¶ … Childhood Obesity
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) (2010), childhood obesity has more than tripled over the past 30 years. The frequency of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years rose from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008, while among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years the obesity rate increased from 5.0% to 18.1% during the same period. Obesity results when more calories are consumed than expended, and is influenced by genetic, behavioral and environmental factors. Let us take a look at four paradigms associated with this phenomenon.
The functionalist perspective asserts obese are necessary in order to drive others to become healthy and learn what is making people obese. From this perspective the key is not to eliminate this condition, but to utilize this state to explore the psychological and emotional factors that make this situation possible.
Functionalists are concerned with the stability of society and contend the obesity leads to other things such as economic gains that help society as a whole and would damage society's stability if they were to disappear. The abundance of fast food restaurants, diet books, health spas and advertisers that profit from obesity is a good thing for the functionalist. If they did not exist society would not be balanced.
Because many adults do not have healthy diets they pass their unhealthy eating habits to their children. Children are not in control of their food supply and must rely on adults to model a diet. Another factor that may contribute to obesity is school lunches. While at school children are a captive audience, if their lunches include pizza, hot dogs, and the like, that is the behavior and taste they will develop. Conversely, if healthy choices are offered, then the child will be inclined to seek those. Food and hunger are primary drives for our needs and these learned behaviors remain basic parts of an individual's attitude toward nutrition.
The Interpretive or Hermeneutic Paradigm takes into account economics, social status, level of power, rationalization and an historical view of obesity. At a certain weight health problems begin and the ability to work and become a contributing member to society is…
197). Further, Robinson and Sirard posit that applying a "Litmus Test" helps to identify the specific research questions, study designs, and methods that will most likely contribute to improving individual and overall population health (198). The researchers suggest that a study should only be performed if the researcher(s) knows what the conclusion from each possible result (negative, null, positive) will be, and how the result will incline intervention to address
The main question revolving around childhood obesity is "When does childhood obesity become a child endangerment issue?"(Alexander, 2009) Definitions of "neglect" and "medical neglect" (parental neglect of a child's medical needs) are not universally consistent. However, there are generalised concepts and standards that are expected of parents towards their child. Failure to meet these standards may legitimately be considered neglect. Clearly not all obese children are neglected -- indeed, parents
Policy-Priority Issue on "Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity is considered to a global epidemic demanding prioritizing in policy and health care reform. This is a disorder that has a lot of effects on long-term and acute health, as well as increasing the risk for other illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, and particular kinds of cancer. This essay brings up my personal interest in the disorder of childhood obesity, also, the
During the study a number of factors were considered for the evaluation of the fact that females unlike males in Saudi Arabia constitute a larger proportion. Themes Lifestyle and dietary Adolescent boys and girls were studied for at least two weeks on their feeding habits, for this period, females were observed to consume more snacks than male in that males could only consume snacks once a fortnight unlike their female counterparts who
Obesity Prevention Marketing Plan Obesity Prevention Nonprofit Organizational Marketing Plan The primary purpose of this report is to help investors understand the need for a program which will help reduce obesity throughout the UK and then less developed countries in Eastern Europe. The problem is that the environment that many developed countries have created for themselves advances obesity without intending to. There is also the danger among less developed countries, that are beginning
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ON WOMEN INVOLVED IN PROSTITUTION Conceptual Paper Millions of children around the globe are sexually abused or exploited. This paper includes several descriptions of studies that relate sexual abuse during childhood to delinquency later in life. There are several difficulties with methodology and definitions that are inherent in the mentioned studies. These challenges make it somewhat difficult to compare and interpret the findings of the study. A framework
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