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The 12 social determinants of health
Obesity from a sociological perspective
The 12 social determinants of health
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1. Using the cases of two eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa), or obesity, one can determine that health and illnesses are just as much of a societal and cultural issue, as they are a medical issue. Eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia are both mental illnesses. Anorexia nervosa involves starving oneself to avoid gaining weight, while bulimia involves binge eating followed by purging to avoid weight gain (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Both of these disorders stem from a fear of weight gain, and can result in health problems and sometimes death. Meanwhile, obesity is the condition of an individual who is greatly overweight. This condition can also result in medical issues. Societal and cultural factors such as issues of poverty, differences in gender, and trends over time, prove that societal and cultural factors do have a great impact on people’s health, as well as their illnesses. Eating disorders and obesity show that health and illness are based both on cultural and medical aspects through poverty. The issue of poverty has an effect on health and illness because the stress of poverty can have an impact on a person’s existing mental illness, or result in a mental illness entirely (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Poverty has an effect on obesity because people with very little income may be forced to purchase inexpensive packaged foods, which are full of preservatives and have a high fat content. Fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables may be too inexpensive for families in poverty (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Overall, poverty is a societal issue that may act as an aid to induce illnesses and health issues such as eating disorders and obesity. Gender differences are a societal issue that contributes t... ... middle of paper ... ...ugh knowledge to forge identities, and hack into people’s private internet accounts (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Scammers prey on the successful and are able to ruin lives because of the Information Revolution. In conclusion, the Information Revolution has contributed to provide more equality within the workplace, but fails in allowing people to pursue careers as scammers. In the end, the Information Revolution had both good and bad affects on Canadians. It has people access to more knowledge to promote equality, stay current in their government and gives citizens a voice in that government. On the other hand, the Information Revolution may promote rebellion, and give people tools to use the information illegally to become scammers. References Macionis, John J. and Linda M. Gerber. 2012. Sociology. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA.
Brinkerhoff, David B., Rose Weitz, Suzanne T. Ortega. Essentials of Sociology Ninth Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Kendall, D., Linden, R., & Murray, J. L. (2008). Sociology in our times: The essentials (4th Cdn
Murray, J.L, R. Linden, and D. Kendall (2014). Sociology In Our Times. Custom Canadian Edition.
Kendall, Diana. 2012. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, Edited by M. Kerr. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
A variation of Anorexia, Bulimia ranges from excessive food intake, to an out of control compulsive cycle of binge eating where extraordinary amounts of any available food, usually of high carbohydrate content, may be consumed. Once having gorged, the victims are overcome with the urge to rd themselves of what they hate eaten by purging themselves, usually by vomiting, and sometimes by massive doses of laxatives. Between these obsessive bouts, most are able to accept some nutrition. Whereas the anorexic sufferer fears fatness from anticipated loss of eating control, and unlike the anorexic sufferer the typical bulimic individual is not emaciated, but usually maintains a normal body weight and appears to be fit and healthy.
Schaefer, R. T. (2013). Sociology: A Brief Introduction, Tenth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Faris, Robert E.L., and William Form. "Sociology." Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness; 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from eating disorders and only 1 in 10 of those 24 million are treated (ANAD). Eating disorders do not discriminate; all ages, genders, ethnicities and races can be victim to this mental illness. It’s important to be aware of the impact eating disorders have on societies across the globe and how the media plays a role if we want to fight the source and promote prevention and/or rehabilitation. I’ve known many people in my life who have some sort of eating disorder, whether it’s anorexia(not eating enough), binge eating(eating large amounts of food rapidly), bulimia (throwing up their food) or just struggling with an unsatisfying self-image. Becoming aware of eating disorders and how they are developed is important to me because in a perfect world, I would like to see this illness become less common or diminished completely among those that I love and anyone else in today’s society. Eating disorders hit home for many people, including myself. Raising awareness may decrease the rate of eating disorders by informing the population of the harm this illness causes and hopefully promote prevention and/or rehabilitation. With the 3 theoretical approaches used by sociologists, Eating disorders can be understood which will better inform society on how to raise awareness, prevent this illness and help those who suffer from eating disorders.
Calhoun, C., Light, D., & Keller, S. (1989). Sociology (5th. ed.). Alfred A. Knopf: New
Macionis. J, J. Plummer, K. (2005). Sociology. A global Introduction. Pearson Education Limited. Essex. (UK) Third Edition.
Murray, Jane Lothian, Linden, Rick and Kendall, Diane. (2011). SOCIOLOGY IN OUR TIMES, Fifth Canadian Edition by Nelson Education Limited, Published by Thomson Wadsworth, USA.
Schaeffer, R. T. (2009). Sociology: A Brief Introduction. (8th, Ed.) New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Schaefer, R.T. (2009). Sociology: a brief introduction, 8th edition. New York, New York, USA: McGraw-Hill.
[10] Kendall, Diana, et al. Sociology in Our Times. ITP Nelson and Co. Toronto, 1997. 126.
(1997) Sociology: Introductory Readings, Revised ed. Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press. Hebding, D.E. and Leonard, G. (1996) Introduction to sociology: A text with readings, 5th ed. McGraw Hill Inc. (worldwide).