The Weight of Obesity not only focuses on the modern rise of obesity seen in postwar Guatemala, but is able to detail the changes that have contributed to the obesity epidemic. In Chapter One, Emily Yates-Doerr describes different aspects of Guatemalan life that have played a part in widespread obesity. From technology becoming a stationary part of everyday life, therefore contributing to new generations getting less exercise, to food quality being diminished. The consequences of urbanization are shown throughout this chapter, and are very important to changes seen in Xela, which is a city being studied throughout The Weight of Obesity. Urbanization creates a divide between previous access to fresh foods and calorie dense and fried foods, …show more content…
Even those who did not solely eat processed and high calorie foods still were not educated on how nutritious foods were for their bodies. It was commonly thought that nutrition was only something that impoverished and starving communities had to focus on, yet the obesity epidemic was formed partially because so many people did not know what affects the food they consumed had on their bodies. Since there was no previous nutritional education that the people of Guatemala received, groups such as INCAP worked to educate and provide for such communities. Schools had nutrition education courses, obesity clinics provided information on nutrients and minerals necessary to keep the body working. Chapter Two focuses on the education of nutrition, while also noting how ingrained eating habits can be difficult to …show more content…
Schools have begun to teach their students how to make sure they are eating better, exercising, and making sure that the foods they are eating provide them with enough nutrition. Overall, this chapter ends by discussing the importance of health, not only because people need to lose weight, but because they need to take care of their bodies from a nutritional standpoint. Even though the people of Guatemala have received education on their dietary needs, Yates-Doerr finishes by saying that she is aware of blocked paths. Not everyone is able to receive proper education, or the food that they are being directed to consume.
Emily Yates-Doerr writes her book in a way that allows readers to see the progress that has been made in Guatemala to assist in the diminishing of the obesity epidemic. The problem at hand is that even with the opportunities to be educated and change their lifestyle, eating habits are ingrained into these communities. The Weight of Obesity frames this theory successfully by taking readers through the steps of the obesity epidemic, and using her experience to assist in understanding
Fat Land Book Review Every new year brings with it a host of new pressing issues and challenges that our nation must confront and overcome, and though economic and global concerns certainly deserve a large part of our attention, as a nation we have almost entirely forgotten or ignored many problems that have been plaguing us for decades. Chiefly among these concerns is the ever growing obesity epidemic, which has seen a dramatic increase over the past several decades and looks to be continuing its trend into our near future. In his book, Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, Greg Critser delves into many of the significant causes behind this staggering increase in girth our nation has been experiencing, and offers
In the first article “Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, by Mary Maxfeild she ¬argues many things against the other author Michael Pollan about how we need to change how the American people eat, and how the government needs to handle obesity better in the United States. This portrays to the other article “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan in many ways, as well as many challenges. “The challenge we face today is figuring out how to escape the worst elements of the Western diet and lifestyle without going back to the bush” (Pollan 437). In this paper I will go over many subtopics including: Obesity, health, and food.
This shows the impact on how important it is to make a priority in eating and making well balanced meals. Being able to see the history in how eating habits have changed generation to generation gives an insight on what we need to change. Many people such as Mark never ate a fresh vegetable until 19 years old. This shows that there is a big gap in eating balanced and healthy meals because of the mass production of frozen and canned foods. Mark Stated that, “it cut down on the variety of food we ate” (Mark Bittman 2007 Ted Talk, transcript 10:17).
As a community nutritionist, I developed a feel and confidence for how to educate and counsel community members of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe as part of the Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Program. I am a Native American and part of this tribe and therefore was so enthused to be part of their health care team. Being fresh out of college and given only a vague idea of the expectations of the position, I gathered all my available resources and set about the task of independently creating a successful education and counseling program. As I learned the ropes and increased my knowledge base, I felt the need to develop healthy cooking classes for my clients. The goal was to show my clients how to cook delicious, affordable and nutrient dense meals while catering to their specific culture preferences.
Who or what is to blame for the increase of obesity? Thinking Sociologically about Sources of Obesity in the United States by Robert L. Peralta examines obesity as a "disease" (Peralta 200). Peralta provides multiple possibilities to why United States citizens are becoming heavier. He argues that the government aid programs, availability, and cost of nutritious foods makes it difficult to eat healthy (200). Next, the article infers that obesity could be largely a social issue.
Saletan gives more than enough information on how, when, and what is happening worldwide about obesity. Although he does not give a solution, he still made an eye opening experience while reading this essay. Obesity is now happening worldwide. Yes I said it, worldwide according to Saletan. “Egyptian, Mexican, and South African women are as fat as American”, he claims in the second paragraph.
It’s shown that rates of food insecurity among rural households are generally higher than urban households. The irony is that many of these food-insecure households are in the very rural and farm communities whose productivity feeds the world and provides low-cost wholesome food for American consumers (Feeding America.com). The US Department of Agriculture states that 17% of rural households are food insecure, or an estimated 3.3 million households, and in the 17% of rural house holds are below the federal poverty line. Next I’ll be showing how food insecurity can have two aspects to it, it can either cause obesity, or starvation.
According to the Economic research service of the U.S department of Agriculture that the family had at times, “limited or uncertain access to adequate food, caused by either economic or social conditions.” In other words the family didn’t always have enough food to feed everyone. Among households with children, one in five 7.8 million households were food insecure. (Hunger Pg.1) How can so many Americans be hungry in a country whe4re obesity is an
Through the span of twenty years, it is clear that America has faced evolving obesity percentages. These obesity percentages correlate usually with children, and adolescents. However, the rate of obese personage lightened in the last few years. David Zinczenko, Men’s Health Magazine’s editor in chief, distributed his article, “Don't Blame the Eater” in 2002. In this article, he targets the reader's attention by informing them of the harsh realities and ramifications of Fast Food Industries.
Obesity rates have risen, our food has been modified, and production in America has drastically changed. This book has open the eyes of many Americans, so that they may take a stand and fight for what’s right. The people deserve to know what they are buying and what they are eating. And that's exactly what they don't want you to know.
Synthesis Essay Rough Draft Obesity can be seen as the epidemic of the twenty-first century as it poses a threat to a large percent of the current population, and like all epidemics, there is a suspected cause, “Food deserts.” This term is a technical term used by the CDC to describe an area that lacks access to foods high in nutrients, such as specific areas without grocery stores nearby. The idea of “food deserts” is paradoxical and can be seen as holding back people who want to eat healthy food, but it also has little impact on those who do not already want to eat healthily. For the past decade, researchers and professionals have done surveys and studies on the possibility of “food deserts” being the cause of obesity and yielding different results.
In the world, there are one billion people undernourished and one and a half billion more people overweight. In this day and age, where food has become a means of profit rather than a means of keeping people thriving and healthy, Raj Patel took it upon himself to explore why our world has become the home of these two opposite extremes: the stuffed and the starved. He does so by travelling the world and investigating the mess that was created by the big men (corporate food companies) when they took power away from the little men (farmers and farm workers) in order to provide for everyone else (the consumers) as conveniently and profitably as possible. In his book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Patel reveals his findings and tries to reach out to people not just as readers, but also as consumers, in hopes of regaining control over the one thing that has brought us all down: the world food system.
I combined how your nutrition is important because it can prevent you from getting sick or becoming overweight and suffering. Lack of nutrition education, marketing persuading consumers to want harmful food, and the healthcare system not being effective all have to deal with why healthy nutrition is not being focused on or accomplished. This topic is important and interesting if you are interested in global healthcare or local healthcare. Each one of the problems can be solved or reduced to focus on the human nutrition or to decrease the rate of deaths due to obesity, heart failures, etc. The research and the 7-step plan, promoting healthier food options, and reduction of pills and helping patients learn about nutrition are all ways to improve the lack of
According to Northoff (2007), nutrition is critical for a healthy and active life, but many people around the world still have no access to sufficient and nutritious food because of poverty and lack of nutrition education. Moreover, Riddle (2005) stresses that nutrition education is a key for developing the skills and motivation needed to eat well, and is especially important in situations where families have limited resources. The benefits of nutrition education and counselling can directly influence nutritional status, consequently, helping in attaining the millennium development goal (MDG) to reduce the prevalence of hunger and malnutrition (Garcia, 2008). In a recent preliminary study conducted by ENDESA in 2007, the way in which the mother’s educational level influenced malnutrition was observed. Statistics reveal that 15.4 percent of children of mothers with no education suffered from chronic malnutrition, while 9.4 percent and 4.7 percent in children of mothers with secondary or higher education levels respectively (Acevedo & Menendez, 2006).
The fact that Americans, home of some of the most obese humans in the world, are going hungry is indiscernible. Today I stand before you to explain why we, as fellow Americans, need to extend help in the growing effort to fight the war against hunger in America. Before learning what you can do to help, we must first understand the extent of hunger in America. Then we will discover the cause of hunger in the United States. Finally I will present several ways you can contribute to the fight.