UNCP's Health Center

I didn't know how useful this schools health center was until recently. Since I've got this cold they have been providing me with medicine and all the other supplies to get rid of it. The health center is also useful for other things, such as information about your health, check ups, and vaccinations. And the best part is IT'S ALL FREE!! Your financial aid covers everything. So if your ever feeling down, stop by the health center. You might as well since you already paid for it.

Depression

Depression is a mood disorder that makes you feel sad, and makes you want to be isolated from the world basically. When many people feel sad for a couple of hours, they usually say that they are under depression but true clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or longer. The cause of depression is not yet known, although many chemist believes it comes from chemical changes in the brain. It could come from stressful situations or it could even run in your family. But they believe it's both of those causes together. Depression can change or distort the way you see yourself, your life, and those around you. People who have depression usually see everything with a more negative attitude, unable to imagine that any problem or situation can be solved in a positive way. There are ways that you could get tested to see if you actually have a mood disorder or if you're just feeling sad for a temporary moment. There's also treatment for depression. I have family members that suffered from this mood disorder and it can be treated.

Research Proposal

“Are fast food restaurants the blame for childhood obesity?”

A topic that I was interested in is childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents. It occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start children on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults. Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. An estimated 17 percent of children and adolescents (ages 2-19 years) are obese in the U.S. Obese children are at risk for numerous health problems during their youth and into adulthood. Children who are obese are more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes. Not to mention the psychological toll obesity has on children, which can lead to drug and alcohol abuse, depression, eating disorders and other health issues. Because of these health problems, childhood obesity is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. Healthier habits must be established early on. Children who are obese are more likely to become obese as adults. And the health risks continue. Numerous studies have shown that a child who is obese between the ages of 10 and 13 has an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult. But with proper nutrition, exercise and support, children can lose the weight and develop healthy habits for life. The dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents are influenced by many sectors of society, including families, communities, schools, child care settings, medical care providers, faith-based institutions, government agencies, the media, and the food and beverage industries and entertainment industries. Schools play a particularly critical role by establishing a safe and supportive environment with policies and practices that support healthy behaviors. Schools also provide opportunities for students to learn about and practice healthy eating and physical activity behaviors.

There are a lot of overweight children in Robeson County, especially at the Boys and Girls Club where I work at. I would like to come up with ways to avoid childhood obesity so that children could live a healthier and better life. A research question that I would consider to research would be, “Are fast food restaurants the blame for childhood obesity?” At a young age, children are exposed to a lot of fast food restaurants and they become sort of addicted to it. Most young children do not know that McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s and all these other fast food restaurants are bad for their health, and they most likely do not know that it affects their appearance. That’s where a parent would be involved in this research topic, because the parents are the ones that buy the food for the children. The food at fast food restaurants have so much fatty substances in them, and there’s a lot of food that is sold there that we don’t even know what it’s composed of! Also, parents are fooled by the fast food ads that they show. The food may look healthy but in reality, it could possibly be the most fatting and unhealthy thing at the restaurant. This is a research question that I believe would be very beneficial to parents and children.

Whats going in your body?..

.. wouldnt you want to know.

I havent always wondered what type of sugars and fats that were going in my body. It wasnt until recently i started to wonder. I've always been on of those people that would eat anything they want and wouldnt think twice about it. Then one day i started paying attention to the Nutrition Facts thats on items i eat. I cant lie, I couldnt believe how my unhealthy things i was consuming on a daily basis. Ever since then, i started reading the labels on things and making sure they contain healthy thing that will benefit my body, not harm it.

Stuffy Nose? Fix it.

So as you know its "winter", although it doesn't seem like it. This has to be the hottest winter ever. The weather goes from 50 degrees one day to 90 the  next. A lot of people are enjoying this weather, but in reality they need to realize its a bad thing in so many ways. One of the ways its a bad thing is it effects our health. It causes us to get colds and other sicknesses. That being said, if you end up catching a cold you will need get better and you can find some helpful tips here to help you become your healthy self again.

Become more active!

I think that if people developed more hobbies that people's health wouldn't be so bad. It would also keep them from focusing on smoking, drugs, and all these other bad things that ruining their health. Just simply joining a sports team or going on a walk can improve your health. If you just sit at home all day and eat, you're just hurting yourself. Later on in life you're going to regret it and wished that you were more active. So begin while you're young and BECOME MORE ACTIVE! You will not regret it in the future.

My reflection on ENG1060 so far..

So far in English 1060, we've read articles and watched documentaries about health issues. These articles and documentaries helped me on my portfolio. I learned that there are many ways you can research topics and information (via web, blogs, books, articles, etc.) I worked on my reading skills by taking time out of the day and reading the articles Dr.Dundee gives us to read,  but I need to work on focusing what its actually talking about. I tend to read things but don't pay attention for the meaning of why its been written. I worked on my writing skills by having other people read over my work and correcting me. I also worked on my research skills by researching about community health for my blogs and interview in various places. I learned that community health and wellness was not as healthy/well as I thought it was. Our health system could use a lot more improvement. If I could do this project over again, I would've asked many more questions. After listening to my interview I thought of a lot more questions I could have asked. If I would've asked more questions it could have gave the interviewee more opportunities to express her thoughts about the county's health.

Obesity

Obesity has become a huge problem in the US, especially within children. Lately, I've been seeing a lot of over weight little kids. Who is to blame for this issue? Most likely the parents. Parents should take watch what types of food their children intake and make sure they have a healthy diet. The environment we live in could also be the blame for this. As you ride around town, there's always multiple fast food restaurants on the side of the road. When people are out handling their business or just to lazy to cook, they tend to just eat the closest thing they see which is a fast food restaurant. We should have more healthier places we could stop at to eat. I believe if we did have healthier fast food places, obesity wouldn't be a huge issue as it is now.

My Lunch

I know I said that after watching that McDonald's video that I wasn't going to eat there anymore, but this afternoon I ate some McDonald's. All I could think about while eating my mcnuggets meal was that my food wasn't gonna digest. I'm going to probably think about that video every time I eat at Mickey D's. But, I also started to wonder if its just McDonald's that has food like that. What about Burger King, Wendy's, or even Taco Bell. I remember when there was a rumor going around about Taco Bell using fake meat, but that was a long time ago. So that McDonald's video made me want to do more research on these other fast food restaurants.

Oral history on Food

Food: From Source to Salespoint (C821), is a National Life Stories project, and it charts the revolutionary changes which have occurred within Britain's food industry in the course of the twentieth century. The interviews explore the technological and social changes which have affected the production, distribution and retailing of food, as well as documenting the history of Britain through our attitudes to food.

What is McDonalds food REALLY made of?! Hmmm.

After watching the McDonald's video on our class blog, it made me start thinking, "what is their food really made of?" The lady had a 3 year old hamburger and fries from McDonald's and it didn't spoil or anything, which is abnormal. It looked just like it would look as if it was just recently purchased. Watching that video changed my whole outlook on McDonald's food because something doesn't seem right.