Solution Proposal Ryan Newhouse

Ryan Newhouse
04/11/14
Composition
Professor Hamann

Memos Newhouse

One of the biggest problems in America today is childhood obesity and obesity as a whole. Obesity is an issue and can be very serious because it leads to many diseases including diabetes. Obesity is a growing problem and many people believe it is because of restaurants and unhealthy foods. Many people think there are many other things that contribute to the problem but we are going to look at the biggest causes of the problem as well as what can be done to address the obesity issue and prevent diseases like cancer and diabetes. I will go into detail on what the causes of obesity are and what solutions will work as well what are the key solutions are.

Obesity is defined as having excess body weight from a certain height, bone, muscle, fat, and water. People may think that fast foods and not foods is what makes all Americans obese but the truth is that it does not and it only contributes to a certain amount of the population. Many Americans and people themselves can gain weight by drinking alcohol, some is because of hormones, which can cause people to be overweight, people may eat when they are stressed and overeating can cause you to gain weight, during pregnancy you can gain weight, after you quit smoking, as well as not getting enough sleep (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). Many other things that cause obesity including: having an Inactive life style, the environment we live in, family genes, as well as emotional factors and health conditions (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). I am not saying that fast foods are not a major problem because it is, but only that there are other causes to the issue. If you look at Alcohol many people drink alcohol to have a good time with their friends. Almost 45 percent of the population drinks alcohol and about seven percent are frequent drinkers (OAC). Seven percent is a large amount of the population because frequent drinkers can gain weight due, not do to alcohol in a shorter amount of time and may cause people to get hungry and lead people to eat for no reason (OAC).

Almost every American encounters stressful situations or is feeling stress almost every day. Stress can cause people to be depressed and sometimes leads to death. People have many ways of dealing with stress, but one way that people deal with stress is eating, even if they are not hungry. It works for a lot of people but it is not healthy and can cause obesity as well if you don’t watch how much you eat. Some people may have different metabolisms as well and for some people it may seem that they can eat almost anything and not gain a pound but for some it may be the exact opposite and even just a single meal can cause a noticeable change in the body. Many people that eat because they are stressed may become obese and almost every person has encountered stress full situations and there shares of stressful days. Many kids who go to school encounter stress when they are bullied or have so much homework it is overwhelming. Kids will eat as well when they want to handle stress and the big problem with that is kids have a higher chance of being obese when they are adults if they are obese when they are kids. Stress can be handled in many different ways and for some ways it is getting out of the house, taking a break from their everyday lives, getting out and doing hobbies, hanging with friends, or maybe just being alone but many of these ways are better options than to just eating. When it comes to trying to take care of stress try not to over eat but instead spend time doing something you love like enjoying a hobby.

Many Americans can gain weight from not sleeping. Many people may not get enough sleep if they are working too much, working on school homework, or even just have to much to do in so little time. If you don't sleep or not get enough sleep it may affect your hormones which can cause people to gain weight (WebMD). For some people it causes them to have an increase in appetite and will also cause you to gain weight (WebMD). Trying to stay up to do work is only going to slow you down later if you don't have enough sleep. That is something you would want to prevent by making sure you get the sleep needed so that your body doesn't have these effects. Not getting enough sleep can cause more than just becoming over weight but can cause diseases or sickness. Diseases like Fibermialga which is a disease that can affect your nervous system in ways to make you feel in pain and can be sensitive when it comes to trying to work out or doing physical work. I know this from a family member who has had this issue and is unable to do as much because it causes you to feel like you are bruised all over your body. It takes allot of energy out of you and it is something that you cannot get rid of over time but is something that you can treat with medication but will always be there. That is another reason why getting sleep is important and not just because you will gain weight but it is important when it comes to staying healthy.

Many Americans get caught up in the luxuries of the American life style, which includes: TV, fast foods, video games, and technology itself. Many people don't get out enough so that they can stay in physical shape. If you don't stay in physical shape you will gain weight, which will cause you to not want to be as active. Many ways people could stay in shape is by going for a bike ride, working out for an hour a day, taking a run, or even just a walking. If you don't stay active you will most likely gain more weight. It effects you by the more calories you take in and the less calories burned means you will gain weight. Even if it is only 30 minutes a day it will help you stay in shape. The one of t ways of staying fit is just taking time to go to a gym or fitness center and taking a short amount of time each day to work out the body. One way that many people stay in shape is by trying to have fun when doing physical activities. For example games like ultimate Frisbee or even taking a run with friends. There are many things that people could do to stay in shape and it’s just the matter of getting out putting time into working out or getting involved in activities.

The environment in which we live in has led many people to obesity as well. What I mean by that is in the world that we live in today we are surrounded by fast foods and the luxuries that we can eat unhealthy foods and have access to cars and transport to make our lives easier. Family members and friends acted as part of the environment around you. When you grew up the environment around you, which are your family and friends they may say they love you for who you are but saying this can cause people to believe it is okay to unhealthy for example. It is the influences on what makes us make the decisions on what to eat or what makes you believe what is okay and not okay. Another example is that when kids hear someone says a cuss word they may think that it is okay to cuss because they were influenced by the people they look up to. The environment around us is something that we cannot fix but we can influence better decisions when it comes to believing what is okay and what is not.

A person’s genes may affect the way peoples your body is by appearance and the way your body acts. This is one thing that is almost impossible to change. People who come from a long line of family who are obese have a much a higher chance of becoming obese themselves. Genes are similar to each other but all genes have their own different way of effecting someone's body (The American Journal of Clinic Nutrition). Genes can affect the body in many ways it can cause you to gain weight or lose weight but for some people there are certain foods that may affect the genes of a body in a certain way that it may cause many people to gain weight. This is hard to control but most the foods that cause genes to react in a certain way are food that contain sugars. For some people genes may act in a certain way that it won't reach to sugars as seriously. Genes form during the pregnancy stage and genes may form a baby's body in a way that obesity may not affect a baby until once the baby has become an adult. That is how genes may affect the body and can be unpredictable. The Genes are not going to prevent you from losing weight but only cause you to work harder when it comes to trying to lose weight (The American Journal of Clinic Nutrition).

One of the most biggest problems that has caused in the increase in Obesity is school and their lunch programs. Many school have switched lunch programs so that kids are limited to a certain amount of foods but many schools today are still using food courts and have chain restaurants provided in their schools (Healthy Schools). If you look at many kids today there are a much larger percent of obese children. Obesity in children can be a serious issue because it increases their risk of catching diseases like diabetes or cancer (Childern's Health).
. Kids who become obese at a young age will have a higher chance of becoming Obese as adults. The human body is still developing for kids and with kids becoming obese at a young age is only going to influence the development of the body so that kids will most likely have a harder chance of staying on their healthy level (Childern's Health). Obesity in children has a way of affecting the body in a genetic way and so that when they become adults and have children they have a better chance of receiving those genes. It is a chain reaction in a way but to keep kids and future generations from future sicknesses and cancers it is important that kids stay healthy and in shape.

To fix the issue with childhood Obesity there are many programs that schools could implement to solve the issue or maintain the issue. One thing that schools could do to prevent obesity is control school foods (Healthy Schools). School lunches should have the option where kids have the choice to have healthy foods which include sub sandwiches, salads, vegetables and fruits. It should be a mandatory option for schools. Schools should go towards having at least two lunch lines one that has the option of a hot lunch which includes spaghetti , mashed potatoes, and chicken for example. The two lunch lines will most likely be taken advantage of by kids who will go to the hot lunch side which is not as healthy has the cold lunch side. So another thing that schools could do to prevent kids from going to the hot lunch side is having days that are mandatory for cold lunches. For example schools could make it so Tuesdays and Thursdays are mandatory cold lunch days so that kids will have the healthy serving of foods they need. Another problem is that not all kids will want to eat the foods if they don't like them so another thing that schools could do is providing foods that kids will like but are healthy at the same time. If school can make the hot lunch side as healthy as the cold lunch line they could have more kids eating healthy in their schools and it would address a large percent of the obesity problem.

More programs that schools could implement are health programs and informative speeches on why it is important to stay healthy. Schools should inform them and push them to staying health so that they can live a healthy and fun life. For most students they will have increased stress because of homework and as mentioned earlier stress can lead people to over eating which leads to obesity (Childern's Health). To prevent kids from becoming stressed and also to keep them in shape schools could implement a program which includes physical activities to get the kids minds off school and relieve that stress. Physical activities I believe should be extended during the gym class hour as well as extend students recess times. Increasing the times will increase the kids ability to stay in shape. Schools should have big enough play grounds so that the kids have enough room to play and be active (School Health Programs). If there is not enough room on the play grounds kids will not play and when kids are not playing they are not being active. Another way of keeping kids active at recess in by providing basketball courts, soccer nets, and providing the kids with enough equipment which includes basketballs, soccer balls, kickball's, and footballs so that all the kids can be active. Recess supervisors should push kids to have fun while they are on recess as well as not pushing them to the point of not having fun (School Health Programs). Many schools may already have some of these things but making this solution mandatory would help the obesity problem. Most kids are in school for 5 day for the week between September and may and so for kids to implement these mandatory regulations they could help the students stay healthy but also prevent a large percent from becoming obese.

Schools may also have problems with kids leavening schools so that they could go and eat fast foods and as mentioned earlier fast foods are not healthy so kids leaving class to go eat unhealthy food would defeat the purpose of having mandatory lunch programs. Kids have the time they get out of schools to eat what they want but the foods they get in school it will help them stay healthy and provide them with the serving of food they need. Schools should have a keycard system for students so that they can regulate who is coming and going through the school hours. Schools could set up rules for students that make it mandatory for students to stay on campus during the school hours unless there is a valid reason to leave. As you can see schools could play a big role in providing a solution to childhood obesity but it will also prevent Obesity as adults.

One of the other biggest problems that I feel is influencing the obesity problem is the fast-food restaurants and the foods they serve to the public. As we progress from being in school to being an adults many adults will work forty hour weeks and will have a 15 minute lunch break. Many people will pack a lunch for work but a large percent will eat out every time they work. Most people who eat out on their break during the day will most likely not have time to go somewhere healthy to eat because fast foods like McDonalds, Burger king and Hardees. Another reason why people will eat at fast foods is because it is convenient and it only takes a few minutes to get the food you need to continue your day. From experience I have found that living in an environment where fast foods are everywhere you see it is almost impossible not to stop and have a quick cooked meal at a decent price. Many college students as well will eat out because they are in between classes and are constantly busy so having the convince of fast foods are nice but not healthy. For me growing up playing hockey my family was always on the run from town to town for hockey games and most of the time we would be stuck eating out at fast foods for the whole weekend and in my opinion I really enjoy fast foods but it was and still is not healthy as well as I have found it addicting. Fast foods do not prevent obesity it just satisfies your hunger and if we can't prevent people from eating fast foods then the fast foods should have to try to make their foods healthier but delicious at the same time. If we were to eliminate fast foods that would be a very good solution to the obesity problems as well as making fast foods healthier. The only problem is that we can't make fast foods disappear because they are not doing anything wrong according to the law. It would be a good solution but we can't make the fast foods change anything. If many people take the time to pack a lunch for work it will save you money as well as keep you healthy. So the Overall solution to fast foods is to make a better decision on what you eat by pacing lunches for trips or eating out at healthier fast foods like subway.

As you can see there are many things that have created obesity and that there are many solutions as well. I have talked about why fast foods and school lunches are the biggest problems and solutions at the same time but overall making the decision to eating healthier will be the best solution as well as implementing school programs and regulations will be the best way of preventing obesity.

Work Cited

WebMN, "Weight Loss and Diet Plan" WebMD, 2014, web
www.webmd.com/diet/features/lose-weight-while-sleeping

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute "What Causes Obesity" NIH, web, July, 13th 2012
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes.html

Obesity Action Coalition, “Alcoholism and Obesity”, OAC, web, January 2014
www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/general-articles/alcoholism-obesity

The American Journal of Clinic Nutrition,” The Genetics of Common Forms of Obesity”, the American Society of Clinic Nutrition, web, 2014
ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/215S.full

"Childern's Health", WebMD, WebMD, July 11th, 2012, web, Feb 10th, 2014.
www.webmd.com/children/guide/obesity-children

"Healthy Schools", America Moves to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids, Let's Move,2013, web, Feb 12, 2014

"School Health Programs", Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, March 2011, web, 2/12/2013
www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/dash.htm

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