Obesity in Mississippi - Research Paper Example

Obesity in Mississippi Weight gain is a major problem all over the developed world. A lot of people struggle with a number of issues that lead to weight gain. These problems will be analyzed in this article with emphasis being placed on Mississippi where the article endeavors to look into the causes of obesity, the problems that exist and the solutions towards solving obesity related issues. It also discusses different reasons as to why children, encounter obesity putting much focus the on growing fat and how they can be assisted to overcome this dilemma. Introduction Obesity is generally termed as accumulation of excess fat or adipose tissue in the body (Brewis, 2011).Obesity accounts to about 300,000 deaths per year. Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama, accounted for the highest prevalence of childhood obesity in the year 2007(Brown, 2010). The issue of obesity is pertinent and one which must be dealt with. It is imperative to argue that while people in most developed countries suffer from weight issues; their counterparts in the developing world suffer from underweight arising from the lack of sufficient nutrition. At the same time, another killer exists primarily in the developed world. This is anorexia nervosa, an ailment that affects young people and mainly involves their obsession with losing weight which is demonstrated through refraining from eating. It is, therefore, an interesting contrast of two prominent killer disorders globally though at very opposite extremes (Holtz, 2012). Origin of the problem A variety of rationale has been deliberated on as to why many children in America are suffering from this major killer disorder. Among others is the lack of exercise as a result of lifestyles that most of them have adopted. A lot of young people abhor exercise in general. Due to advances in technology, the people do not have to work too much physically to get the desired result (Smith, 1999). Additionally, young people do not need to walk to school since they are used to bus picks close to their homes, drops them in school and the reverse occurs in the evening. This translates to lack of enough time to exercise except during Physical Education classes which are school based programs. Not many will be active for a myriad of reasons, and as a result, they are exposed to risky conditions. This is a problem replicated in most if not all school across the state and by extension the nation as a whole (Bagchi, 2010). The amounts of calories consumed by these children from fast food restaurants as well as at home where the commercial foods are again imbibed as most of their parents focus more on career and have no time to prepare healthy meals meaning that a lot of these children are growing up in an environments that seems to sanction this lifestyle as the right way of life (Smith, 1999). Another worrying trend is the content that children are exposed to on television. On average, children spend between two to four and a half hours watching television depending with their age with the younger ones getting around two hours while those who are older get between two and four and a half hours (Click and Parker, 2011). During this time, they are exposed to fatty foods some of which they are led to believe that they should be eating while watching television. This is arguably the formative time of their lives where they are equally impressionable. They tend to be easily lured into believing what the media tells them is an affirmation of the magic bullet effect of the media (Smith, 1999). This is, therefore, a reason as to why the children continue to be exposed to obesity from a lot of quarters. The lifestyle that these young people have adopted is also a cause of high obesity rates. A lot of the children normally prefer video games to actual physical exercise as a way of passing time. This means that they do not get their bodies to exercise sufficiently. As with television watching, the children consume a lot of fatty foods while they play these games and are, therefore, prone to cardiovascular diseases, which tend to go hand in hand with accumulation of fats in their blood vessels (Holtz, 2012). Another cause of childhood obesity that is not at their disposal is the lack of safe playing grounds on which to exercise (Click and Parker, 2011). In some neighborhoods, poor planning, poor security among other determining factors has led to few opportunities to exercise for the children.. This exposes them to the threat of becoming obese since they do not get a chance to sufficiently burn the excess calories in their bodies hence a threat to the overall health of the children. According to Click and Parker (2011), the attitude of most parents is to replace or display affection with food. In most circumstances, parents will over feed children as a way to show affection for their children. In other circumstances, they will attempt to over-feed the children when they appear stressed or unhappy. This is a dangerous trend especially in families that are broken or those that have domestic problems as this translates to a lot of food consumed in such households. The end result is that most children grow overweight due to unfortunate emotional circumstances. Attitude towards food is also problematic. It is common in many households to find a high preference of foods rich in calories as compared to healthy foods (Click and Parker, 2011). Although it can be argued that this is not the issue of over eating, the types of food consumed means that even when taken within safe amounts without consistence, the risk of becoming obese is never too far. Eventually, these children may end up gaining weight. Solutions to weight problems A number of solutions have been advanced in an attempt to address the problems posed by obesity. In 2004, the Mississippi Alliance for Self-Sufficiency (MASS), which is an outreach that includes the Mississippi Food Network, Inc. of Jackson, Mississippi, launched a project called the Delta “Healthy Options for People through Extension (HOPE) Tri-state Initiative” (Bagchi, 2010). It was aimed to cover the Delta region of Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas thus the “tri-state” tag. Moreover, the project was funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan and was a runner-up to a successful pilot project in Mississippi which involved a lot of organizations within the three states. The main aim of this program was to emphasize on “a comprehensive school-based nutrition, as well as, physical exercise” program as means of combating childhood obesity and overweight issues. The project aimed at ensuring that some of the problems raised like physical activity and healthy diet were targeted as weapons against this killer disease. The Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity, Food and Nutrition Board, also suggested community and neighborhood empowerment as a means of fighting obesity. This means that the whole community needs to be sensitized on the role that it can play in the fight. This would be done through incorporating numerous factors that cause obesity including poverty, disparities among other challenges (Holtz, 2012). This aimed at taking a non-violent movement format similar to the case during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Having the people within the community play a role in ending these problems it was hoped, would lead to the problems being eventually dealt with. This is a good strategy as far as tackling obesity is concerned as it allows the target population to be part of the change that they are driving towards. Another suggested way of fighting obesity is through antioxidants and phytonutrients which are found in non-starchy fruits and vegetables (Johnson, 2008). The philosophy here is that a regimen on balanced nutrition can be made to suit individuals on meal to meal basis. This implies that a person can reduce the uptake of fatty foods and embark on stress reduction as ways of fighting obesity. Johnson, 2008 further argued antioxidants and phytonutrients assist in averting free radicals from damaging healthy cells, genes and proteins. The overproduction of free radicals found in the body triggers oxidative stress and low-grade silent inflammation which causes obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure among other ailments (Click and Parker, 2011). As per Johnson, uptake of fat free vegetables is a highly valuable strategy to winning the war against obesity. This is a good strategy that would suit the planners in Mississippi and one that would not cost them much to implement. In Arkansas where the prevalence of obesity is similar to that of Mississippi, a number of strategies have been set up to combat the weight problem. Among others is the ‘Lets Just Play Go Healthy Challenge’ which has received support from the William J. Clinton Foundation, which has set the target of “empowering children take charge of their health” among other challenges. This means that encouraging the young children to play more will help avert the problems that come with their gaining weight in simple manner akin playing hence ensuring that the children remain healthy through undertaking physical activities such as running among others (Johnson, 2008). Challenges to the Fight against Obesity in Mississippi and Suggested ways of eliminating them Even with the advances made above, there are a number of issues that continue to persistently bog the waging of a successful war against obesity. One of the challenges concerns media influence and its role in furthering the problem of obesity. One must be aware that the commercials on the media still air different issues and, therefore, the challenge is always there each time one switches on the television, reads the paper, and goes online among other media platforms (Johnson, 2008). This is something that needs to be addressed cub the disorder. The media must have some boundaries that it must respect. This includes the number of times an advert on food is run, what time it is run among other rules. This will thus protect the people who might be tempted to consume the foods. Another challenge involves having to deal with the mindset that has been adopted by many young people in the state of Mississippi. There is need to tackle the mentality of some food types appealing more than others. Generally, meaty, fatty and sugary foods appeal more than will vegetable foods and other foods that are more balanced. Though generally controlled consumption of meaty, fatty and sugary foods is not a problem people need to know that these foods are much more appealing as compared to vegetable foods (Smith, 1999). People need to be encouraged to consume more of the latter than the former. They should, for example, be encouraged to consume fruits daily to have a balanced nutritional composition. There is the problem posed by bureaucracy where the state may produce good legislations, but the implementation is problematic. This has led to failure of regulating adverts among other challenges. The state must, therefore, form the requisite political will to rein the media and other agents that propagate the impunity that leads to the persistent problem of obesity (Johnson, 2008). Political will also translates into issues like infrastructure being set up in the form of parks and other public amenities that allow children cut off their excess calories in their bodies. Obesity is also a genetic issue. In some cases, the victim cannot help but gain weight as a factor of their body frame. This articulates the need to have a centre that undertakes research on this genetic condition and is, therefore, able to tackle the problem by advising these people on the best measure to take so as to avert the problem of gaining weight. After all, it is not all the people with the gene of weight gain who end up gaining weight (Smith, 1999). Some people live their lives completely healthy. Such people can be targeted as role models to inspire others who face the problem of obesity that all is not lost for them. Conclusion Several problems have been initiated as all in the name of fighting Obesity. There are a lot of challenges in this fight. Some of the projects do not always work out eventually. Obesity is a problem whose blame cannot be heaped on those who suffer from it. It is clearly a much bigger issue and all people food companies and the community in general must come together to ensure that obesity is no longer part and parcel of everyday living. People need to engage in healthy living. This means eating right, sleeping right and lots of exercise. References Bagchi, D. (2010). Global Perspectives on Childhood Obesity: Current Status Consequences and Prevention. London: Academic Press. Brewis, A. (2011).Obesity: Cultural and Bicultural Perspectives. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Brown, J. E. (2010). Nutrition Now. California: Cengage Learning. Click, P. M. and Parker, J. (2011). Caring for School-Age Children. California: Cengage Learning. Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity, Food and Nutrition Board. (2005). Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: Focus on Communities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Holtz, C. (2012). Global Healthcare: Issues & Policies. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Johnson, B. C. (2007). New Prescription for Childhood Obesity: Fight Childhood Obesity with Antioxidants and Phytonutrients. Lincoln: Universe. Smith, J. C. (1999). Understanding Childhood Obesity. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. Read More