Blog #1 - Topic Discussion

Listening to everyone share their topics in class on Tuesday was really enlightening. It was crazy to think about all of these issues and even crazier to think, "well what can we do about it?" All of the topics were great and it will be tough to decide which one I want to focus on for my own project. I think I'm leaning toward the following three: food insecurity, overeating, and obesity.

The first topic, food insecurity, is the one that I initially researched and presented. I was introduced to this idea when I watched a documentary called A Place At the Table. It was an extremely well-made documentary and really opened my eyes to this issue. Someone who is food insecure doesn't have any idea where their next meal will come from. This could be because their financial situation doesn't allow them to buy enough food for themselves and/or their families. In this case the victim would most likely rely on food stamps. The food stamps, however, only provide them with about $1.25 for each day's worth of food. Another cause of food insecurity is what's called a food desert. Food deserts are areas in which people live with no access to real whole food (like fruits and vegetables). Both of these causes (food stamps and food deserts) often lead to obesity. When all that you have access to or can afford is junk food, obviously you aren't going to stay thin. In addition, this leads to many other health problems. People need healthy food in their lives or they won't make it. It's important to combat food insecurity because it is an issue that impacts people all over the country. It might even apply to people in our own town without us being aware of it. And while we do have a local food pantry, plus the hunger drive and other charities, that doesn't solve the problem. Donating canned goods and snack bars to hungry people is a temporary fix. It's definitely better than nothing, but we need to find a way to give people the opportunity and the ability to eat real food. Everyone deserves that chance. Ways to make this happen will start with raising awareness. People are hungry all around us and we might not even know it. We need to brainstorm ideas to make healthier options more available to more people. Another thing that would help is if Congress would raise the limits on people's food stamps. But this leads to many other issues and more controversy, so that would take a lot of thought as well.

The second topic I've chosen is overeating. People who suffer from binge eating disorder are prone to overeating. For these people, overeating is regular and uncontrollable. They eat to deal with stress and other negative emotions. Often they eat even when they aren't hungry, and continue to eat after they're full. Afterwards, they're likely to feel worse than they did before they started eating. This process is almost like bulimia, except that there is no attempt to get rid of the food by intentionally vomiting. Besides the negative psychological effects that result from overeating, there is also quite a list of health problems. Some of these are obesity, type II diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and even certain types of cancer. Obesity is most likely of these. Because of the constant eating, people who suffer from overeating are likely to gain a lot of weight over time. It's important to raise awareness of this issue, because people who overeat need to know that they are not alone and that they have nothing to be ashamed of. They need to know that they can overcome this. 

The third topic I've chosen is obesity. All three of these topics relate to each other. Food insecurity and overeating are just two of the causes of obesity; but there are even more. Another reason is that people have less time to exercise regularly, and less time to plan and prepare healthy meals. People's lack of time leads them to rely on fast food or unhealthy restaurant food, which often is served in way too large of a portion. The American way these days is to eat huge amounts of food. Our genes and family history can even lead to obesity. In addition, obesity leads to other health problems, like diabetes or heart disease. This issue has definitely impacted our country. We hear about America's high obesity rate all the time. So people are already aware of it. Now we need to think of things that we can do about it. Maybe we could help people learn how to make time in their day to exercise or eat healthier. We'd need to brainstorm this one as well.

I chose these three topics because they all sort of fit together. The first two are causes of obesity. But obesity could be a cause of the other two as well. Someone who is considered obese might feel bad about themselves and resort to overeating to try and feel better. There are many ways in which these three topics relate to each other, so it would be interesting to combine them and figure out a way to raise awareness about all of them, and find a way to fix them.