Introduction An analysis conducted by Lisa Cornish from the Herald Sun has found a correlation between income and healthy eating for Australians in their article “Victoria leads way in fighting Childhood obesity”. Wilkinson and Marmot (2003) identified ten social determinants that affect the health outcomes and wellbeing of individuals and the wider community. This paper will focus on Early Life and Social Gradient and how these determinants are affecting the childhood obesity epidemic. ‘Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century’ The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2014) states, ‘The problem is global and is steadily affecting many low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings.’ This paper will also explore the affects a single income can have on a child’s upbringing compared to that of child with two parents receiving a wage. Body ‘Foundations of adult health are laid in early childhood’ (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003, p. 14). Upbringing and education can have both a positive and a negative effect on an individual during childhood depending on the quality of care received. A poor early life can cause reduced physical health and emotional functioning as a child ages into adulthood. A high level of care and education during childhood can lead to a more positive and healthy lifestyle. Educating children from an early age will help assist their lifestyle decisions as they mature and potentially the lifestyles of their future children. For this to occur, the upbringing must of a high level of care and maintained with education readily available for the child. This depends mainly on the parent. ‘Parental influences...and access to healthy food are critical in determining ... ... middle of paper ... ...r future child’s quality of life. Equal opportunity of access to education will help improve the immediate health of mothers and babies while also decreasing their risk of potential lifelong diseases (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003, p. 15). Conclusion In conclusion evidence suggests that poor quality education and low income leads to less effort towards and/less access to healthier food. Childhood obesity has been linked to many lifelong illnesses and early intervention can prevent these illnesses occurring. Support and access to education to those on the lower end of the social gradient will help improve the statistics of the poorer demographics’ general health as outlined by this paper. As parents become more educated with lifestyles choices, their children will be capable of these healthier lifestyles as well, leading to a much healthier general society in the future.
Tickell, C., 2011. The Early Years: Foundations for life, health and learning. An independent report on the Early Years Foundation Stage to Her Majesty’s Government. London: HMG
ABSTRACT: It has often been observed that obesity follows a socioeconomic gradient which adversely affects the poor. This paper proposes the outline of a sociological theory of obesity as a consequence of ‘globalisation factors, such as labour market deregulation. Forced to work longer hours – and with lower levels of job-security – workers in low paid jobs have fewer opportunities to burn calories, and are more likely to consume fast-food. This combination has led to higher levels of obesity among the poor in countries that have adopted neo-liberal labour market reforms.
Overweight and obesity problem is becoming more and more serious in Australia. Not only Australians but also the world’s problem obesity is studied as one of the main causes of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers and sleep apnoea as well as other serious conditions, which put national economies and individual lives at risk. Obesity is also regarded as epidemic. Obesity is caused by a calorific imbalance between diet intake and consumed calories. Obesity has become the biggest threat to Public Health in Australia shown by Australia Bureau of Statistics (2013). Also, the prevalence of obesity is predicted as the ratio of obesity in adults and children will be doubled by 2025 (Backholer et al.2012). It is believed that this phenomenon is happening due to many social determinants of health, which have a strong negative impact on not only individuals but also society and economy. (Wilkinson and Marmot 2003) The social determinants of health are explained as conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age by WHO (Wilkinson & Marmot 2013). Different circumstances can be formed depending on their finance, power and global resources. These social determinants seem to be responsible for health inequities, which seem to be unfair and avoidable. Social determinants of health including social gradient, high calorie food intake, excessive amounts of stress and poor early life care are the relevant factors to contribute to be or being obesity. It is important to understand that the correlation of social determinants of health and obesity to manage the health problems and enhance public’s health.
Obesity is hard to prevent when a family has low income and can only afford McDonalds every meal everyday or lives within a food desert where affordable & healthy food is difficult to obtain. With this children from poor families, grow up in neighborhoods with rundown housing are twice as likely to be obese as children from well-off families (Tipler 1). There are many long term effects of childhood obesity such as children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. One study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults (CDC 1).
In 2001, the US Department of Education, Academy of the Sciences, and the Foundation for Child Development conducted a study on early childhood development. Several interesting, scientific ideas and trends on childhood development emerged from the study. The questions surrounding this research were: how important is the early life of a child? What early years are most important? Why are later years not more important? In order to better plan education policy, discussing these questions is necessary.
The coherence between socio-economic factors and good health has been observed over a view decades and, that the socio –economic factors have a massive impact on the health of the individual is not new. Today, the Government UK provides a range of health campaigns, to alert the public to live healthier. Health promotions in schools, children centre, and community centre or in the hospital taking place. Such for example,” the fit for life campaign, “where the main focus is to eat health food. However, there are still barriers which have an influence on the behaviour of the individual, to take part by health promotions. Therefore, it is important to have a look where does the individual come from, to understand their behaviour.
According to C. Wright Mills, a problem can be divided into either issues or troubles and usually, a problem, when looking at the broader picture is in fact see as a social issue and not a personal trouble. This idea is referred to as the sociological imagination (Mills, 2000). Obesity was wrongly viewed as an individual’s own personal problem, however, when looking at the big picture, it’s a problem that transform from a personal issue to a social phenomenon (Smith, 2009). It’s a menace that affects everyone including all races, all ages and all income levels (Chang & Lauderdale, 2005). There are several factors behind obesity not only in adults but also in children. Such factors must be ascertained to ensure that correct preventive measures
These issues can continue to impede on a child’s life and worsen as they grow older. A Medical Daily article states that the high rates of obesity in children who suffer from poverty are due to their diet and exercise. The price of nutritious foods is not affordable to these families, so they opt for cheap, high-calorie foods which lead to their child’s weight gain. If a child lives this way their entire life, it will lead to them staying obese throughout their
We are now a consumer based society, where we rely entirely on buying alone, not the trio of production, jobs, and purchasing. The economy now revolves around Starbucks. This has cost us our jobs because the production and the job part have moved overseas, where cheap labors are easily acquired. Drinking Starbucks’ coffee is more than just about the quality and the functionality; it’s about an expression of longing, a source of entertainment, a strategy for mood management, and a form of symbolic communication about class and social standing. This gave rise to the “Starbucks Moment.” Starbucks Moment is when the company popped up everywhere from airports, malls, parking lots, street corners, and social medias, like Facebook to television shows and movies. Since buying Starbucks meant buying social status, many Americans thought that it will make their private and public lives better. This “desire” for better life allowed the corporation to slowly encroach upon our private lives. The company took over the civic institutions, due to the pullback of community, the state, and other binding agents, which allowed brands like Starbucks the chance to sell more of their “luxurious” products, garner allegiance and profits by reaching deeper into our lives. They talked and acted like NGO or a political party and by making claims that they are serving for the greater good, they made it harder for government agencies to reclaim their legitimacy as vital decision makers in domestic and foreign policies. However, in reality, they are working for the shareholders at Wall Street. Therefore, when we consume Starbucks, we are giving away parts of our environment, our culture, and even our politics, as they take over more state functions.
The five main areas identified by the Queensland Health that causes Child obesity are eating less fruit and vegetables than required, increase energy intake from unhealthy foods, not enough daily exercises and spending too much time on screen either with computers, television or mobile phones (Queensland Health, 2017). The Public Health general response was not only targeting child obesity alone, but involved every sector that might have been associated with or could contribute to the prevention and management of obesity in children. These include public policy and legislation, sector development, social marketing, personal skills development, risk assessment, early intervention and counselling and health surveillance and research (Queensland
Parents are not teaching children how to eat healthy. They feed them cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, and fries. Kids are not being exposed to a regular diet of health fruits and vegetables. Now some people are just naturally overweight, but being “overweight” is not the same as being “obese.” Someone who is overweight has reached a maximum weight limit for their height. When someone goes beyond this maximum limit, then they are considered “obese” (Kiess 1). Research shows that “obesity is generally defined as the abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in adipose tissue” (Kiess 1). The increase in childhood obesity today is mainly the fault of the parent because they are unable to tell their children “no” when it comes to junk food (Kiess 104). Parents are the one buying all the food that comes into the house. They are the ones buying the sugary drinks and chips. They are the ones allowing the children to “have what they want.” Because parents are not teaching their children how to eat healthy, we will continue to see childhood obesity increase. Unfortunately, overweight children will be the ones who suffer because statistics show children who are overweight are more likely to become obes...
Additional reviewed interventions were not successful in preventing obesity; however they were successful in gaining more insight into how a child’s environment affects eating and physical activity habits. Ultimately, this review found that while obesity and overweight in children continues to be a serious public health concern, there are prevention strategies that have been implemented and have worked in some countries, but probably require some element of cultural adaptation (e.g. using local food in food programs). Thus, it is likely that every successful solution should include education along with the cooperative efforts between government, community, and family in order to be
Factors include, environmental, social and behavioural. From this research I have gained a better understanding of the major environmental factors of obesity. Considering the relationship between the health issue and environment, the New Zealand government has managed this wisely to overcome the high occurrence of obesity among adults and children. Most people who live in underprivileged areas are unable to afford healthy food for their families, commonly because of the high prices they struggle to feed their families with right portion of healthy food. For example, they get $5 meals from McDonalds on way home from work to save money and time to cook. The reason they get takeaways because they get paid low and some adults don’t have the understanding of what health issues can arise while consuming certain food. To help decrease the occurrence of obesity in New Zealand the discrimination between rich and poor needs to change. Food prices and healthcare services in the community should be made more affordable so that underprivileged areas and low income families can feel safe in their own community and can access the services provided at any time. I personally believe that health professionals should go out in communities educating and providing enlightening information on healthy eating and
According the Center on Hunger and Poverty at Brand University, “the number of people how report experiencing actual hunger rose 43percent in American between 1999 to 2004, from 3.1million to 4.5million, while food insecurity defined as limited or uncertain access to healthy food increased from 31 million to 38.2 million, a number that includes 14 million children.” This statistic will help to identify the number of children under insecure food and malnourished. Therefore, poor children suffer from obesity. Because the families are spending their money on mortgages and rent. Deborah Frank of the Boston Medical Center clinic says “poor families often gorge on cheap, fattening, non-nutritious food, soda and French fries will keep a child feeling full overnight.” (19) because the low-income family cannot afford to buy a healthy
Modern poverty is so closely related with obesity for many reasons. First of all, poor people are ignorant and uneducated about their health and nutrition. Obviously, because of that they don’t really know what they are doing or even how they are taking the risk of eating some kinds of food. Poor people go for good tasting food without paying attention to the food’s freshness and safety. Moreover, children grow up without a proper understanding of good nutrition, so it is time to reintroduce nutrition to families and even in schools to kids. Second of all, poor people cannot afford buying healthy food. A person who is poor and hungry is going to buy the cheapest calories that he or she could find. In fact in today’s world, the cheapest calories come from junk food. It is cheaper and ...