NY Times Article

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Effects of Obesity

The New York Times article, “The Urgency in Fighting Childhood Obesity,” by Jane E. Brody, was about how some life-threating ailments in adulthood are consequences of childhood obesity. Brody’s purpose in writing the article was to persuade her readers about the long-term effects an obese child could encounter with findings from various research studies. Also, she wanted her readers to take action by changing an obese child’s lifestyle and habits so that they won’t have to face life-threatening illnesses. The main point of the article was to prevent obesity and give children the opportunity to eat healthy to reduce the number of obese children and fatal illnesses worldwide. Brody was successful in persuading her readers about the topic by including findings from other articles about childhood obesity and their accompanying illnesses.

In the article, Brody included more than two research studies from different countries around the world that are related to childhood obesity and illnesses, like heart disease, cancer, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes (Brody 2016). Two studies in Denmark followed and updated half a million children and found that a high body mass index is associated with the increased risk of developing colon cancer (Wang 2016) and suffering from an early stroke as an adult (Klingen 2016). Neither studies indicated whether being overweight led to having cancer and/ or stroke, but they noticed that overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults, unless they change and maintain a healthier lifestyle (Klingen 2016; Wang 2016). According to the results from Eric Robinson’s research article, he discovered that overweight children tend to get fatter as they reach adulthood (Robinson and Sutin 2016). Researchers Jeffrey Hunger and Janet Tomiyama suggested that labeling and calling children “fat” can impact their health. In their study, they discovered that adolescents, who reported having been labeled “too fat” by a family member or peer, were more likely to become obese nearly a decade later (Hunger and Tomiyama 2014). Dr. Daniels suggested that parents should limit unhealthy foods and beverages at home. Also, he suggested that children should eat the right amount of fruits and vegetables, spend more time in physical activities, and less time playing with electronics.

Brody provided useful information and included results from the study. Brody wrote in an objective style because she included statistics, findings, as well as short descriptions of the methodology from various published research studies. The science presented in the article was understandable because she used simple vocabulary words so that her readers can comprehend and learn about the results. She presented percentages in the articles, which are helpful for the readers to think about the chances an obese child could potentially encounter. Also, percentages provided information about the results and are useful to compare something against another.

Towards the end, Brody included information not from scholarly articles, such as an expert’s opinion. She interviewed Dr. Daniels of the University of Colorado, who shared his thoughts on how to change an obese child’s eating habits and lifestyle.  He gave information for the readers to process and to think about when they see and want to help children to live a healthier lifestyle. This article is recommended for college students, professors, and scientists. There are few science terms, like high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin, and triglycerides, so people who know these terms would quickly understand the article. The readers could also be any person that wants to learn about childhood obesity and the possible obstacles that an obese child could encounter in their future.

 

 

 

Reference Page

Brody, J. (2016, July 5). The Urgency in Fighting Childhood Obesity. Retrieved from            https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/the-urgency-in-fighting-childhoodobesity/

Hunger, J.M., Tomiyama, A.J. (2014, June). Weight Labeling and Obesity: A Longitudinal Study   of Girls Aged 10 to 19 Years. JAMA Pediatr. 168(6), 579–580.            doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.122

Klingen, L. (2016, Jun 2). High child BMI and gain in BMI increases the risk of early stroke in            adulthood. Retrieved from https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/high-child-bmi-and-gain-in-bmi- increases-the-risk-of-early-stroke-in-adulthood

Robinson, E., Sutin, A. (2016, May 5).  Parental Perception of Weight Status and Weight Gain Across  Childhood. Pediatr. 137(5), e20153957. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-3957

Wang, J. (2016, June 2). Higher body mass index at age 13 years increases risk of colon cancer in         adulthood. Retrieved from https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/higher-body-mass-index-at-age-  13-years-increases-risk-of-colon-cancer-in-adulthood