Final Summary, Reactions, conclusion

During the course of blogging about obesity in the US these past few months, it made me realize how interesting of a topic this really is. At first, I knew nothing about this topic and now I know a lot about what this whole subject is about and how it can be applied to real life situations. I did not think of this topic to be a problem in the US but it actually is! During my survey, I looked to the people my age, people in mid ages, and people 30 and older. My hypothesis was that the older people would be more healthier and not eat junk food as much as younger people would. While looking at my results, I noticed that a lot of younger people around my age tended to eat a lot of healthy foods. This surprised me because I thought that most teenagers nowadays wouldn't eat a lot of healthy fruits and vegetables since there are so many unhealthy junk foods that are delicious. However, my hypothesis was correct and more adults eat healthier foods that teenagers do. I think this because they care more about their figure and having a balanced lifestyle. This effects every aspect of your life whether you are at work, home, or on the go. My emotions are surprised, excited, and happy that people my age are continuing to have a balanced eating diet everyday however the teenage generation needs to step up their game a little bit to eat healthier. If they don't they will be in serious danger in the future which can lead to serious consequences.

Revised Plan, Summary, Update

During the past week, I sorted out the questions in my google doc for my survey. I got my 9 questions approved to ask people about obesity and I started to give out the survey to people electronically. I edited my questions a few times so I can get a better focuspoint of what I wanted to ask people. So far, I sent out my survey to people in my IHA class page that are in the teenage years. Later on this week, I will focus my survey on the higher aged people so I can get more information for my survey. I will keep you posted! :)

Strategy/Plan for Research

For my summary of research, my final decision is to do a survey online on a Google Doc form. I will direct this survey to teenagers specifically women and men in the range of ages 15-19 asking the same questions about how often they exercise and what they like to eat. I would then ask ages 21 and over about their eating styles. My hypothesis is that I think the older people would tend to eat healthier because they are more watchful of their weight and diet than teenagers are.

Suggested Research Method/Why

To summarize my research about Obesity and apply it to our lives now, I decided that I will ask people questions about their life through a survey. In my survey, I will ask questions like "How often do you exercise?" "Do you eat fast food often?" and "What is your favorite fast food restaurant?". Through this survey, it can give me a summary of people now who stay healthy and fit or just sit around on the couch.

8 Summary of Research-Obesity in US

Through the whole course of blogging about obesity

the past few months, I truly learned a lot about obesity in the U.S. Americans are faced with a big obesity epidemic and it has caused millions of people to be overweight from many internal and external factors. These problems include eating too much fast food, personal problems, money issues, portion sizes, and just bad parenting skills. It is a shame to say that both the kid and adult are at fault with this because the parents buy the foods for the kids to eat and the kids eat them. They need to think about the effects in the long run or else they will suffer severe consequences. Some tips for all people to stay healthy and not be overweight are always exercise, eat fruits and vegetables, and limit the fast food to little as possible or none at all. Although healthy foods could become a little pricey, every little thing can help you live a healthier life and make things easier for you when you get older. Every little thing that you do in your life to benefit your body can truly make difference and make you feel confident about yourself. Having a sense of determination and will power that you are going to make a difference to your life is the best remedy for being obese.

7 Portion Sizes affecting peoples weights?

Portion sizes facts

Have you ever been to any places in Europe? If you have, have you ever noticed the portion sizes whenever you went to a restaurant there? Well if you have never been there, you would never think of the portion sizes being any different than those in the United States. (well at least I wouldn't) The portion sizes are really different than a regular portion plate here where we live. It is very interesting to me because the portion sizes in Europe are very small compared to the portion sizes in a regular restaurant in the US. This topic came of interest to me because this could be a factor to explain why so many americans are getting obese from going to restaurants.  The portion sizes are much bigger with more calories whereas the ones in Europe don't even compare. My dad's friend who lives in the Europe area was talking to my dad about the area and he mentioned the food at the restaurants and how it is really good. This made me want to learn more about the food there and I realized the portions were very small after I did some researching. Some statistics I found were that a candy bar in Philidelphia was 41% larger than the same candy bar sold in Paris, a soft drink was 52% larger and a hot dog was 63% larger, and a carton of yogurt was 82% larger. This just amazes me how America's portion sizes increased so much from factors like growing population. One of the pictures that I posted just shows the difference of calories from food in places like England and France compared to that of the US. The other picture shows the portion size from what we eat in restaurants here, what we usually eat at home, and that in Europe.

6. Top 10 Healthiest foods you should have in your diet

Top 10 Healthy Foods

Have you ever had those foods like spinach, broccoli, or avocado? These foods don't sound as appealing as cookies or brownies do, but examples like these help us live a stronger life than ever before. As much as we hate to eat those healthy foods like avocado, broccoli, or spinach, these types of foods are the foods that can help us have a stronger immune system and live longer. The protiens and vitamins supplied within these healthier foods give us the strength and vitamins to go through our daily lives. Having a healthy food diet everyday can make it seem like a routine rather than a thing you "have" to do. This specific website shows the top 10 healthy foods that most people despise however are beneficial to the body in many ways. As you can see, apples is the first food on that list of healthy foods. With a food like apples, these have antioxidants and are said to extend lifespans. This isn't a type of food that someone would most likely say "yuck" to also so it is a good choice when having a snack. Almonds are also on that list of healthy foods because almonds have a lot of vitamins that help maintain healthy cholesterol levels. They also have the most fiber than any other nut. Followed by almonds on the list are other healthy foods like brocolli, blueberries, fish,green vegatables, sweet potatoes, wheat germs, avodacos, and oatmeal. All these foods have a good source of nutrients and vitamins to help someone live a long life. The goal of eating these healthy foods is to make it a priority in your life by eating them everyday. You don't want it to seem like its a job you have to do by eating healthy. You want it a part of your lifestyle.

5. Fast foods- The Real Truth

What are you really eating when you eat fast food??-Website

I'm sure all of us has had fast food at least once in our life. But did you ever realize what you are actually eating whenever you eat fast foods?? I never researched the ingredients in the foods either so you are not alone, but after I read this article, it truly shocked me. After seeing the harmful chemicals that I am eating when I eat fast food, it creeps me out how gross it is. I could not believe that I was putting things like that into my body. The fact that millions of people everyday order fast food from McDonalds, Wendy's Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell and little do they know that food like this could harm your body tremendously. The one that shocked me the most was the McDonalds chicken mcnuggets because I eat those a lot when I go out for fast food sometimes. It is mechanically separated meat where bones and carcass of a leftover chicken are mixed together in a food processor. This is the stuff that chicken is made of before it goes into your mouth. It is gross. These shocking truths about everyday fast foods make me realize how disgusting it really is to digest stuff like this when people eat it everyday. It is amazing how people don't really care about what really goes into your mouth when you eat fast food. They only care about how good it tastes or how cheap it is and it is a shame.

4. Obesity impacting lives

Obesity has a major influence in peoples' lives negatively. Obesity could be caused from past experiences, losses in the family, or laziness. The past 2 weeks, I watched a recent show called "My 600 pound Life". This show had a big impact on me because it gave me an outlook to someone's life who really did not take care of themselves. On this show, it shows the viewers someone who is 600+ pounds and the whole show is the person trying to get their life back to normal weight. It is not usually a positive outcome, however, because people just give up in the beginning. It shows their rough journey through the process of loosing 200+ weight or less. They try and eat healthy foods, and exercise everyday. In most cases, they would have to get the fat surgically removed since it is so much excess weight. This show displays to me that if you really let yourself go by eating too much junk, it would just lead you to negative impacts and possibly even death. On most episodes of the show, it is from past experiences, or the people around them impacting them. The people around them could not be supportive in some cases. On one episode I watched, the husband was not supportive of the wife loosing any weight at all because he only liked fat women. The woman had no moral support even from her own husband, but luckily she managed to loose a lot of her weight with the support of her friends. From watching this show, it has taught me that if you push yourself to achieve your goals, then you will be successful.

Show on TLC called "My 600-lb Life"

3. Obesity in Kids-Video

This video shows how obesity has affected kids in the US. So many kids are obese in America and they need to learn that eating healthy can change their life for the better. Many kids are obese from poverty issues as said in the video. They just eat fastfood for example just for convenience issues and low prices. Parents can deserve blame for this because they buy the food for the kids and they may not enforce eating healthy foods. They may have bad personal experiences bothering them that makes them want to give unhealthy foods to their kids. Starting to eat healthy could be very challenging at first but once you get the hang of it, it will seem like junkfood is gross.

Obesity Rate in the Real World

Obesity Rate 2013-Website

2. I think that this website is very interesting to me because it just shows how much the obesity rate has increased to 2013 according to Gallup Healthways. According to this graph on the website, adult obesity rate went up from 26.2% in 2012, to 27.2% in 2013.  This is a shame because many people in society have lost control of weight issues due to overeating and personal experiences. We should all make an effort to eating healthy every day because many Americans today are eating junk food like fast food or things like that which is very fattening. They might just want to eat fast food because of the low price value. It is easier for someone to just order fast food or eat junkfood because it's really good, or because of the low prices. You could easily find good food when it is organic. Even though it is expensive, it is worth the investment because this could easily impact your life. People could have a healthier lifestyle if they just change their eating habits to eating healthier each day. There are organic things to eat like milk, cheese, and eggs. Gallup says that people who are involved in their work and who are motivated usually eat healthier and exercise more. We could learn from this by constantly pushing ourselves to eat healthier to help our bodies.

Introduction to Health Care: Obesity in the US

1. Hi! My name is Maddy Shahin and I will be blogging about Obesity in the US and how it has effects on people and society. This topic is of interest to me because obesity is a problem in the US and I would like to learn more about this topic.