Eating Disorders and Obesity

Eating Disorders and Obesity

The United States has seen history in the making when it comes down to realizing that we are now in a fighting crisis with obesity. A study done by the Centers of Disease Control showed that since the 1980, one third of our adult population has become or are in the process of being overweight. America is one of the richest countries in the world proven year by year but, at the same we have been the ridicule to all other countries because of our backsides. What have we done to change this habit? What can Americans as a united nation do to either stop or moderately attack this vicious cycle that is at fault for taking the deaths many and thousands. If we don't put an end to this cycle it will ultimately affect our future generations to come According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 58 million people in our country weigh over 20 percent of their body's ideal weight. The Obama Administration has set out to change practices in health care which are tied in with the rising cost of health care in the United States. Obesity is one of the major reasons why we as American's end up paying more for services at hospitals, clinics, etc. In 2004, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranked obesity as the number one health risk facing in America. We as a nation must be able to come together as we did back in the WWI and fight this epidemical era of obesity.

I still remember those days when I was in high school not realizing what I ate that day could ultimately impact the future that was waiting for me. But yet how can a child who was never given any understanding of a balanced meal and explained the difference between average calorie intake and carbohydrates ever say NO! to those tasty delicious super chees fries. How can the school nutritionist compete against Big Foot pizzas and Super-Size fries? As stated by the Healthier Generation Organization: "Health education is integral to the primary mission of schools. It provides young people with the knowledge and skills they need to become successful learners and healthy and productive adults" Our entire school education system needs a complete overhaul in a matter where we can reconstruct form foundation and up. The CDC has set forward a system for schools to follow called Coordinate Health School Program (CHSP), which outlines responsibilities and guidelines to teach our children. "CSHP integrates efforts of the eight components of the school community that can strongly influence student health: (1) health education; (2) physical education; (3) health services; (4) nutrition services; (5) counseling, psychological, and social services; (6) healthy school environment; (7) health promotion for staff; and (8) family and community (Howell Wechsler)". Teaching our younger generation will help us avoid future problems with children however, at the same time we must be able to combat the problem with our adults. Adults are ultimately the role-models of our younger generation, they tend to follow and re-enact every possible play then can. Adults need to be more aware of what they consume on a daily basis and re-arrange their lifestyles into healthier ones. Even though most adults will argue that they can eat whatever they want and whenever they want since they believe it will not harm them, the reality is that most adults don't know how to read nutritional facts labels. Employers and the government must put some play into this issue with adults. The U.S. imposes several actions mandated by law for employers to meet and they must impose education classes on a schedule for their employees to participate in. Not only will it benefit the employee but it will adversely affect the employer by giving better results in the work area. Adults find it very easy to blame the finger at others when it comes to taking a hit. This is in fact true that we as adults must always set the blame to somebody, in this case we can take a look at the government for miss-informing parents of an incorrectly schemed food pyramid. For the past 40 years, the food pyramid has stood as the government's menu of what we should eat, and how much of it. And the biggest part of our recommended daily diet is at the pyramid's base: carbohydrates like crackers, cereal, bread and pasta, But it is not easy to aid those that are in need of help with obesity, the government must be able to balance off the impact it would take both in figures as well as overall value to the country. Pollan once said "While the surgeon general is raising alarms over the epidemic of obesity, the president is signing farm bills designed to keep the river of cheap corn flowing, guaranteeing that the cheapest calories in the supermarket will continue to be the unhealthiest (Pollan 108)" If the government does not come to sense and realize that they are damaging the lives of thousands because of these decisions, it will ultimately lead into a bigger problem that we will not be able to control.

Courses along with physical activity associated with the learning experience of living a healthy lifestyle have been diminishing slowly. It is now speculated that nearly one-third of elementary schools do not schedule recess on a regular basis and to top it off only about half of teenagers from grades 9 through 12 have one or more physical education classes during the entire school. Some of these points can be pushed forward to with all the financial crisis the world has been going thru. However it is not a matter of what we should be cutting and budgeting down when it impacts our health. The Healthier Generation Organization states: "While childhood obesity rates increase, opportunities for students to be active have decreased. Kids are less active than ever. This not only affects their health, but also their performance in class. Physical activity programs are linked to stronger academic achievement, increased concentration and improved math, reading and writing test scores (Alliance)". Mothers and Fathers should be asking questions all around this issue but it has turn otherwise. We as parents have turned our heads to the other side and tried prolonging the problem as much as possible. Parents would rather keep our children in-house and keep them from being active because of the fear of harm to them. Many children spend too much time indoors wasting away in