Childhood Obesity in the U.S. part 2- Revised

I concerned about the relationship between Childhood Obesity and fast food like french fries or hamburgers in MacDonald. MacDonald offers consumers a special meal for children called Happy Meal comes with toys which children are attracted. I agree with the Ban of Toys on Happy Meals in California.

The first reason for the ban of toys in Happy Meals is that children want to eat more and more after eating the fast food. When my daughter was an elementary student, she used to say frequently, “I want to eat French fries.” At the begging, her purpose nagging me buying French fries might to get a free toy in Happy Meals, but it seemed to be addictive after asking me repeatedly, so I avoided buying her French fries. USA Today, a magazine, reported, “ Because junk food has been shown to have addictive qualities, information and education are keys to changing attitudes, just as with the campaign smoking” (“Toy Story:San Francisco Bars”)

Second, children are addicted to collecting toys; there are a lot characters in a series of cartoons. Children want to eat the Happy Meals with their high calories, high fat and high sodium, repeatedly to get more toys, so it risks children’s health. The ordinance, the legislative Board of Supervisor, said, “Restaurants will be allowed to offer free toys, trading cards, admission tickets, or other treats only with meals containing fewer than 600 calories, fewer than 640 milligrams of sodium, less than 35 percent of calories from fat, and less than 10 percent saturated fat”(“Happy Meals Ban: No Toys for You”).

Finally, I point out that the TV advertisements on Happy Meals in McDonald used the attraction of toys to impress children the Happy Meals even though a hamburger, French fries, nuggets and soda harm children’s health. According to Elizabeth Fuller, “Customers have bought about 20 million McDonald’s Happy Meals since they were first introduced in 1979. The most popular toys in McDonald’s history were the Teen Beanie: more than 100 million were given away with Happy Meals” (“Happy Meal Ban :”). The facts indicate that many children have been consumed Happy Meals by attracted free toys although they are unhealthy food for children.

Overall, McDonald should stop giving free toys with Happy Meals because they come with unhealthy food and have a high risk leading to children childhood obesity. However, free toys are attractive and comfortable for little kids, and the parents want to decide whether they should give the Happy Meals to their kids or not. I suggest that the fast food restaurants should provide menus replaced with low calorie and healthy meals, such as vegetables, fruits, or baked potatoes if McDonald’s wants to keep giving toys to kids.

In addition, Michael Moss, a journalist of New York Times, points that the junk food is a legalized type of narcotic which is deliberated by manipulating three key ingredients- salt, sugar and fat. According to "Salt Sugar Fat", Moss also alleges that human beings' health issues, such as obesity, heart disease or diabetes, are directly associated with the ingredients, salt, sugar and fat.

My younger daughter, seventeen years old, likes pizza. I realized that it is not only palatable, but also fatty by the combination of fats, salt and sugar. As getting older, I wouldn't be likely to eat junk food or fast food like pizza, but my daughter sometimes wants to eat them. It might be hard to her to stop eating all of them. However, knowing and considering about how much calories, sugar or salt the food we eat contains is very important to all of us. Since my daughter knew how much sugar is included a bottle of soft drinks like soda, she has never drank them even though she prefer to drink soda whenever she eats a piece of pizza. 

 Works Cite

"California Town Bans Toys in Happy Meal." N.p., 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 29 May 2015.

Fuller, Elizabeth. "Happy Meal Ban: No Toys for You!" Christian Science Monitor 4 Nov. 2010: n. pag. EBCO Publishing. Web.

Moss, Michael. Sugar, Salt, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. N.p.: McClelland & Stewart, 2013. Print.

O'Callaghan, Tiffany. "California County Bans Toys in Happy Meals." Time Magazine n.d.: n. pag. Web.

"Toy Story: San Francisco Bars Happy Meal Treats for Tots." Usa Today n.d.: n. pag. EBSCO Publishing. Web. 26 May 2015.

Childhood Obesity in the U.S part 3

Obesity in the United States is chronic disease. "The Kids Menu", this documentary reveals hope in the fight against childhood obesity: When given information and options, kids often choose healthier eating habits. https://www.netflix.com/search?q=kids%20me&jbv=80092431&jbp=0&jbr=0

Joe Cross, the main caster in the documentary, says that the problem of the obesity is three-fold: lack of knowledge of what healthy foods are; how to prepare the health foods; and lack of access to healthy and affordable options.

People should eat whole food, such as grains, fruits and vegetables more than processed food.

It shows that the heath and wellness program in schools is a good way to solve those problems. Some of schools has the health and wellness class, and educators teach children about how they should eat healthier food in several ways.

A junior high school teacher leads students the harvest garden where she created in a school. She is growing plants, such as kale, lettuce, spinach, radish, carrot, or tomato with students. They pick up and eat them as the plants are grown and then realize that those vegetables are fresh and really yummy. Instead, they are willing to eat green or vegetables more than before.

It tells that school gardens are gateways. They are gateways for kids to try and fall in love with healthy food. They are gateways for parents and community members to get involved in the life of food in the school.

One of kid's mother in "the Food Corps" class says that he is appreciating the food and excited about the food that he made or what he learned about.

That is the goal of "the Food Corps" services, they come up with solutions to problems of health and wellness. They do hands- on lessons on gardening, cooking activities and running after- school clubs with the goal of trying to get kids to eat more  fresh fruits and vegetables.

Other teacher is talking about sugary drinks to high school students; for instance, one bottle of Gatorade is added 65 grams sugar. In other words, 4 grams sugar equal sugar of 1 table spoon, so 65 grams sugar equal sugar of 16 tea spoons. Students are surprised how much sugar there is in the sugary drinks they taken.

A doctor at the Harlem Hospital involves "the Fruit and Veggie Prescription Program", which she recommends a patient to get some more fruits and vegetables than processed food instead of writing a prescription of medicine.
In fact, a girl and her parents can change their lifetime: they don't eat fast food anymore and go to the farmers' market to get and eat whole food. Changing their eating habit causes the big impact that the girl's health is way better. She hasn't used any steroids for her asthma in three years.

Oil Spills on Marine Environments part 2

I wrote about the topic, “What is the most effective way to protect marine environments from industrial disasters?”, in my previous blog because I have seen many pictures of sea birds harmed by oil spills. 

First of all, I have a question why the oil spill occurred and spread into the ocean. Normally, it should not happen. The majority of causes are oil spills from tankers. Accidentally, oil has been released by many tankers since the Terry Canyon released 119,000 tons in 1967.

On the other hand, it became clear from the media smaller oil spills from tankers which were generally unknown also occurred a decade earlier in 1957. Recently, BP Deepwater Horizon Macondo Well 4 released oil spills of 700,000 tons in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Those many oil spills disasters have damaged the marine environment for the long term.

Therefore, someone has to restore the ocean and the environment. National Ocean Services offers to do this in several ways, such as boom, skimmer or in-situ burning to remove the oil.

However, they leave chemicals in the ocean after cleaning and removing oil spills. Chemicals also harm the marine environment.

So, what is the most efficient way to restore the ocean? It is bioremediation, which use naturally present microorganisms to clean up oil spills. It makes uses of bacteria living in the ocean that actually “eat” the oil when it enters their natural habitat. Adding sulfate or nitrate fertilizers to the microorganism population causes them to multiply beyond their natural state and eat up the toxic metals invading their home at up to five times the rate that they would without assistance. Bioremediation is an efficient solution to clean up oil spills because it doesn’t destroy the surrounding marine environment.

I hope that there will be some more bioremediation solutions which don’t damage the marine environment, so I can do more research in the future on bioremediation for marine oil spills. 

Works Cite

Australian Maritime Safety Authority, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

"Effects Of Oil Spills On Wildlife." Congressional

Digest 89.6 (2010): 170-192. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

"Gulf Oil Spill." Smithsonian Ocean Portal. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

"Impact Of Oil Spills." Congressional Digest 89.6 (2010): 167-192. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Response.restoration.noaa.gov." How Oil Harms Animals and Plants

in Marine Environments | Response.restoration.noaa.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2015　　　

      

           

Oil Spills on Marine Environment

Oil spill is one of water pollution, which human beings occurred, harms animals and planets in the ocean.

What is the oil spill? According to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, they say that oil spills are classified into five categories:  very light oils, light oils, medium oils, heavy oils and very oils. Those oils which don’t dissolve in water cause a lot of problems for marine environments, such as killing sea dwellers, damaging habitats or thwarting plants development. There are four main method to prevent long-term damage to environments from oil spills: booms, skimmers, chemicals and burning. Although human beings use oils necessary in everyday lives, we must make sure to use it and ensure what happens to next at the same time.
http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/winter-2012/oil-spills-severity-and-consequences-to-our-ecosystem#.ViLTmH4vfI

CNN shows that the largest oil spill is the Gulf War oil spills, and 252-336 million gallons were released by Iraqi forces. http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/13/world/oil-spills-fast-facts/

What are some major cause of oil spills? Mostly oil tanker ships spill oil. It causes concerns with adverse impacts on marine ecosystem or threats to the livelihood and well-being of people using seafood. http://libproxy.pcc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=91674348&site=ehost-live

How did it harm to marine environments? The consequences of oil spills cause a lo tot of chemical and toxic effects, such as benzine or carcinogens on marine environments. Refining those oils in ocean tends to be more toxic to organism because of containing chemicals, and less oils persisted in the water keep damaging in the water and impact on wildlife, such seabirds, whales, dolphin, sea turtles, and so on. http://www.amsa.gov.au/environment/maritime-environmental-emergencies/national-plan/general-information/oiled-wildlife/marine-life/index.asp

How was clean up the oil spill ocean? There are five innovation solutions for oil spills which clean up without destroying the surrounding environments. They are to contain the oil with giant underwater dome, to sop with the oil with mushrooms and hair, to utilize bacteria to eat up the oil. to soak up the oil with hyper absorbent peat moss, and to make oil-absorbing mats out of pet hair and pantyhose. http://inhabitat.com/top-5-green-ways-to-clean-up-oil-spills/

Childhood Obesity in the U.S. part 2

I concerned about the relationship between Childhood Obesity and fast food like french fries or hamburgers in MacDonald. MacDonald offers consumers a special meal for children called Happy Meal comes with toys which children are attracted. I agree with the Ban of Toys on Happy Meals in California. 

The first reason for the ban of toys in Happy Meals is that children want to eat more and more after eating the fast food. When my daughter was an elementary student, she used to say frequently, “I want to eat French fries.” At the begging, her purpose nagging me buying French fries might to get a free toy in Happy Meals, but it seemed to be addictive after asking me repeatedly, so I avoided buying her French fries. USA Today, a magazine, reported, “ Because junk food has been shown to have addictive qualities, information and education are keys to changing attitudes, just as with the campaign smoking” (“Toy Story:San Francisco Bars”)

Second, children are addicted to collecting toys; there are a lot characters in a series of cartoons. Children want to eat the Happy Meals with their high calories, high fat and high sodium, repeatedly to get more toys, so it risks children’s health. The ordinance, the legislative Board of Supervisor, said, “Restaurants will be allowed to offer free toys, trading cards, admission tickets, or other treats only with meals containing fewer than 600 calories, fewer than 640 milligrams of sodium, less than 35 percent of calories from fat, and less than 10 percent saturated fat”(“Happy Meals Ban: No Toys for You”).

Finally, I point out that the TV advertisements on Happy Meals in McDonald used the attraction of toys to impress children the Happy Meals even though a hamburger, French fries, nuggets and soda harm children’s health. According to Elizabeth Fuller, “Customers have bought about 20 million McDonald’s Happy Meals since they were first introduced in 1979. The most popular toys in McDonald’s history were the Teen Beanie: more than 100 million were given away with Happy Meals” (“Happy Meal Ban :”). The facts indicate that many children have been consumed Happy Meals by attracted free toys although they are unhealthy food for children.  

Overall, McDonald should stop giving free toys with Happy Meals because they come with unhealthy food and have a high risk leading to children childhood obesity. However, free toys are attractive and comfortable for little kids, and the parents want to decide whether they should give the Happy Meals to their kids or not. I suggest that the fast food restaurants should provide menus replaced with low calorie and healthy meals, such as vegetables, fruits, or baked potatoes if McDonald’s wants to keep giving toys to kids.

 Works Cite

"California Town Bans Toys in Happy Meal." N.p., 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 29 May 2015.

Fuller, Elizabeth. "Happy Meal Ban: No Toys for You!" Christian Science Monitor 4 Nov. 2010: n. pag. EBCO Publishing. Web.

O'Callaghan, Tiffany. "California County Bans Toys in Happy Meals." Time Magazine n.d.: n. pag. Web.

"Toy Story: San Francisco Bars Happy Meal Treats for Tots." Usa Today n.d.: n. pag. EBSCO Publishing. Web. 26 May 2015.

Childhood Obesity in the U.S

 I was surprised at the news which a state banned free toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals having been provided since in 1979. According to Tiffany O’Callaghan in the article, “California County Bans Toys on Happy Meals”, the resolution for prohibiting kids from giving play things with high calorie and high fat food, such as McDonald’s Happy Meals, is to protest the increase of childhood obesity; however, some associations are opposed to the ban. McDonald’s does not provide toys with Happy Meals for children because it causes childhood obesity.  

First of all, opponents think that parents have a fun time with their children if children get toys with the happy meals. I remember that I felt happy to see my children enjoying play with toys while eating the meal together. However, I have considered that the nutrition of the happy meals isn’t good. Elizabeth Fuller, writing in the article, “Happy Meal Ban: No Toys for You!”, contends, “Today, the most nutritious Happy Meal, with chicken nuggets, apple slices, and milk, has 390 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 560 milligram of sodium”. The facts show that Happy Meals have calorie-laden and have too much sodium and fat for children. 

Secondly, some people claim that the fast food is also convenient, cheap and tasty food. Then parents might feel admirable when they get children Happy Meals because free toys come with them. It might be a kind of attraction for them. In contrast, Mr. Yeager, the president of Santa Clara County, says, “In many of our neighborhoods, particularly poor Hispanic neighborhoods, there are nothing but fast food restaurants… And we’re finding that the childhood obesity rates in those neighborhoods are just continuing to skyrocket.”(“California Town Bans Toys in Happy Meals”) 

Thirdly, opponents allege that government doesn’t have a right prohibits free toys with McDonald’s Happy Meals because parents have a right to choose whether they give Happy Meals to their kids or not. “The key is making menu items’ nutritional content transparent to consumers. What they decided to do with that information should be their choice, not the government” (“Toy Story: San Francisco Bars Happy Meal Treats for Tots”). However, it is not only Happy Meals that increased risk of childhood obesity but also junk food: children prefer to eat potato chips or popcorn without thinking whenever they feel hungry. Although it is a crucial point for children that parents have to be more educated about food giving to their kids, banning toys in Happy Meals might be a way to prevent childhood obesity. Mr. Yeager, the president of Santa Clara County, says, “And so we decided, well, let’s see if we can break that connection between the toy and the unhealthy meals” (California Town Bans”). McDonald’s shouldn’t give toys to children because it strongly relates to the increase of childhood obesity.

  

Thanksgiving

I didn't know well about Thanksgiving Day in November because Japanese like me don't familiar with the event. I have had the third times Thanksgiving Day since I came here. My friends have invited my family to their house each year when Thanksgiving was coming. 

Another friend, Miki, invited my son and me to her dinner this Thanksgiving Day, and her husband, her children and her nephew also welcomed us warmly to their house. When I sit on the couch in the living room, Miki brought apple cider to me first. It was unusual drink for me before. I felt something strange because I had never drunk apple cider like hot apple juice when I drank it the first time. However, I know it well, so I can enjoy drinking the apple cider which is added cinnamon and spice now. 

After talking with each other for a while, I prayed and thanked for having a nice dinner with her family. Then I enjoyed having Thanksgiving dinner with her family. There were arranged a lot of dishes including traditional meals like turkey with cranberry sauce on the rectangle dinning table. All of the meals were delicious, and the vegetarian nut loaf which I haven't ever eaten gave me an impact and became one of my favorites. Of course, I enjoyed eating desserts, such as pumpkin pie, apple pie with whipping cream or ice cream. While I enjoyed having desserts, her nephew played violin for us. I felt so happy and comfortable during the night.

I suggest that Thanksgiving is similar to the event, Oshogatu in January in Japan. We Japanese usually convene at principle house the first of January to celebrate for new year. We enjoy sharing the time and eat Osechi which is a traditional meals for Oshogatu in Japan. So Thanksgiving Day could be heartwarming and comfortable time for family in the U.S. as like Japanese have on Oshogatu.