The Sedentary Lifestyle - Essay Example

Section/# The Sedentary Lifestyle Although many factors can have a profound effect on the way that one experienceshealth within their own lives, one of the most important factors that medical science has been uncovering in recent years is t that a sedentary lifestyle can have upon the overall chances of disease and prospects of longevity for the individual in question. As a function of understanding this to a greater extent and attempting to introduce a range of determinants and factors into the biographical information represented within the characters which will herein be introduced. Sandy is a single mother who works two jobs. She lives with her 11 year old daughter, Samantha, who has recently been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Sandy was born in 1984 and has no history of diabetes or other genetic health disorders that she is aware of in her immediate family tree. Due to the fact that she works two jobs and rarely has time to be home, one of the biggest problem that the family of two faces is the fact that they do not have enough time at home to prepare normal or healthful food. This means that almost all of the food that the family eats is premade and necessarily consists of a high percentage of fast food, ready-made microwavable meals, and a high percentage of processed or “junk foods”. Due to this fact alone, the family of two has both gained a large amount of weight and can be considered clinically obese as a result of the lifestyle that they live. However, more importantly than the foods that they eat is the fact that neither one of the two engage in any high degree of physical exertion or exercise. In fact, the fact of the matter is that due to the type of lifestyles that they lead, there is little if any exercise that the two engage upon. As a result of this, Samantha’s doctors have noted that the childhood obesity that Samantha demonstrates is likely a prime culprit for her diabetes and a likely component to an array of other health problems that she will develop in the near future unless an adequate weight loss program is ultimately initiated (Tremblay et al 2010). Sandy’s parents are both middle class professionals who although close to retirement have always lived a healthful life and sought to engage in a proper amount of exercise as a function of keeping themselves fit and in shape. Although Sandy herself knows that this is an important aspect of health and longevity, the fact that she is a single mother working two jobs with hardly enough time to spend with her own daughter as it is without concerning herself with a time consuming gym membership, dedication to healthful eating, or spending a large amount of extra time preparing food, she is somewhat constrained by her given situation. A secondary drawback to the given situation is the fact that Sandy had Samantha when she was just finishing high school and beginning college. As a result of this pregnancy, she never finished her college education and has been relegated to performing a series of rather menial minimum wage jobs just as a way to provide for her family. This lack of education and the fact that Sandy has to work so hard as a means to provide for the two-member family is ultimately the reason that there is little to no time for the two to spend together, little to no time to prepare healthful meals, and little to no time to focus on exercising or other ways of health betterment. Moreover, their level of activity that is experienced on a daily basis can practically be described as nonexistent. Due to the fact that both of the characters of the story come home from work or school and proceed to sit on the couch, watch television, or engage in other actives that involve a great deal of sitting, the two can be adequately defined as having a highly sedentary lifestyle. A third factor that does not help the experience that has already been described is the fact that Sandy and Samantha live in a economically depressed former industrial town that has seen almost all of its infrastructure fall into a type of disarray within the past few years. This has served to compound the access and availability of good parks, social recreation programs, and/or a community wide emphasis that would otherwise exist with relation to health and community involvement with relation to self treatment and improvement of general wellness. Demographically speaking, Sandy and Samantha fall into an African American demographic that disproportionally suffers from a high level of obesity; both childhood and adult. Naturally this does not mean to say that due to the fact that they were born African American that that are necessarily predisposed to being obese; rather, this merely means that they stand a statistically higher likelihood of suffering from obesity and obesity related issues than does the remainder of the population (Tremblay et al 2010). Due to the fact that Sandy’s income can be considered at or near minimum wage, this too puts her in the risk zone with relation to obesity and an otherwise unhealthy diet. A litany of studies have been performed by medical professionals and scientists that illustrate the fact that individuals who experience economic hardship are less likely to exercise and/or expend the amount of time necessary to ensure that healthful practices are engaged (Tremblay et al 2010). The ultimate change began when Sandy herself began to experience shortness of breath and chest pains when walking up the stairs for an interview that she was taking part in. This was so out of the ordinary and so unexpected that it caused her to miss her interview and go directly to the emergency room as she felt she may be having a heart attack. Once she was there, the doctors told her that the fact of the matter was that she was indeed not having a heart attack but rather a severe case of angina; something of a precursor to more serious heart issues should she not begin to consider the importance of taking care of her health on a more conscientious basis (Tremblay et al 2010). This served as a wakeup call to Sandy and ultimately to the level of health and wellness that was exhibited within her own family unit. As a result of having what she considered such a close call t such a young age, there were a series of lifestyle changes that were implemented within her household that very week. The first of these involved going through the refrigeration and seeking to throw out any and all unhealthful quick microwavable meals that were filled with Trans and saturated fats. The second was to ensure that no more fattening sugary/highly caffeinated drinks were kept. The third involved a more costly trip to the grocery store to stock up on fresh and healthful foods such as vegetables and different types of fruits and healthful snacks. The fourth and most important step was carving out time out of each and every day to ensure that both she and Samantha were able to get a solid 45 minutes of exercise/physical activity. Although she had believed that she had previously had little to no time in which to accomplish such a task, the fact of the matter was that there were many hours throughout each and every day in which both she and Samantha had just sat on the couch and watched television. As a function of trying to keep herself from accruing any further time sitting other than what is necessary for her job, Samantha and Sandy both actively find ways to move around and get a higher level of exercise in their daily lives. As a way of ensuring that the exercise was had each and every day, Sandy put herself and Samantha on a strict television diet as a means of making certain that the available time that each and every day held after work, school, and homework were complete could be devoted to exercise and bettering the health and lifestyle of both of the family members. References Tremblay, M., Colley, R., Saunders, T., Healy, G., & Owen, N. (2010). Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism, 35(6), 725-740. doi:10.1139/H10-079 Read More