Emaciated Children in Ethiopia and Kenya - Essay Example

From time to time, there are television news flashes of emaciated children in countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya. These images are sometimes haunting and highlight the utter helplessness of those on the frontlines who may have very little to offer to these poor souls. Whereas these poor people in Africa and elsewhere become emaciated because of lack of food, in affluent countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, some people actually starve themselves in order to conform to the thin image that is supposed to portray beauty. For many years, there have been concerns that the media’s emphasis on the thin image has been luring too many young people, especially girls, towards harming themselves through forced dieting, leading to the possibility of their becoming anorexic. As it turns out, it is only a small minority of these young people who are paying attention to the images of thinness and beauty. For the vast majority the taste of junk food is too difficult to resist and their easy availability at home and in school has resulted in increasingly expanding waistlines even among very young children. In the United Kingdom and in other affluent societies, as the attention of the society has turned towards obese children and their problems, the question has arisen as to whether the introduction of healthy meals in the school system will help cure childhood obesity. As this paper argues, there is a very high likelihood that wholesale implementation of healthy nutrition programs in schools will help cure obesity, provided that parents do their part on the home front to control what children eat and to provide healthy food rather than allow the eating of junk food to undo any benefits that the children might be gaining through school nutritional programs. Over the past fifteen years, in the United Kingdom, obesity has been increasing among both adults and children. It is not in the UK alone, however, where this trend has been observed. One of the main reasons attention has been centered of late on children is that childhood obesity is linked with adult obesity. In other words, if a child is fat it is likely that he or she will grow into a fat person and experience all the associated negative elements attached to this condition, including the possibility of health problems. Factors that have been linked with obesity risk among children include “parental obesity, low socio-economic status and early maturation (Parsons et al, 1999; cited in McCarthy, Jarrett, & Crawley 2001 p.902). While children cannot choose their parents or influence the socio-economic status of their parents to any great degree there is another obesity-related element for which there could be some meaningful interventions. Regarding the prevalence of obesity among children, even at the age of 5, research indicates that “Problems include low fruit and vegetable consumption, high consumption of soft drinks and the skipping of breakfast. The study also indicates that ‘body dissatisfaction’ and dieting are common and that a substantial number of young people in all countries do not meet the current recommended guidelines for physical activity” (Mikkelsen, Rasmussen & Young 2005 p. 7). In the book, Food Politics, the author, M. Nestle, who served as an advisor to the United States Surgeon General in the preparation of a national report on nutrition, explains that whereas in the past, nutritional deficiencies were a concern, in recent years, the problem, in the United States and other wealthy nations, is rather one of overabundance. “ She describes how the overabundance of food has produced fierce competition among food companies to attain their share of this $700 billion industry by influencing consumers to eat more of their products. Companies have learned that sales increase when vitamins are added to foods, even unhealthy ones, and when the Food and Drug Administration allows labels to claim that a food has a health benefit, such as lowering cholesterol” (Margolis 2003 p. 477). In the book, the author also focuses on dietary recommendations that the United States government has been giving from as far back as 1917 in trying to combat the food favoured by Americans which are often sweet, fatty, or salty. “Government agencies have struggled-often stymied by the actions of Congress-to issue guidelines that overcome these unhealthy food habits that contribute so prominently to four leading causes of death and disability: obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes” (Margolis 2003 p. 477). Unfortunately, special-interest groups such as companies in the food industry have been doing all they can to muddy the waters so that proper information does not get through to the public. The result of all the lobbying done by these special interest groups is that the government’s message has been watered down considerably. For example, in the United States, the government has softened “the original "eat fewer unhealthy foods" message of the guidelines; thus, "decrease meat consumption" has become "choose meats that will reduce saturated fat intake" (Margolis 2003 p. 477). Lobbying is not the only strategy that food companies use, however. They also sponsor research that guarantees that reports that favour consumption of their products get reported. The result is that these companies reap huge profits, especially by exploiting children through the targeting of these children with food advertisements and the placement of vending machines in schools where the market is fairly captive considering how much time children spend in schools. The problem of children’s expanding waistlines is not simply a matter of concern for the ‘fashion police’; it is a serious problem that impacts upon health, and not necessarily for the better. In the article, “The development of waist circumference percentiles in children aged 5.0 – 16.9 years,’ researchers McCarthy et al highlight “the observed relationships between waist circumference, intra-abdominal fat deposition and cardiovascular disease risk factors in children” (McCarthy et al. 2001 p.906). As one editorial, plainly points out, “ What's junk food doing in schools in the first place? One in six children is overweight and at risk for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other serious health problems. Schools should set a healthy example, not offer more temptation”(Make school a lesson in healthy eating 1). Furthermore, the editorial continues: “Children risk poor bone development, bad teeth and fat waists by drinking too much soda. As serving sizes ballooned from 61/2 ounces in the 1950s to 64-ounce Big Gulps today, teens tripled their consumption and stopped drinking milk, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That leaves girls, especially, vulnerable to osteoporosis in later life”(Make school a lesson in healthy eating 1). Since schools are the front line for the intake of so much junk food it should also be the place where the battle against the bulge among young children should begin. This is not to let parents off the hook for their own responsibility to ensure that children are eating healthy food. In the school environment, however, to date, children have been free to eat whatever appeals to their taste buds without any consideration for the health benefits or detriment. That ought to change and there are indications that such changes are already under way. In 2005, the issue of school nutrition became one of household concern when a TV show, Jamie’s School Dinners persuaded the government to increase the amount of money it spends on ingredients that are used in school meals (‘One man’s meat could be another man’s poison’ 21). The issue of children and nutrition has also attracted the attention of the decision makers in the European Community because the problems faced by American and British children are also faced by children in European countries other than the UK. In a report presented at The European Forum on Eating at School – Making Healthy Choices in November 2003, Mikkelsen, Rasmussen and Young (2005) pointed out that one of the more promising areas where preventative strategies might work is a focus on schools. As the report notes, Approximately 115 million school-aged children attend school in pre-primary, primary and secondary education in Europe…and intervention here has, therefore, the potential to reach a significant number of individuals because students spend 5 days a week, for 9-13 years at school. Improving food, diet and nutrition at schools can constitute an important element in a strategy towards healthier eating among children and adolescents. (Mikkelsen, Rasmussen & Young 2005 8). Apart from the possible reduction in health related problems, it has also been found that children who eat well benefit from having better learning ability which impacts upon their school performance; that is, “poor nutrition in school children tends to compromise learning capacity” (Tompkins 1998; Moore 1999; cited in Mikkelsen, Rasmussen, & Young 2005 p. 8). There are those who wonder, however, whether children, who have become so used to eating so-called junk food, can revert to eating healthy food. According to the editorial mentioned earlier this need not be a matter for concern. This is because “A recent survey by the Agriculture Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that kids, by and large, eat what's in front of them. Twelve of 17 schools that began offering healthful options actually increased food revenue” (Make school a lesson in good nutrition 1). If there is going to be an intervention, however, waiting until the children are in primary school may be too late because the obesity problem, in some places, starts much earlier than that. In New York where a 2003 study of obesity among several thousand elementary school children in the city revealed that 21 percent of them were obese, the city health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, noted: “The obesity epidemic begins early…At ages 2 and 3, more than 40 percent of kids are already at an unhealthy weight. As a society, we have a responsibility to give our kids a healthier start''(Santora B3). In New York, therefore, the city’s efforts to help stem the tide of childhood obesity begins in Head Start programs which are geared for children from a few months old to about two, three, and four. It would not do, however, to promote healthy eating habits and provide children with good, healthy food when they also have easy access to junk food. This explains why there have been calls to get the vending machines out of the schools. Or at the very least, have some healthy food in those vending machines. When companies servicing schools with food in vending machines and the district leaders have been encouraged to serve more nutritionally healthy food the results have not been very good. This was the case in Colorado when state lawmakers encouraged “districts to make half of all items in vending machines healthy. So far, only 22 districts, or 12 percent, have followed through, according to the Colorado Children's Campaign” (Get the junk food out of the schools B06). This lack of follow through suggests that a tougher line, perhaps through legislation, might be in order. As the clamour gets louder with regards to the problems associated with junk food and their impact on children some of the companies affected have stepped into the fray. For example, “The world’s biggest soft drinks company has decided that all Coca-Cola brands – including Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite in the UK – should not be directly marketed to under-12s because of concerns over sugary drinks’ contribution to child obesity” (Kleinman 1). But would stopping children from guzzling fizzy drinks really prevent them from becoming obese? As Fiona Harvey reports in the Financial Times, “A programme in the UK in which one group of school children aged 7 to 11 was discouraged from consuming carbonated drinks and compared with a control group, whose habits were unaffected, found that the percentage of overweight children in the control group increased by 7.6 percent. Only 0.2 percent more children became overweight in the group that had fewer drinks, according to the report, published…in the British Medical Journal” (Harvey 10). These results speak very clearly that serving healthy meals in schools can reduce obesity and perhaps, with some compulsory program in exercise, help reverse the trend towards health-threatening obesity among children – in the UK and elsewhere. Bibliography Douglas, Torin, April 7, 2005, ‘One man’s meat could be another man’s poison,’ Marketing Week, p.21. “Get junk food out of schools,” Mar 29, 2006, Denver Post, B06. Hart, K; Greenwood, H & Truby, H, 2003, ‘Pound for pound? Comparing the costs incurred by subjects following four commercially available weight loss programmes,’ Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 16, pp. 365-370. ‘Insight – Healthy Eating: Appetite grows for healthy food,’ Mar 9, 2006, Marketing Week, p. 36. Kleinman, M, Nov 20, 2003, ‘Coke halts advertising to under-12s,’ Marketing (UK), p. 1. ‘Make school a lesson in good nutrition,’ Apr 13, 2006, Knight Ridder Tribune News, p. 1. Margolis, Simeon, 2003, Review of ‘Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health,’ by Marion Nestle, California Studies in Food and Culture, no. 3. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, vol. 77 issue 2, p. 477. McCarthy, HK; Jarrett, KV & Crawley, HF, 2001, ‘The development of waist circumference percentiles in British children 5.0 – 16.9 y,’ European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol 55, p. 902-907. Mikkelsen, BE; Rasmussen, VB; & Young, I, 2005, Food Service Technology, vol. 5, pp. 7-15. ‘Modern aspects of nutrition – Present knowledge and future perspectives,’ 2001, International Conference of Nutrition, 27-31 August 2001, www.univie.ac.at/iuns2001/2nd_ann.PDF (2006/04/25) Richards, Sara, Nutrition and Health 2005, 13 Jan 2006, PN Conference Report, p. 11. Santora, Marc, Apr 6, 2006, ‘Child Obesity Picture Grim Among New York City Poor,’ New York Times, p. B3. Read More