Running head: HEALTH PROFILE 1 My Health Profile John Student Nova Southeastern University 2 Health Profile My Health Profile My name is John Student and I’m a 21 year old college student. The main focus of the paper is obesity. Although obesity doesn’t seem very complex at first, close inspection shows to affect all aspects of the person’s life. The food industry has come under fire recently because statistics show children’s obesity rates are rising at three times the rates of adults (Ogden, Carroll, & Flegal, 2008). Huang, Harris, Lee, Nazir, Born, and Kaur (2003) state that many college students engage in minimal physical activity, as well as consume low amounts of fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Obesity can happen to children, teenagers, and adults alike. First off, as a college student who is interested in diseases and health, obesity is something that I especially avoid. The reason being, I had been overweight in middle school, and research shows a positive association between obesity and depression (Dong, Sanchez, & Price, 2004). It may comes as no surprise that my self-esteem was quite low at the time. The decision to lose weight seemed at first to be a one step deal, but in reality there was more to it. I had to overcome the initial denial, go on the internet and realize that obesity is unhealthy, research all the ways to lose weight, mentally prepare myself to make the jump, and then finally have a desire to change myself for the long term. Whether small or large, I try to make healthy choices everyday. Sugary, fatty foods such as chocolate, potato chips, deep fried chicken, and others are now replaced with foods such as fish, grilled chicken, vegetables, and fruits. Although I’m in much better shape now, the thoughts of being overweight still haunt me to this day. For example, even though I’m healthy now, taking my shirt off still makes me feel uncomfortable. In order to start looking at obesity, a good first question is, what causes people to buy and consume fatty foods even though they are detrimental to our health? Bayol, Farrington, and Stickland (2007) claim that the reason why controlling our appetite can pose a challenge is because ‘junk foods’ are easily available. Wright and Aronne (2012) even go on to say that high 3 Health Profile calorie foods are affordable and available without any trouble at all, whether it be a school, office, or a fast food restaurant on the corner. At my high school, we had vending machines that sold sodas, chips, and even ice cream! Ironically, these machines were located right next to the gym. The issue doesn’t stop at vending machines though, obesity is a serious risk for high blood pressure, heart and kidney disease, and diabetes (Brannon, Feist, & Updegraff, 2014). I used to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol growing up, which definitely scared me. The sad part was the doctor told me that many children came into his office with the same problems as me. This was another helpful factor that gave me a push to start dieting to regain my health. Brannon, Fiest, and Updegraff (2014) state that a low-fat diet is more effective for weight loss, but overweight people who do a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet can also lose weight successfully. The issue I have with following a certain diet is that it is used as a temporary measure. Many of my friends have shed pounds on a diet, only to return to eating the same foods as before and then regain the weight. The shortcoming of diets is that they cannot teach new healthy eating habits for long term maintenance (Brannon, Feist, & Updegraff, 2014). Instead, I chose to make eating healthy and excising a part of my daily routine, which then became a permanent habit. My family helped out in forming this habit by cooking nutritious foods for everyone everyday. This was a very helpful contribution to staying healthy long term. There are a few theories out there as to why people are obese, and one in particular is the Positive Incentive Model. This model proposes that there are social, biological, and personal pleasure factors that come into play when eating. Socially, the cultural background of the person, as well as the people in the person’s immediate environment influence eating habits (Brannon, Feist, & Updegraff, 2014). I remember when I was younger all of my friends would eat fast food at the food court in the mall. By extension, I started eating fast food a lot since it was within walking distance from school, as well as the fact that it was cheap. Next, Brannon, Feist, and 4 Health Profile Updegraff (2014) state that some proponents of this model claim that humans could have evolved to eat whenever food was in sight. Finally, the personal pleasure factor, which can also be looked at as psychological, reasons that people eat because of the pleasure derived from the taste and type of food (Brannon, Feist, & Updegraff, 2014). In conclusion, there were various factors that came together to facilitate obesity. As Wright and Aronne’s (2012) research shows, high calorie foods marketed in the grocery stores are easy to prepare and inexpensive, making them an easy choice for millions of families. Also, seeing as children’s obesity rates are rising (Ogden, Carroll, & Flegal, 2008), more and more children are at risk for things such as diabetes and high blood pressure (Brannon, Feist, & Updegraff, 2014). Even when people attempt to diet, Brannon, Feist, and Updegraff (2014) state that diets do not teach long term maintenance. Putting all this into consideration, I would still say that there is no excuse why a fully functioning adult cannot lose weight successfully and keep it off. Even though my evidence is anecdotal, none of these factors are an excuse for obesity. People need to take control of what they eat, even though it may be difficult at first. In a nation where over 68% of adults are overweight, and 35% are obese (Flegal, Carroll, Ogden, & Curtin, 2010), we have no more room for obesity. 5 Health Profile References Bayol, S.A., Farrington, S.J., & Stickland, N.C. (2007). A maternal ‘junk food’ diet in pregnancy and lactation promotes an exacerbated taste for ‘junk food’ and a greater propensity for obesity in rat offspring. British Journal of Nutrition, 98(4), 843-851. Brannon, L., Feist, J., & Updegraff, J.A. (2014). Health psychology: An introduction to behavior and health (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Dong, C., Sanchez, L.E., & Price, R.A. (2004). Relationship of obesity to depression: A family based study. International Journal of Obesity, 28(6), 790-795. Flegal, K.M., Carroll, M.D., Ogden, C.L., & Curtin, L.R. (2010). Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999-2008. JAMA, 303(3), 235-241. Huang, T.T., Harris, K.J., Lee, R.E., Nazir, N., Born, W., & Kaur, H. (2003). Assessing overweight, obesity, diet, and physical activity in college students. Journal of American College Health, 52(2), 83-86. Ogden, C.L., M.D. Carroll, & K.M. Flegal. (2008). High body mass index for age among U.S. children and adolescents, 2003–2006. Journal of the American Medical Association 299(20), 2401-2405.
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