Monday, July 12, 2010

Health in America




















An alarming percentage of Americans are currently considered overweight or obese. Is this a problem? Why or why not?

How do you feel about implementing a more serious p.e. time in class (rather than walking in circles)? Any comments on the cafeteria food you have experienced in your student life? Healthy? Not so much?

Matt Funk

20 comments:

English student said...

I think schools need to seriously change their menus and what they provide for kids to eat. They need to have more gym time with alot more activities that all the kids like just not the basic activities. My son has always had a weight issue.He takes his lunch and takes a snack to eat instead of snacks they provide in school.I think if we had more parents to bring up the issue of school menus and activities then we may have a better chance at making some changes for the better. If we take control now it only helps our kids in the future. Dawn Smith

English student said...

Our country is so obese because 1-you need to consider our portion size to other countries. If you go to london or any city in Europe their portions are so much smaller, basically just enough the body needs. Now if you compare it to our country you have 3 pound burritos at chipotle and qdoba, where people have to force themselves to finish it. 2- We as a nation soak everything in fat. Our food is one of the top most greasiest foods in the world. Burger King had an old commercial where they went around to other countries seeing which burger tasted better, the whopper or the big mac. People who are not use to these amounts of fat were eating it and then started becoming deathly ill because there body could not handle it. Burger King ended up getting a law suit and that commercial was never again to be aired on television. 3- people in the U.S become so lazy and require everything to be done for them. We have people cut or grass even clean our own houses and so on. We as a nation need to be more reliable on ourselves and try to stay active throughout the day. Even if you do not have a member ship at the gym, just staying on your feet for the majority of the day is good enough to stay in somewhat descent shape, but instead we go to drive thrus, sit on our ass all day and watch tv and now people who arent even disabled drive around grocery stores in a motorized cart. We need to eliminate how easy it is for things to be done for us and that alone would make a huge difference. For those people that our obese they need to stop taking escalators, walk in and get their own damn food, clean their own house, mow their own lawn, maybe go for walks in the morning before work do activities more on the weekends and the obesity rate would go WAY down.

Kevin McBride

English student said...

I don't think that schools are to blame for the obesity problem in America. The schools are on a budget and it't not even a good one, some of the food isn't that bad and I always had the choice of a salad. I think the problem is centered around the lifestyle at home, if the child is obese chances are it's because of what they are being allowed to eat at home and their parents are probably the same way as well. plus, no one likes p.e anyways so making it harder would just make high school even more like hell. sam tomson

English student said...

Of course it is a problem, being overweight can lead to serious health issues later on. It is extremely unhealthy to be overweight, and unfortunately that number in America is growing quite rapidly. Making pe in schools more about exercise and fitness, instead of just playing games and screwing off, would be extremely beneficial. In my last two years of high school, our pe program began to make this turn. Instead of playing games everyday, we would lift on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays we would do plyometrics and cardiovascular workouts, and then on Fridays we would get to play a game. The human body is supposed to receive at least an hour of physical activity a day, and with the unhealthy food that we have, and the amount of it that we eat the body should get more than just an hour workout. Cafeteria food has never been to most healthy thing that I can remember either.

Kenneth East

English student said...

Personally I think we have a little bit of an obese problem. I feel that in we should have more things in P.E. then just walking around the gym. granted there is always the exception like for handicap people, and the fact that everyone has a different metabolism rate so not everyone gains as much wait as others though.

Cameron Smucker.

English student said...

I personally think physical fitness starts with intake and ends with output. I would rather see less gym time and more time spent in classrooms teaching students about what eating does for the body and the proper ways to exercise. Maybe nutrition and kinesiology classes could be taught as part of a high school curriculum. Every student should be able to figure out what they are eating and calculate their estimated daily calorie usage. Recent studies indicate that it doesn't matter what kind of calories you eat, it just matters how many of them you eat. 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrates, 9 calories per gram of fat, 7 calories per gram of alcohol (typical serving of alcohol includes about 14 grams), this is some basic information that everybody should know and be able to use.

Some kids just don't want to exercise, I'm ok with that, but everyone should at least have the basis of knowledge to know how to eat right, or how to exercise properly. The work outs that you put a student through in gym class will last until they get lazy and stop, but the knowledge that teaching them about real health should last a lifetime (or until the next study comes out that says excess sugar and fat are actually good for all of us).

David Nadermann

English student said...

Obesity is a very serious issue in the U.S. Our country tends to have more problems than any other when it comes to weight gain. And the simple fact is that many people are scared to take a stand and argue, for their lives are at stake. If so many people actually care then things would have somewhat changed by now, think about the children,think about their future lives. Make it so that they have more sport activities and healthier food. Now is that so hard? No I don't believe so, if people would put they're all into in such a project I'm sure that some accomplishments would have been done long ago.

Quantia Braziwl

Anonymous said...

I ate in the cafeteria at school, and I found out that it not all that popular. I would have prefered to have taken a sack lunch ,rather than eat sometimes in the cafeteria. I do not why obesity would be a probelm in the school cafeteria, except through the buying of their own meals, that they fix at home. If parents were to oversee the lunches , these kids would not have so much of a weight problem . Yes! More P.E.! Tracey Boswell
B

English student said...

I think that schools need to change there menu of eating for suer. They are fixing unhealth food for the children and thats not helping them. The parents of those kids could also pack them a health lunch and make there kids that much better. The parents also play a big role in this to. They need to make sure they are eating health at home and getting some sort of exercise. The schools p.e. should be a little different to. They don't have to change it alot but they should make the kids play games or have them run, not just kind of sit there and do nothing thats not helping there health at all.

Aubrey Welch

English student said...

I don't believe that people should put so much pressure on the schools. when i went to high school and middle school, you could workout hard in p.e. but some of the students, mostly the overweight one's found a way to do as little as possible, and when it comes to lunch time it shouldn't be the schools responsibility to make sure children eat right. Children who want to eat junk food can always find a way to do so. Obesity is a serious problem for young children, but the responsibility should be put on the parents and the students themselves, they know the risks that will happen to them, so in the long run it’s on them.

Melody Nelligan

English student said...

we all know everyone is not gone be the beyonce or the halle berry small but yes america is obese and yes that is a bad thing. i see millions all the time come in to buy mcdonalds and i dont think they need it but they would get it anyway and supersize it. i dont think americas care about there weight like other countries do. i just dont understand why people would let themselve get really big and then decide at the last minute that they are to fat and they need to lost weight. before you know it, it would be to late and peoples health would be so bad and they would be down to there last straw of life.i think if the healthy food prices were cheaper then fat foods then we would be more healthier.
ASHIA STEVENS

English student said...

Its sad but true yes so many individual are over weight and they are not doing anything but sending themselves to an early grave if they don't change their unhealthy eating habits.Many people want to eat healthy and lose weight but its so hard to change something that have been the norm for so long. Healthy eating habits starts from early childhood, if a child is use to eating fast food all the time then its a strong likely hood that when that child is an adult they will continue. I do see that school lunch is health for children because they understand how big of an impact it has on childrens health. Exercising and eating healthy goes together.
S.Cooper

English student said...

It is a problem! Americans are so heavy today! Sadly the healthy food cost more so most people buy junk to save a buck. Schools give some healthy choices, but they are still not that good for you. Too many kids would rather sit and play video games rather then go outside and play! Parents need to stop buying toys to keep them indoors, and push them to go outside and play.

Sarah Albin

English student said...

Yes, it's a big problem. The more obese or overweight people are, the greater chance of them getting a disease. P.E is very important and walking a round a circle doesn't do a whole lot. But i think the teachers don't want to do too much where you sweat because you have to change then get to your next class. No one wants to smell like sweat. The school where i went to had healthy food. They had different kinds of salads. It's really up to you if you want to eat healthy or not. If the cafeteria doesn't make healthy food, then you should probably bring your own lunch and stop making excuses.

Samantha Odendaal

English student said...

I agree that much of Americans are obese. This is a problem because obesity can be hard on your heart and can cut your life span in many ways. It would be great if we could nip this in the bud with children but sadly the physical education in grade school is not doing its part.The teachers do not make the children actually work. During the time most of the kids barely participate. I think instead of worrying so much about the attire the should be trying to get the kids to break a sweat.

English student said...

To be honest I do think school could change the menu of the food they serve to the student because it's nasty doesn't taste good, and there are way to many young age students over weight. I know this also takes place at home but maybe if the school provided better foods, and more time spent in p.e then there could be a major change in health!

Mike McClure said...

yes i think it is a problem. i know a few people that when they get bored they eat. When people run out of things to do in our country they find food to help pass the time sitting and eating helps to cause obesity. if we were all a little more active i think the health problems might come down as well.

English student said...

Changeing the menus wouldn't do anything, unless the parents at home were doing the same thing.

CODY

English student said...

I think obesity is a problem, because there are alot of health issues today, related to being overweight. Schools need to implement more excerise routines in P.E classes. This will get the children use to doing excerises, which might follow them into adult hood. The food served at schools can be healthier. There should be more full course meals served. May the children would eat less at night. The food should be better prepared and more tasty. Here at Parkland, Majority of it's food is fried, which is not good for everyday eating. When I was in high school, our food was not that tasty and did not like appetizing. In the cafeteria, you could buy: icecream, candy, chips with cheese,nachos, and donuts. Majority of the kids brought these things, instead of eating what was be served. I think all people should take a look at their diet habits and see what they could improve.

Brittany Williams

English student said...

i remember my elementry and highschool years, you can get hamburger, hot dog, slopy joe sandwhich, fish which everyone avoided, and pizza. Schools have notting healty on their menu. America is the fattest country in the world, we are being lazy. parents schould compalne about the school food and demand the school to change on what the kids are eating

MOHAMMED AHMAD