Obesity Starts At Home

"A Childhood Obesity Program in Federally Qualified Community Health Centers", was written by Erica L. McClaskey, MD, MS, in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Undeserved Volume 21, Number 3, in August of 2010.

This journal discusses the most challenging disease amoung children; obesity. The journal begins by providing background information on obesity among children. There are several statistics that show how obesity has drastically risen on the years. It is said that the many children become obese because they are not exposed to the resources they need to teach them about obesity.

Eventually a nurse practitioner was sent out to recuit children to participate in a childhood prevention program. Along with the help of the local YMCA, a plan was established in which a YMCA staff was sent to the clinic to conduct weekly two hour sessions with the children. Along with the excercise, students were also taught about obesity and how to prevent it.

The children that were considered to be at risk of developing obesity were sent to learning sessions along with their siblings and parents, because "being at risk was understood as living in a family with overweight or obese parents" as stated by McClaskey. The program went about several ways to teach children and their parents about obesity.

In conclusion McClaskey states, "Research demonstrates that obesity is a complex and multi-faceted problem requiring multiple approaches and solutions utilizing a team management strategy. The most successful future initiatives will likely include the family, the community, and community health centers working collaboratively in order to overcome the challenges of obesity in economically disadvantaged populations."

I found this journal to be extremely informative. It provided statistics, programs being used to decrease obesity problems, and the steps that the programs take to achieve this goal. I know that this journal will be very useful when writing my paper because it shows that "unhealthy" eating habits are not the only causes of obesity; there are many other factors as well.

Don't Blame the Candy

"'Let's Move' on Obesity, not Overreaction", was written by Bernie Pacyniak and published in the Candy Industry on March 2010. In this article Bernie describes how life was portrayed many years ago. He goes on to describe the candy he used to buy and the exercise he used to partake in. He then describes how things have drastically changed now and days. He also explains that an intake of candy can be healthful to the body and that it is not entirely harmful. He even lists statistics that show the percentage of schools that require recess; which is very low.

I found this article to be very interesting and informative. I like how he agrees with Michelle Obama's new approach to obesity, yet provides his own opinion as to what he thinks contributes to weight gain. I will definitely be able to use the statistics that he provided later on when I begin to write my paper.

Restaurant Nutrition Draws Focus of First Lady

"Restaurant Nutrition Draws Focus of First Lady" was written by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and William Neuman. A version of this article appeared in print on February 7, 2011 on page A11 of the New York Edition.

Michelle Obama has turned her focus towards making the nation's restaurants "nutritious". Her goal is to force restaurants to serve smaller portions of food, and for the children's meals to include carrots and apples instead of french fries. She also asked for companies to reduce the prices of vegetables. She has also encouraged cafeterias to serve healthier food such as fruits and vegetables.

Along with these changes, she has also asked food makers to create labels that clearly state some of the unhealthy ingredients included in the product, and that they be placed on the front.

Michelle's main target, other than cafeterias, has been on Wal-Mart. Wal-mart however, was already planning to do the things that she had suggested. Since they had already been working on it, she suggested that they should examine their own progress. Many believe that it will take years before her efforts actually take effect.

I found this article to be very informative. It provided several examples of Michelle's plans to "better our country". There were several quotes from others involved with her efforts. I think that later on down the road this will be beneficial for my paper.

Learn The Facts

"Learn the Facts"
"The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake."
- First Lady Michelle Obama at the Let’s Move! launch on February 9, 2010

The article begins by stating statistics about child obesity. It then goes on to describe the changes that caused this sudden increase in obesity. First Lady Michelle Obama's new program Let's Move!, focuses on the eating habits of young children. Michelle's goal is to force cafeterias to serve healthy food only. The article then provides a generalized description of Michelle's program.

I chose this article because it provides a lot of statistics, as well as, examples of the changes, from the past to the present, in children's eating habits. Along with statistics and examples, it also provides an excellent overall description of Michelle's program. I believe that the majority of the article will be very useful when I begin to write my final paper.

Let's Move!

"First lady Michelle Obama: 'Let's move' and Work on Childhood Obesity Problem" was written by Robin Givhan in The Washington Post on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010. In this article, Givhan describes, First Lady Michelle Obama's, national iniative to decrease childhood obesity. Givhan also describes the four ways in which Michelle plans on carrying out this project. One of Michelle's goals is to alter what is being served in the school cafeterias, with the requirement of 10 billion dollars given over 10 years. Her plan is for her fight with obesity to be her legacy as First Lady.

This article provided a great deal of information on Michelle Obama's new program which will help me draw facts for my final paper. I chose this article mainly because it wasn't biased. It described the actions that Michelle plans on taking, including quotes that were said by Michelle herself. I also found it very beneficial that the writer included dollar amounts that would be required to carry out this program.

Cafeteria Food: A Whole New Level of Gross

(Focusing on Michelle Obama's Child Nutrition Bill)