Obesity is Everyone’s Responsibility

Obesity is on the rise to becoming the leading cause in America for early deaths. According to
Child Disease Center, “Obesity rates doubled for adults in the past three decades and tripled for
children and show no signs of decreasing in the near future”. In the article “Obesity, Who is
Responsible” written by J. Wells argues that people are products of their environment. If the
environment we live in fosters bad eating habits, then that increases the rate of obesity. The
candy bar racks at the grocery markets being at the eye level of the children is not a coincidence.
He states it is greedy America making profit by targeting children to want junk food. Also the
constant billboards, T.V. show ads, magazines and ads being shown everywhere affects America
to become obese. Wells addresses that if people change the environment we live in, the
community as a whole can make an overall change in decreasing obesity. I agree with Wells that
people are products of their environment in which the individuals, community, and government
have their own role to improve the lifestyle of others to decrease obesity.

It is the role of the individual to create a healthy eating habit to decease obesity, which starts
with the parent’s healthy influence on their children. The way to shape young minds to live a
healthy lifestyle is to develop better eating habits, and create an active environment. Parents,
who eat healthy around the dinner table, set a good example for kids to eat well. A study
conducted by University of Michigan found that mothers who eat more vegetables and fruit have
daughters who eat more vegetables and fruit. This shows that children learn to eat healthy if
parents eat healthy .If parents are serving fast food happy meals from McDonalds’ it develops
poor eating habits for kids. Wells argues, if children’s taste buds are perverted by junk food, they
have a demand for more. This develops bad eating habits that cause obesity at such a young age.
When I was growing up I developed healthy eating habits from my mom’s cooking and was very
active at a young age. My mom always cooked a balance meal of fruits, vegetables, protein, and
carbohydrates. The lunch she packed was a ham and cheese sandwich, milk, bag of celery sticks,
and an apple. Growing up I played every sport including soccer, swimming, basketball, softball,
and gymnastics. I was very active. I exercised at least an hour a day doing sports. My parents
influenced a healthy lifestyle that still carries on through to college. As a student even though I
am surrounded by fast food and a hectic work schedule, I make time to at least exercise for an
hour and control what I eat. Whenever I go to a fast food restaurant, like McDonalds’, I order
their Ceaser Salad rather than their Big Macs. It is very nutritious, and it has less calories. I can
still maintain a healthy diet and schedule in a run on a regular basis. In between my 7:30 am
class in the morning and 3:00 class , I go for at least an hour run around campus to get my daily
exercise. Starting with better eating habits and being active can lead to a healthier lifestyle. This
also can apply to communities; the individuals within the community can improve the lifestyle of
communities.
The community as a whole can affect the lives of others by providing resources to those
around the community to eat healthier and be more active. Many communities are surrounded by
fast food restaurants which gives people no other choice, but to eat there. If there were more
Farmer’s Markets around the community it gives the people a healthier alternative. According to
CDC, more and more communities are hosting Farmer’s Markets, so people can buy fruits and
vegetables. Buying fruits and vegetables, you get more nutrients than in fast food processed
food. Not only providing farmer’s market stands for the community, it also involves providing
healthier meals for the kids to eat at the school cafeteria According to Nutritionist Isobel R.
Content who did a study at a school cafeteria, that raised their prices for junk food, and lowered
the prices of fruits and vegetables. He noticed that kids were bought more of the healthy fruits
and vegetables more than the junk food. By reducing the cost of healthy foods, more people are
likely to buy them. Along with providing better eating habits for communities, communities can
provide activities for people of all ages to participate in. San Jose Mercury News reported over
14,000 people participated in the annual Rock n’ Roll marathon hosted by the San Jose
Community. 85% of the participants were locals, while others participants traveled to compete in
the half marathon. 12% of the runners were kids who ran with their friends, or parents. The event
offered a lot of free prizes to participating runners, such as shoes, protein bars, running gear, gift
cards, and training tips to stay physically fit. This gives people an incentive to participate in the
race. Wells states that people are products of their environment. These running events create an
environment for people to be physically active. Not only can the community offer better
alternatives for the people to live a healthy life style, the government can also participate in
shaping the individual’s lifestyle.
The government is taking action to preventing and decreasing obesity by opening up
more programs to educate the community, increasing the physical fitness programs in school,
and better access to healthier foods. Obesity is starting at a very early age. The government
addresses this issue by requiring students to take Physical Education from elementary school all
the way to high school. They enforce kids to get at least 60 minutes a day of exercise. According
to the Presidential Youth fitness challenge they expect after 2012, physical education programs
should be more intense and vigorous. The vigorous exercise should be practiced 3 times a week
for 30 minutes. The program expects kids around the age of 13 to do 40 sit ups a minute for
boys, and 35 sit ups in a minute for girls. The target range for running a mile for boys should be
under 9 minutes and girls 10. Along with the demand for more intensive workouts, the goal of
the program is to get kids to incorporate the same fitness to their daily lives. In the article
“Government funding for obesity” written by Tommy E. Leroy, states that the Obama Health
reform act provides government funding to educate the American population of Obesity. They
offered grant to National Institute of Child Health and Development to provide more programs to
educate and prevent obesity to the youth. Educating kids at an early stage of good nutrition can
build physically strong kids. These program raises awareness of good eating and exercising
practices. Government is also pushing for better access to healthier foods in super markets.
According to CDC the government is giving incentives to supermarkets to improve the access to
healthy foods for low income communities. This offer gives supermarkets tax breaks for those
stores who lower the prices of fruits and vegetables. The better access people have to healthier
foods can decrease the purchases of junk food. It provides healthy alternatives for parents to
cook at home for their kids. The option of eating a more nutritious meal decreases the American
population of becoming obese.
It is the individual, community and government responsibility to collectively work together in
stopping the epidemic of obesity. As Wells mentions before that we are a product of our
environment, if we improve the quality of our environment, it will reflect positively in our
community. The more the population is educated about the problems of obesity through
government funding programs; it will decrease the likelihood of the next generation becoming
obese. The government can subsidize the healthy food to increase access to low income families.
The communities can participate to provide alternative food choices and active events for the
community. The individual can influence others by practicing better eating habits and exercising.
Others will follow with that practice starting with children. It is everyone’s responsibility to
improve the health style of the community and individuals in the effort of decreasing obesity.

Ignorant 18 year olds

Have you ever done something you have regretted before? In “Young Adults should not use
tattoos for self expression”, written by Lizzie Enchino argues that it should not be legal for 18
year olds to get tattoos. She believes that 18 year olds get tattoos because they feel “sexy” and
“rebellious” but they are unaware of the permanent effect it has to their image, job, and life.
Enchino states that young adults’ impulsive decision to get a tattoo for self expression is later
regretted. Along with ruining your image, tattoos ruin job opportunities. Companies will not hire
people with tattoos, even though they are well qualified for the job. In addition people with
tattoos put their health in danger of contracting blood borne pathogens such as HIV, AIDs
without the proper sterilization of the needles. I agree with Enchino that the legal age to get a
tattoo should be 21 instead of 18. 18 year olds, who impulsively get a tattoo, are ignorant of the
negative health risks and impacts on their careers
18 year olds who make an impulsive decision to get a tattoo, are not aware of the health risks
involved. Teens these days always want to stay with the trend to be popular and so they jump
right into the decision of getting a tattoo. They do not consider health risks of contracting blood
borne diseases that can occur in the process. In the article “Why teens shouldn’t get tattoos”,
Karen L. Hudson shares her horror experience of her first time getting a tattoo when she turned
18. Hudson originally planned to get her tattoo of a star done by a professional, but due to the
convenience and the cost, she decided to go to her friend’s house to get the tattoo there. Her
friend, a tattoo apprentice, inexpensively charged her a $70 flat fee, in comparison to other tattoo
artist who typically charge from $75 - $150 an hour. The skills of an apprentice, according to
Laura Hansen the writer of “Tattoo training information”, are only trained in sterilizing the
needles, and have no experience tattooing a person. The skill of the apprentice’s work of the
tattoo turned out to be an inky blob that started to bleed. Later on Karen also started having
allergic reactions to the inks from the tattoo. Even though Hudson wasn’t severely in danger, she
put herself at a greater risk of getting blood borne pathogens such as Hepatitis B, C, or even
worse AIDS. Enchino states that if needles are not properly sterilized HIV can be contracted.
Hudson put herself in danger of getting blood borne pathogens from her friend who has no
experience tattooing people. Her impulsiveness on wanting a tattoo affected her decision of
waiting another day to get it done properly by a professional. Though 18 year old acknowledge
the health risks involved, they still get it anyway to fit in with the crowd, in the most convenient
inexpensive way which dangers their health. Through their impulsive decisions, teens are not
fully aware of the health implications of getting a tattoo along with the negative impact on their
career.
At age 18, teens are legally recognized as adults, but at the age of 21 have more
knowledge of how tattoos can impact their career. 18 year olds are not fully aware that the image
of having tattoos symbolizes to companies as being unprofessional. Therefore it lowers their
chances of getting a job, even if they are more than qualified for the position. According to the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, employers are allowed to impose dress code
policies as long as they don’t discriminate against a person’s race color, religion, age, nationality
or gender. Tattoos are tied in with dress code policy so many large cooperate companies are
allowed to ban employees with tattoos or visible body art. It is the same as showing up to an
interview poorly dressed in a sweatpants and a baggy shirt. Managers believe that it is
unprofessional to show in a work place. Often customers and clients feel uncomfortable working
with a person with tattoos. 18 year olds have less work experience in a coorperate level position
than 21 year olds so they do not know about the common policies on tattoos. Teens don’t fully
realize that any tattoos, no matter the size or image of the tattoo, it can mislead the company as
being unprofessional. This can limit their future job opportunities. According to the article in
Health Magazine “Think Before You Ink” written by Amanda Macmillion warns adults of the
future issues they may have from getting a tattoo. Macmillion took survey of the reasons why
people removed or decided not to get a tattoo and 46% said that they were getting a new job.
Almost half of the 196 adults that Macmillion surveyed removed their tattoo for that specific
reason because it hinders their career. Therefore, adults would invest in removing the tattoo for
their job to support them later in life. 21 year olds have more know knowledge of how tattoos
can impact their career.
18 year olds, who get tattoos for self expression, are ignorant of the health risks involved and the
negative impact it has on their future career. Teens’ impulsive decision to get a tattoo is a
permanent decision. They do not realize that this permanence carries on to their health and to
their career. They put themselves at risk of contracting diseases that can permanently affect their
health. Also teens are not aware how tattoos limit their job opportunities. The appearance of
body art is not professional. At 18 it should not be legal for teens to get a tattoo. They should not
risk their health and future career on getting a tattoo without being aware of the permanent
effects it has.