I have decided to start my research using the Online Library
Databases section provided to us by school. I used this site because I have a
lot of success with it in the past. It is very easy to use and has a lot of
different sources. In using this site I have actually found two very helpful
articles to use for my paper.
The first source is Physical Education: An Overview written
by M. Lee and Maureen McMahon. This article talks about the importance of
exercise in children. It is so important that some people are arguing that it
should be a requirement to pass basic physical education classes in order to
graduate high school. This article states that in China, Greece, Rome and
Europe, exercise has been very important in the upbringing of youth. Here in
the United States it has not been so important. That is probably why over
twelve million children in the United States are obese.
I believe that technology plays a big part in childhood
obesity. Children do not want to outside playing, but inside playing. The difference
between playing outside is they are active, whereas inside they sit on the
couch and eat and play video games. If we can’t get them involved in physical
activity outside of school then maybe it should be pushed harder inside.
The second source is Public Schools Should not be Permitted
to Sell Junk Food to Students written by Deborah Lee and Nancy Sprague. This
article is about the food served in the lunchrooms at schools. It focuses most
o vending machines placed in schools. Not only are they serving very
non-nutritional food, they are making snacking on sweets and sodas way too
accessible. The two main causes of obesity are diet and inactivity.
I picked this article because it goes against my main
belief. I know that the food in lunchrooms aren’t the best and I will probably
pack my child’s lunch everyday when he starts school because of this. I feel
that people are focusing on this part of the obesity problem when there are
other things that can be done to help obesity as well. Obesity could be some of
the parents fault as well. Allowing their children to eat bad food and allowing
them to just sit around and not be active. To me I think that they are placing
blame so it doesn’t come back to them. Don’t get me wrong. Like I said,
lunchroom food isn’t the best, but there are other issues o be looked at as
well.
Lee, Deborah and Nancy Sprague. "Point: Public Schools Should not be Permitted to Sell Junk Food
to Students." Points of View:Junk Food in Schools. (2011):p2-2 Points of View Reference Center.
Web. 2011
Lee, M. and Maureen McMahon. "Phyical Education: An Overview." Points of View: Physical
Education. (2011):p1-1 Points of View Reference Center. Web. 2011.
I absolutely agree with you. I have four kids, and three of them are in school. School lunches are improved from a few years ago, but in my opinion they've gone from absolute crap to less crappy crap. There are more healthy options to choose from for sure; but my problem is that it's all processed, canned, or boxed. There are no "lunch ladies" anymore, who come in first thing in the morning and cook. They simply come in an hour or two before lunch hours begin and start microwaving hot stuff and portioning cold stuff. I've eaten lunch with my little kids many times- and I always laugh at what schools call "healthier alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI believe we need to go old school at school. Bring back lunch ladies who COOK FOOD! Don't offer kids 300 choices; plop wholesome school food on their tray like they did to us - they can eat it or they can starve. Alternatively, they can bring lunch tomorrow. I think they need to look at the rate of childhood obesity 20-30 years ago and compare it to today. There were not many chunks in my schools. So what was different then? Okay, go back to that.
One more quick thing (sorry not trying to hijack your post) I also agree on the laziness angle having far more to do with the problem. As much disdain as I have for school lunches, I have more disdain for lazy kids. They are a direct result of absenteeism in parents. My kids are very athletic, and it's not because they are in love with sweat and exhaustion. It's because I started them at very young ages in every sport imaginable until they chose one they loved. We stuck with those.
We limit electronics time because the couch can hold itself down just fine without four little butts on it all day. This has gone on for years, and now they're older and don't want to sit around - they have "stuff" to do outside. Win!
It will be very interesting to see what you come up with in your research regarding what the general thoughts on this are. Is it schools or homes? I think homes play a bigger role, but you never know what the "experts" will say!
Good Luck I'll check back!
I completely agree that kids would rather sit in front of a computer or their phone. I know from working in a high school library that during the lunch periods, and even on the nice weather days, we still have a bunch of kids hanging out inside the library (and our library is generally NOT quiet). Kids are just not interested in walking a few laps around the school, and there is also a walking trail around a lake down the hill from the school - they don't take advantage of that either (well, very,very few do so). Some students, during their free periods during the day can be seen just sitting on the floor in the hallways, alone or in small groups, watching TV shows on their laptops. Another thing that amazes me is that so many kids stay in the library until we close each day at 4:30, waiting for their parents to pick them up - they could have walked home by then! Or how about this - join an after school sport and earn a letter!
ReplyDeleteI suppose it is the eternal optimist in me, but I can't entirely get behind technology being behind obesity, at least not entirely. Let me clarify, kids sitting in front of video games and computers, is not entirely to blame. It is a factor, absolutely. I think too many parents want something to blame but themselves. Who provides the technology? Who sets the rules in the house? What are you teaching your kids by allowing unlimited access to the technology? Sure, a lot of it is semantics, it would just be nice to really cover both sides of the argument thoroughly. My girls have a wii, a huge TV downstairs in their play area that they have free access to on the weekends, and they share a computer upstairs where we can monitor it. I've found, like most things, that the more you try to force, the more they rebel. That television is on most of the day on the weekends and school breaks, but they're hardly ever just plopped in front of it. For them it's often background noise while they build things, play make believe, or chase each other around. I think you found a really good choice for a source, I would just like to see the other side developed more too. I look forward to reading more!
ReplyDeleteYep, you said what I was thinking better than I said it. :p
DeleteMy kids have all that junk too. They just don't sit and collect cobwebs in front of it.
There are lots of issues surrounding childhood obesity. The parents have to be responsible when feeding their kids. Everyone is so rushed these days and choice fast unhealthy meals instead of home cooked meals. I think a technology is to blame a little bit. Kids play way more video games these days then when I was a Kid. The food at the schools would be healthier if the schools had more money to spare. When I was in school we had to take a certain amount of credits in P.E. to graduate. I think school are lacking in that department. Maybe food nutrition classes in schools would help inform the kids of the effects of the bad food they eat. In the end I think parents need to be more involved with their kids and make sure they eat right and get outside and get some exercise.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a lot of the problem today is kids sitting on couches doing nothing. That is the problem with society today. We need something to stimulate our minds and unfortunately, that comes from tv and video games. Encouraging kids to get up and move is something that is hard to promote with the younger generation, unless the kids see a good example (parents). There is probably a statistic comparing overweight parents to overweight kids. That would be an interesting fact to find.
ReplyDeleteWith our two kids, since I was a stay home mom, and we could afford lessons of all kinds, I took them to skating, swimming, gymnastics, dance, t-ball, etc. - not with the hope they'd be olympians, I just wanted them to get a tast of how to do these things. You need to know how to play baseball - after all, you don't want to look like an idiot at a picnic when you run to third base instead of first! As a result of these sports, they became aware of their bodies and how they could move and were sort of more graceful than their friends and would help them on the playground to learn the moves they knew (of course the playground teacher nazis would stop them from teaching their friends). And yes, they ate cookies, etc., and learned to limit themselves, not like their friends who came to our house and gorged themselves because they didn't get the same at home. They grew to be active and strong (in spite of my son growing up with video games).
ReplyDeleteIn the high school where I work it seems like the younger kids eat in the cafeteria, and the older kids are somewhere else once they have a car. They have changed the vending machines to healthy alternatives (sort of), but we all know that 4 bags of some "healthy" snack still has a lot of calories!
I think people being obese doesn’t stop with our children. There are many grown adults that are obese that weren’t as children. It has to do with the lifestyle they picked for themselves. It wasn’t because their parents didn’t feed them right or because of technology. It is choices that they made for themselves. I agree I think technology, cafeteria lunch, vending machines all contribute to a children’s weight issues but in the end it doesn’t really matter. A child will find his/her way around whatever you put in their way. If it is taking away all of the junk food from the house they will go to a friends house and eat what they want. I think just like anything communication is the most important thing you can do to help your child. Talk to them about why being healthy is important, what alternatives you have to eating junk food, what are some fun exercises, and leave the decision up to them because in the end you can’t be by there side 100% of the time.
ReplyDeleteI like the first source summary. I think it is an excellent idea to mandate a passing grade in physical education in highschool. I think it is great that you are bringing light to this subject. Your section, "I believe that technology plays a big part in childhood obesity. Children do not want to outside playing, but inside playing. The difference between playing outside is they are active, whereas inside they sit on the couch and eat and play video games." Made me think about the advances in video games. Many of the WII games are designed to provide exercise and movement. This might be a topic that you could debate in your final paper.
ReplyDelete