Making "Nutrition/Health" classes mandatory will do very little if the students themselves are unwilling to learn about the topic at hand. On the other hand, it will force those who already know about the subject to take another "useless" required class.
As a whole, the American public is composed of a lot of lazy, apathetic idiots who will do very little to find out information for themselves. Instead of taking the initiative to do some minimal research and thus finding out the fast food is indeed terrible for the average person's health, the public insists that the information be spoon-fed to them.
The same logic holds true for a majority of obese children/adults. You're overweight? Go exercise, and stop eating foods full of saturated fat and high fructose corn syrup. While obesity is certainly a valid medical condition for some, for others it's brought about by a combination of various problems that don't include the physical inability to control one's food intake.
Keep it an elective, so it's available for those who want to learn about the subject. It's their problem if they don't care don't care about their own physical health.
No, some people can't control how they can or cannot eat. Comparing a food addiction to a smoking addiction doesn't make much sense: food is a necessity for survival, while smoking tobacco is a luxury and nothing more.
Not everyone thinks like you do, nor do all people pay attention to what the media has to say. There are a significant amount of people that really do not know just how bad fast food is for one's health.
Health can be considered to be a GE first year class, and thus become a prequisite for the more advanced Nutrition class. Additionally, there might too much information to simply stuff all of it in a year-long class.
There are overweight people who exercise two times a day every day and try to eat as best as they can yet fail to lose absolutely any weight. Why does this happen to them? Because they have no idea what they are doing and they are falling prey to all the faulty and misleading weight loss advertisement in magazines and television commercials. This is exactly what I am trying to stop, people falling victims to something when they are trying their hardest to fight their condition. You know how demoralizing it is to spend a month trying to lose weight having hunger pangs every day and being so tired from all your exercise only to notice you have
gained weight or virtually stayed the same?
I know not everyone would take a nutrition class seriously but how many adults remember Shakespeare from their High School literature class days? There will be many people who benefit from a Nutrition class. Students will grow up and become parents who will be able to pass this knowledge on to their children. Nutrition encompasses a much broader and important topic than gaining weight. Pregnant women and sick patients are especially sensitive to changes in nutrition. I am sure that a woman bearing a baby would like to make sure her baby will be born as healthy as possible.
If you are talking about teaching you things you already know, then why do colleges make you sit through two years of basics, when you learn absolutely all of it through High School? Why did my high school require art electives to graduate? There are many instances of classes that really were not necessary. Nutrition is something people are faced with day to day.
You're being inconsistent with your definition of "eating out" here. In the first instance, you essentially describe eating out as "going to a nice restaurant for dinner," which, of course, is a luxury. However, in the second instance, you use "eating out" simply to describe all of the instances where one does not eat at home (hence, eating out).
So in that sense, for the poorer parts of America that consume fast food for the majority of their meals, fast food is most definitely not a luxury.
I'll give you that. It might be more feasible to split the two sections into just semesters, but that essentially would leave us with just a 1 year class of Nutrition/Health. Anyone else have any ideas on this?
You are right and wrong. You are right in the sense that many things you buy at grocery stores do require time to cook and prepare but they also offer many options that can be eaten readily without time to prepare. In a way, nobody is completely forced to eat out at fast food restaurants no matter how much money they have. Groceries are usually not as expensive as restaurants anyway.
Many of the working class do not have the time to cook for themselves; hence they go to somewhere like Jack in the Box and a few items off the value menu and call that dinner.
Having a home, and the kitchen that comes along with it, isn't a given for some. The homeless don't have the opportunity to cook their own meals, so they go to the cheapest place to get something that's warm and somewhat filling. Just because you have the luxury to be able to choose when you want to eat out and when you don't, doesn't mean the same holds true for everyone else.
You are correct for the most part, except when you mention that they have no other choice. Eveyone has choices. However, homeless people are also not the ones suffering from obesity usually either. They should though hopefully understand that eating at Jack in the Box is giving them poorer nutrition than they should be getting if they aren't going to be able to eat much. Of course, whole other different issue.
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I'm not trying to argue that a health class will help people learn all of the skills that they need to survive in the real world. However, that's irrelevant, a nutrition class is there to teach today's children about nutrition (and hopefully start them on a path that doesn't lead down to obesity); it's really not regarding the already obese adults who don't even attend school anymore.
I was simply describing this situation for your benefit; it wasn't part of the argument directed towards whether a nutrition class should be made mandatory or not.
This is a good point and I understand Nutrition classes do leave this gaping hole in the battle against Obesity, but it wouldn't be long until the generations pass and everyone would have this knowledge already. Besides, if there is a growing concern for health and proper nutrition, the food companies that make the unhealthy food might start going out of business, so the uninformed obese adults would be cornered into eating healthier.
I'm in agreement with Miharu on this, the cause of this is apathy and lack of initiative. And nutrition classes aren't the solution to this. They are certainly beneficial though - to those who care.
Exactly, those who care are suffering from all their fruitless efforts.
Wow, this has attracted a lot of attention.
The best thing to do would add an additional required elective for all students that don't pass a physical, or are interested in getting healthier. I'd hate to have to attend a health class because everyone else didn't take care of themselves.
Just give the kids the option, and if they choose to not take it, they'll just be a statistic. But don't require them to eat healthy if they want to get out of school.
If you select certain students who don't pass the "healthy" or "weight" requirements and put them in a class you are going to do much harm. There are going to be complaints, lawsuits, and destroyed self-esteems everywhere. This is no different than when the United States rounded up all Japanese Americans during World War II. You can't separate people because of some of their characteristics from the rest of the community, we have learned from history time and again that this is cruel and wrong. I know we aren't particularly trying to harm those kids if we separate them, but in the end we would end up hurting them much more.
Heh, you actually bring up a really good point, I hadn't thought of that myself.
In this day and age, you'll have parents complaining about how their overweight kids are going to be ostracized and ridiculed because of this class, but it indeed would be a very nice solution for those who can't pass the physical. But on the same, note, I doubt that this would ever be put into effect, simply because parents these days are far too overprotective when it comes to anything concerning their children (don't even need to mention the budget crisis).
Exactly. This class should be mandatory because absolutely
everyone benefits from having more knowledge on nutrition, even the most physically fit. Even those that appear extremely outwardly healthy can improve their bodily functions and overall longevity through nutrition. When you reach old age, the long years of taking care of your diet will be worthwhile.
You know what's a little upsetting? I used to love playing "Powerball", a game that's exactly like dodgeball, but with softer kickballs. They were almost foam. Well, I figured out my old Middle School banned that game because it made obese children feel bad. I figured someone was hurt. Now, in my opinion, that's among the stupidest thing schools have done so far. If I was that fat, I'd be motivated to lose weight so I could play dodgeball.
You're absolutely right. I can understand why some parents are overprotective, but they're ruining the US, in my humble opinion. They nurture too much, and keep their kids on a tight leash. Nobody goes outside anymore. So you can only assume that everyone's inside, being fed big, 4 coarse meals by their loving mothers.
Ironically, did you know 4 meals helps one lose weight more than 3 meals? In fact, the more meals your body has, the more weight you can lose and the faster your metabolism. For men the recommended amount of daily meals is 7, and for women 6. Instead of eating three large meals you separate them into 7 meals. What does this do? It keeps your body digesting all day in smaller amounts, so there is no stress on your digestive system and at the same time your body is burning calories trying to digest food. The result is an enormous boost in your metabolism.
People don't know this, and choose to eat less. Eating less gives you a sluggish metabolism and you store absolutely everything. So yeah you have two meals but it all gets stored, unlike the guy eating 7 meals and burning everything.
The misconceptions on nutrition are so vast. If you guys knew how little most people know, you would really be surprised.
In my opinion, the concerned citizens and leaders should feel nothing but guilt for starting this problem in the first place.
It started with the removal of Recess (is that a universal term? If not, then a time when kids play outside during the school day). The point of Recess is to involve exercise early in a child's life and to release the anxiety/nerves that a child builds up during class time. The removal solved....what exactly? More time to learn?
I use to play Basketball, Football, Kickball, and Tag during Recess in elementary school. It was the highlight of my day! Being free felt awesome, and if I wasn't running around joyfully, I was sitting in the fresh air studying for a test or reading a comic book (or trading Pokemon cards!)
Middle school Recess was...still good. We had an oddly shaped valley to play in, which contained this huge hill. One day, a kid fell down the hill and broke his leg. The very next day, a kid broke his arm playing soccer. After that, recess was abolished.
The cure for childhood obesity is exposing these kids *not* to the risks of overeating, but to the FUN of exercise! Usually these traits carry on throughout the years. I still, to this day, love Basketball. I am a Springboard Diver, and I may not be in the best of shape, but I think working out is very fun. The kids today are ultra artificial, and that is part of the problem.
You are right as exercise is a great stimulating activity for children, there are many more problems that need to be solved. First off, childhood obesity isn't the only problem we have, we have obesity on all ages. Secondly, as people grow up and have more responsibilities time for exercise seems to be less and less important. Thirdly, there are plenty of overweight people who push themselves to an extreme exercising and have no results because of their improper follow-up nutrition.
They only allowed Recess in elementary school, and in my county, it was only 15 minutes long.
Schools always have outdoor programs, like Gym. So despite getting rid of recess, you're still required to exercise. I can't say I like how the education system does things, they're beyond stupid when it comes to solving problems. Bringing back recess would be great, and even TV networks like Cartoon Network have an entire 'Get Animated' campaign that wants to bring back recess.
I'm all for exercise, even more so than being inside all day and learning about things that are don't apply in real life. Never in my entire life have I needed to use some of the things I was taught in school, so they could be a little more generous with recess time. Excellent argument, Meta-Kirby.
Recess is definitely a plus. Schools that removed recess were not making the smartest choices. Recess should be supervised a little more, that's all.
We do not have to talk about adults, what about a kid sitting in this class, but is trapped by poverty, he can not utilize his knowledge due to factors he can not control. How do you help there?
About recess, it has not been abolished in my county, and it lasts 30+minutes from what I remembered. Good point
Fun activity> class.
You make a good point. A kid has little control over his poverty because of his experience, age, and resources. However, what are you trying to say, that a poor kid has no choice but to be obese? He can influence his parents to buy more quality food with what is available to them, or choose to pick up orange juice instead of a donut in the cafeteria line.
He may not be able to utilize that knowledge during his current state, but if the rest of his education goes well (goes to college, gets a decent job, etc), he someday may be able to put that information to use. In turn, his future children would then benefit, and so on.
This "obesity epidemic" really is a combination of a multitude of problems, and one simple health class won't be able to solve. But it doesn't hurt to brainstorm ideas about a course that may potentially help the situation out in the long run.
Right, the kid would reach a point in his life where he would have the experience, age, and resources to utilize his knowledge. However, as Nutrition classes aren't the absolute answer and cure to obesity, it is a start. Knowledge is the initial key and catalyst that is needed, amongst other things. I understand that it won't make miracles but I just find that if schools are teaching me how to paint and draw better, why can't they teach me to eat better, which is something I need to survive and do it on a daily basis?
Informing about nutrition and health care should be a part of biology classes in school (probably a more important one than in the moment) - transforming it into an own subject would be exaggerated in my opinion. The parents are primarily responsible for what their children eat etc.
Correct, and these children who receive nutritional information would eventually become the parents making the decisions for their own children.
Personally I think that nutrition classes and information about obesity should start before High School. I'm 13 years old, in 8th grade, and In P.E. we go out play sports but many kids are able to stand around and do nothing if they feel like it, so therefore that argument that P.E. can help prevent obesity isn't necessarily valid.
At my junior high, we do not have a health class, so kids don't learn about all this stuff. So basically, at my school, there is nothing to effectively counter obesity. Health classes should start in elementary school, not High School, because we clearly in the U.S. (where I live) have a problem with this. I don't know much about obesity in other countries, but it is still an important issue everywhere no matter what.
You are right, but Nutrition is a much more complicated subject than you can imagine. Even though I am in no way qualified to decide when would be the most appropriate time to teach students about Nutrition, but there should definitely be some elementary and junior high programs. They can be simple for the little ones like "donuts are bad, juice is good. Candy is bad, vegetables are good."
