| October 2004 Missouri Regional Newsletter p.12 |
| Case Study Challenge |
| continued from page 11 Obesity affects everyone. Engineers, for example, have designed the width of airplane seats at eighteen inches. If an obese person sits down in one of these seats, his mass may spill over to the adjoining seat making the trip uncomfortable for aisle mates. Some airlines have instituted regulations requiring that airlines ask all passengers what they weigh before they board planes. Safety rather than health is the issue for airlines. Their planes were designed to hold passengers whose average weight is 170 pounds. America's children, as well are their flying adult relatives, are overweight. Fifteen percent of American children between the ages of 6-19 are obese. Some schools are addressing the problem by providing healthier food choices. In others, fast food restaurants and vending machines turn the heads of teenagers by offering more tasty treats. By informing students about the food they consume, officials hope children will make better nutritional choices. Obese people of all ages often experience physical limitations. Today, fewer senior citizens are eating right. Poor diet affects their health and may worsen medical conditions. Obesity can limit peoples' physical abilities. By shedding pounds, people can participate in daily activities with fewer complications. Americans can change the course of our epidemic. To do so, we must eat healthfully and exercise. The prescription sounds easy, but it is challenging. Americans need to embrace the challenge. If we do, we can lose in a positive way. Discussion Questions: Develop 3-5 thought-provoking discussion questions that use critical thinking skills to examine this topic from different perspectives. 1. How did Americans become, as author Greg Critser suggests, the fattest people in the world? What changes have occurred in our society that altered what and how we eat? How and why have we become "coach potatoes"? 2. To what extent is obesity and its prevention and treatment an individual responsibility? To what extent is obesity and its prevention and treatment a societal responsibility? 3. How can we change the perception of obesity to a health risk rather than a beauty issue? 4. The Surgeon General has outlined fifteen national priorities in The Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. How realistic are those priorities? What are the factors that mitigate for and against the Surgeon General's vision for the future? 5. How has the food industry influenced American nutrition and health? How has the industry influenced nutrition and health in other parts of the world? To what extent does the industry have a responsibility to help stem the obesity epidemic in the United States? Future Implications: Write an essay (up to 200 words) on how you predict this topic will influence society in the future and/or what result or outcome you anticipate. To make a difference in the future, we need to collaborate as a society to make obesity a topic of health rather than beauty. Obesity causes an estimated 300,000 deaths each year and accounts for 6% of our national health care expenditures. Those numbers will climb without significant action on our parts. Obesity is a multi-generational epidemic. We need to focus future efforts on education for Americans of all ages. Education that begins in preschool can encourage students to eat healthier diets and include daily physical activity in their lives. Expectant parents can explore the benefits of breastfeeding their children to prevent obesity later in life. All of us can learn to be savvy consumers. In addition to education, responsibility on the part of business and marketing leaders can stem the tide of American obesity. Leaders can provide opportunities for physical activity at job sites. We have become a fast-food nation and depend on its convenience for our very survival. With the help of business leaders, we can learn to share supersized meals or make smaller, healthier fare fashionable and convenient. Without attention to our obesity epidemic, health insurance costs will continue to rise and more Americans may live without insurance. continue on page 13 |