West End Middle Prep Topic of the Week: American Eating Habits

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "West End Middle Prep Topic of the Week: American Eating Habits"

Helen Paul
5 years ago
Views:

West End Middle Prep Topic of the Week: American Eating Habits Name: Date: Teacher: Write a reflection on what you think the graph(s) and Infographic(s) are communicating to you.

1 West End Middle Prep Topic of the Week: American Eating Habits Name: Date: Teacher: Write a reflection on what you think the graph(s) and Infographic(s) are communicating to you. To guide your response, start with observations and move towards analysis. What information is included in the infographic(s)? What does the x- and y- axis represent in the graph(s)? What are some observations you can make based on the images? What trends do you see? What predictions can you make? How do the two images agree, complicate, or disagree with one another? How does this information fit into what you see, know, and understand about the world around you? 1

2 Please read and annotate the following articles. Then, answer the questions below. Excerpt from Is Food Too Cheap For Our Own Good? By Drew Desilver, Pew Research Center May 23, According to a new article in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Americans in the 1930s spent a quarter of their disposable income on food. That share has fallen steadily through the decades, to the point where today less than 10% of Americans disposable dollars go for food. (That varies across income groups, of course: The poorest 20% of Americans still spend about a third of their disposable income on food.) 2 And even as the real cost of food goes down, each dollar we spend buys us more calories than it used to. The average American s total caloric intake (adjusted for spoilage and other waste) rose from 2,109 calories in 1970 to 2,568 calories in 2010, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data the equivalent of an extra steak sandwich every day. Little surprise, then, that more than 78 million U.S. adults, or 34.9%, were obese in more than twice the rate found in a health survey. 3 It d be nice to think that all we as a people need to do is exercise more and eat more fruits and vegetables. But as the authors of the new paper point out, we re already doing that: 51% of people in a 2009 study reported exercising regularly, up from 46% in Americans, as a whole, also ate more fresh fruits and vegetables in 2010 than they did in 1970 (though again, that varies considerably among different groups). [I]f people had access to more produce or cheaper produce, or just ate more of it, would they eat less candy and be thinner? the researchers ask in conclusion. Probably not. About A Third of US Kids Ate Fast Food Today By Allison Aubrey, NPR September 17, Fast food is an undeniable part of American culture. We've probably all encountered the McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" jingle and the white-goateed Colonel Sanders of KFC at least once, if not hundreds, of times. 2 The big fast-food chains market their foods to us constantly. And our children see, on average, three to five fast-food ads per day. 3 So perhaps the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new findingsshouldn't come as a surprise. "About 34 percent of all children and adolescents, aged 2 to 19, consume fast food on a given day," says Cheryl Fryar of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. 4 In other words, every day about 1 in 3 kids in the U.S. is chowing down on fries, burgers, pizza or other fast-food favorites. 5 And despite all the promptings to eat more healthfully, this rate of fast-food consumption hasn't budged in the past 15 years. 6 So even if McDonald's bottom line is hurting right now, it seems Americans' overall appetite for fast food is as strong as ever. The CDC has found that adult consumption of fast food mirrors what it is seeing in kids. 7 Part of the appeal is price. For example, a burger or ice cream off the dollar or value menu is cheap. And c'mon, admit it: French fries can be hard to resist. Fast-food menus are geared to our most basic desires. 8 "We're programmed to seek sweet and salty foods, and fast food knows how to pander to those cravings," says pediatrician Stephen Pont at Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, who is chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics section on obesity. 2

3 9 And once kids have a habit of eating these foods, it's hard to break it. 10 "A particular challenge with teenagers is that they all feel invincible, and they're not as sensitive to the long-term impacts of [diet] on their health," Pont says. 11 So it seems fast food's trifecta of marketing, affordability and taste has a hold on America's youth. And even as fastfood giant McDonald's is increasingly competing with fast-casual chains such as Five Guys and Chipotle, the basic formula remains the same. 12 "I think it speaks to how big a role fast food plays in how we eat in America," says Julia Wolfson, a doctoral student and researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 13 Shifting our preferences away from salt, sugar and fat is no small task. 14 But, Wolfson says, there seems to be some progress. She points to evidence that the major fast-food chains are trying to make their menus more healthful. 15 McDonald's, for instance, downsized its Happy Meal portions. And it has introduced new kinds of salads and added kale to its breakfast bowls in some locations. 16 As we've reported, Wolfson's research points to changes across the board. "We have found that fast-food restaurants have been introducing new menu items that are on average 60 calories lower than old menu items," Wolfson says. 17 Wolfson says if this trend continues, it could make a difference. Kids are eating about 190 calories per day in fast-food calories. So if you think about shaving 60 calories off, "that's a good chunk out of the total." 18 Of course, there's lots of room for improvement. 19 There are still lots of sugary drinks, double burgers and dollar desserts to tempt us and our offspring. Are American s Eating Better? Income Inequality Still Has a Seat At The dinner Table June 21, 2016, PBS 1 Much has been written about the growing income inequality in the United States. But another kind of gap is also widening between us, and it s at the dinner table. 2 Overall, Americans are eating better. In the decade leading up to 2012, the number of people eating a poor diet fell from around 56 percent to under 46 percent. 3 But if you separate people out by income, it s a different story. High-income Americans are eating better than ever swapping fruit juice for whole fruits, replacing refined grains with whole grains, and eating tons of nuts while the lowincome group has improved much more modestly. 4 In other words, much like our politics and our incomes, the way Americans eat is becoming more and more divided. Over the years, researchers have surveyed people to find out what they re eating, asking them to report every little detail of the previous 24 to 48 hours worth of meals. From that, they ve plotted various trends sodium intake, amount of potatoes eaten, etc. 5 To get a glimpse of the overall healthiness of people s diets, scientists used a rating system from the American Heart Association. The AHA s ideal diet includes lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fish, while minimizing sugar, salt, processed meat, and saturated fat. People who meet less than two-fifths of these goals were classified as having a poor diet; those in the range up to 80 percent were classed as having an intermediate diet. 3

4 6 At the highest echelon, the elusive ideal diet is achieved by less than 2 percent of the population few enough that the researchers weren t able to study it in detail. 7 What they did find was that changes in diet are very much a class affair. Low-income people those making less than around $30,000 for a family of four still eat poorly. Just over 38 percent of low-income people eat an intermediate diet, versus 62 percent of high-income people (making more than around $69,000 for a family of four) who have an intermediate diet. 8 Put differently, almost twice as many people at low incomes have poor diets compared to people at the highest income level, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, professor of nutrition at Tufts University and the lead author of the study published in JAMA on Tuesday. 9 And because in absolute numbers more people are poor now than a decade ago, that effect is even greater than it may at first seem. 10 What could be driving this trend? Food cost is undoubtedly part of the reason, but it doesn t fully explain it, Mozaffarian said. There s a perception that healthier foods cost more, and part of that is people think of Whole Foods and other places, but there are plenty of healthy foods in a grocery store that are relatively inexpensive. And certainly almost any food in a grocery store is less expensive than going and getting it pre-prepared. 11 Other, less tangible factors therefore also play a role. There s a time cost to buying foods and preparing them yourself. There s a knowledge barrier, Mozaffarian said. 12 In addition, junk food and fast food are especially heavily marketed to low-income people. Marketing has gotten better and more subtle and more insidious, Mozaffarian said. 13 Mozaffarian thinks that many policies could help close the diet gap, but would especially like to see reform of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (formerly the Food Stamps program), to include incentives for eating healthy. Right now, people can buy any kinds of food with SNAP except hot foods or prepared foods. The low-income people monitored in the survey are all SNAP-eligible, so reform of that program would likely have a big effect. 14 Other ways to improve the diet among the poor, Mozaffarian suggests, include taxes on junk food, healthy school lunch programs, making healthy food available at work sites, and regulatory limits on trans fats, added sugar, and sodium. 15 As the economy in general has worsened, people who are worse off have suffered the most and we see that with food too, he said. 4

5 What connections can you make between the articles and the images/graphs from yesterday? Be specific! How do the articles and graphs connect with, agree with, complicate, or disagree with one another? Use evidence and paraphrasing in your writing. What are two questions you have after reading the articles? 5

6 Analyze and take notes on at least three of the following resources. Then, make connections between the sources you have studied this week, explain how the new information/sources may complicate, add to, or go against what you have learned. Work to rationalize what seems to be most accurate in your writing. Video: Science of NFL Football Video: Nutrition, Hydration, & Health Video: We re Not Buying It: Stop Junk Food Marketing to Kids, Prevention Institute Video: Europeans are Healthier Than Americans, BuzzFeed Notes Connections Article: Cooking for Cancer Patients, Teens Learn More Than Recipes, NPR Article: Fast Food Teens in All Sizes, CBS News Charts/Article: Pbulic Views About American s Eating Habits, Pew Research Center Political Cartoons: (on next page) 6

7 7

8 After reading and researching American Eating Habits, you will create a program aimed at increasing healthy eating habits within a specific age group (under 10, 10-14, 15-20, 20-35, 35-50, 50+). Consider what types of appeals and strategies will work best to convince your audience that your program will help them to become healthier individuals. Be sure to explain what the benefits of your program are! Use evidence from this week s texts to support your program organization and plan. You will be creating an informational pamphlet for your program, which must include the following: Detailed description of your program (1 paragraph) The problem(s) that your program addresses (1 paragraph) Why the program will be beneficial to your age group (1 paragraph) At least two images (printed, drawn, or glued on) Does your work Include all required parts of the project? Accurately explain and teach the target audience how to improve their health/habits? Accurately use resources and evidence to support your ideas? Use correct grammar and punctuation, as well as clear fonts and graphics? Include mostly your own writing and opinions (no plagiarism)? Use techniques to specifically target your age group? 8

9 Use this space to make a draft of your program brochure. 9

10 Use this space to make a draft of your program brochure. 10

11 Presentation Notes Student Name Target Audience Main Concepts of Program Do you agree that this program will have a positive effect? Why or why not? 11

12 Topic of the Week Grading Rubric Concerns Criteria Advanced Areas that Need Work Standards for This Week s Work Evidence of Exceeding Standards Use my classroom time effectively and purposefully to exceed expectations and goals for this week both academically and behaviorally. - Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched the topic under study and explicitly drawing on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, texts, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion. Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. Support my written claims with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic. My reflection on my work this week: Some things that I did well or successfully are Some things that I need to improve, focus on, or practice are 12

Nutrition. For the classroom teacher: Nutrition, cancer, and general health. Did you know? Nutrition stats

Nutrition. For the classroom teacher: Nutrition, cancer, and general health. Did you know? Nutrition stats For the classroom teacher: Nutrition, cancer, and general health There s no doubt about it eating a healthy diet is important so that kids get the nutrients they need to be healthy and grow strong. Eating