems, may be reversing
course.
“It’s been nothing but bad news for 30 years, so the fact that we have any good news is a big story,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, the health commissioner in New York City. For many years there has been nothing so even the smallest decline of 5% can show they are on the right track for reducing obesity.
Some things that schools are doing
to decrease obesity are removing sugary drinks and sports drinks from school
vending machine. Also setting calorie and fat limits, which reduced the size of
snack foods like potato chips to single servings. This will be very helpful
because many people don’t know the serving size so if they have a big bag of
chips they will eat many when the average serving size is only 11 to 13 chips. When
we were doing the lab in class one station was to put how many chips on a plate
that you thought was a serving and many of us put way more chips than the
serving size.
Many other little steps like this can make a huge difference in Childhood obesity. I think exercise programs and cutting out on un needed fats can reduce obesity greatly.
(picture) http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/nc_healthy_vending_machine_ll_110927_wg.jpg
This was very interesting to read about! Child obesity has been a growing problem over the years. It is nice to know that it is beginning to decline. In decisions class, we read an article about how Somerville replaced junk food with fruit, repainted the sidewalks so more people will walk and got the whole community involved in helping. Little factors like these make a big difference. It's not necessary to put kids on diets, but if they learn a healthy way of living now, it is more likely they will continue the healthy way of living as an adult. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteNice pick on the article. Childhood obesity has been a serious problem, though since it's beginning to decline, that's a good sign. Many people throughout the world have been contributing to reduce childhood obesity, and if we keep this up, we can help people significantly. Children who lead a healthy life will grow up with the healthy life of an adult, and we should intend to keep it this way.
ReplyDeleteGreat article choice. It is great news that the rate of obesity is beginning to decline, even if it is only by a small percentage. I agree with Liz and Nate that our contributions today can positively impact future generations to come. The small steps- keeping a close eye on serving size, promoting more physical education and healthy school lunches are a good start. I think that if the schools put in the effort to provide healthy, well-balanced meals for their students and get them to stay active throughout the school day, there will be a dramtic change in the students. They are spending a large portion of their day at school, so if they are being influenced to make healthy choices, it is likely that they will continue to make those good choices at home, too. Great job on this post!
ReplyDeleteI hope this decline in childhood obesity will soon be noticed in other cities besides Philadelphia and New York City.Both of these cities are huge, so the 5% decrease should actually be a lot of children. I agree with Simran about how much a child's ability to make healthy choices occurs during the school day. Hopefully, the younger generation is being taught health is good from a young age due to these food changes. It looks like Mrs. Obama is doing her job!Instead of just education kids on smart food choices, people should help them understand exercise in healthy too. Teaching them that as well could decrease childhood obesity even farther. I hope they begin to change the food choices at work places to. That way, there would be less obese adults.
ReplyDeleteI agree and think that obesity is probably the biggest problem rising in America. But it is good how it is beginning to decrease. Even though 5% is a very small amount it is still a sign that it is decreasing. Which does make sense since Michelle Obama has been emphasizing it so much. It is quite easy to notice the fact that most school vending machines have removed the unhealthy snacks and drinks and replaced them with other healthier snacks and drinks. This is also forcing snack companies to make new healthier products, all of these factors are leading us to be a healthier country. Good job on the post.
ReplyDeleteI think its really great news to hear that things are looking up for child obesity! I do agree that it is a major problem that we should be focusing on more though. I have also noticed like Jeff has that there are all healthier foods in the vending machines. I hear on the news all the time people talking about this issue and I found it interesting that some food companies are being required to put all of its nutrition facts on the label so that the consumer can see everything that is in the food. I actually heard the other day a story about olive garden, they had people test their food to see if it actually had the amount of fat and calories in it that it advertised. They found that in some dishes the only labeled half of the fat and calories that were really in it. In order for this health problem to improve there are going to have to be some major changes!
ReplyDeleteIt is relieving to know that there may be a new trend in childhood obesity rates. All we ever hear about in school and on the news is how everyone is getting fatter. It is great to hear that at least in some age group, the obesity rate is going down. Although most kids do not like the steps that the schools are taking to keep kids healthy, it is benefiting them in the long run. It is nearly universally felt by school kids that the new lunches are: too small, taste bad, more expensive, and that the schools no longer offer treats like ice cream and cookies. The ones who are to blame for this change in schools meals are not the schools themselves, nor the government, and definitely not Michelle Obama. The only people that students should blame are themselves and their peers that are over weight.
ReplyDelete