Who is to be Blamed for Obesity in America?

As humans, when something goes wrong we naturally have the urge to place the blame on someone or something other then ourselves. Since obesity is an issue on the rise we are looking for something that can be blamed for this problem that so many people are faced with. So who really is to be blamed for obesity in America? Nutrition plays a big and important role in a healthy lifestyle and weight control. Should the processed food industry be blamed or not blamed for the obesity in this country? According to Lorraine Heller author of the article The Obesity Blame Game, the food industry is not to blame. The food industry has started to make changes in the products that are being produced as this quote from her article shows, "General Mills reformulated its cereals to be made with whole grains; PepsiCo reformulated its snacks without trans fats; Kellogg slashed sugar from its products; Kraft introduced the concept of 100-calorie packs." However there are those who don't recognize this an important change and tend to blame the food industry for obesity. As the author of Is the Food Industry to Blame for Our Rising Obesity Problem? sees it, "the allegedly more-healthy-for-you products may still contain lots of sugar, high fructose corn syrup or other unhealthy processed components."What do you think? Do you agree that the food industry is making changes toward a healthier American or do you think that they could be making a better effort?

Brain Abnormalities in Obese Kids With Diabetes

In the article Brain Abnormalities in Obese Kids With Diabetes, by Denise Mann, the effects of obesity in kids on their brains is discussed. According to an online study by Diabetologia adolescents who are obese and have type 2 diabetes, are having changes in their brains that is affecting how well they perform in school. Eighteen obese children who have type 2 diabetes and eighteen obese children who don't have diabetes were tested on memory, spelling, and intelligence. Those children with diabetes performed worse on these tests then those who didn't have diabetes. The reason for this is not fully know but according to  Antonio Convit, MD, professor of psychiatry and medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, "we know the brain uses sugar as source of metabolism , and insulin resistance interferes with the body's ability to get more juice or sugar into the brain". Now researchers are trying to figure out a way to reverse the insulin resistance. The best way to do this is exercise. Lots and lots of exercise is the key to shedding the weight and restoring insulin to your body.

Issues With Health in Schools

The topic of health has been a growing issue amongst schools in this country. Physical education and lunch nutrition is where the issues begin. In schools during PE classes, physical fitness tests are preformed to measure multiple things such as strength, endurance, and flexibility. However, in the past few years more and more children are failing these tests. According to Rob Stein's article Millions of Adults, Teens Fail Fitness Test, 33.6% of adolescence are in the low-fitness category. Why are so many children failing these test? The answer is the elimination of mandatory PE classes in many schools which discourages children from exercising and getting in shape. The lack of these classes is not the only issue discouraging young children from staying healthy. School lunches play a large role as well. Schools don't take into account the amount of calories they are serving someone or the type of the food they are handing out. A simply way for schools to help children with healthy eating is to start serving fruits and vegetables, using wheat bread instead of white, and serving food that isn't so high in calories. Schools help in shaping the lives of children but it should be in a positive way. Changing they way they feed children and how they educated them on healthy living and exercise is an easy way for schools to create healthier children all around our country.