I attended this event on December 2, 2009. It was talk/workshop hosted by the Citizens' Commitee for Children located at 105 E. 22nd Street 7th floor.
The workshop consisted of 3 speakers...
Dr. Michael Rosenbaum - Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Clinical Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center
Dr. Maida Galzvez - Assistant Professor, Preventative Medicine, Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital
Cathy Nonas - Director, Physical Activity and Nutrition Programs, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The talk was on the topic of Childhood Obesity. I had already known that it was a great problem in the United States, however just how prevalent it was, and the future outcomes of it were more than a little terrifying. I learned that many children who have obesity are prone to Type II Diabetes, which I believe is also known as adult onset diabetes. This is the type of diabetes that usually affect adults at more mature ages, however there is an epidemic in children now. The consequences are amputations of limbs, and blindness. As one of the speakers said to give an idea of what the future holds, they said to imagine the a country filled with 30 and 40 year old people who are blind and have amputations. Those are the children on today, that is there nearby future. This is a scary future, and although the NYC Department of Health, as well as the NYC Department of Education are working very proactively to lesson these outcomes, they face much difficulty from the beverage and food associations/companies. On a personal note, it saddens me that people are so consumed with greed and profit that they cannot and will not see the negative consequences of their actions, and ignore the positive influence they could have.
As a future teacher, this scares the life out of me. There are so many aspects of the student/child a teacher is responsible, and I feel now their health is something that needs to take priority. As a teacher knowing how important health education is for students, especially in today's world, it frustrates me how little importance is placed on Health as a core subject in most school programs.
I think that many children are unaware of what they are being fed, by parents, by schools, and most influential, by media. Children have the right to know what they are putting into their bodies, and they have the right to ask for all of the information. If children want to eat healthier, they need to be given healthier choices. This means they need to have their voices heard by the food and beverage companies.
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I became interested in learning about healthy nutrition choices when Jamie Oliver began his food revolution inspiring people in Britain to make healthy food choices and cooking fresh instead of eating junk food and take outs. The amazing thing is that he was able to get the British government to pay 5oo million pounds in order to invest in new nutritional meals in school. One man's fight for healthy nutrition resulted in change. He is now planning on coming to America and start a food revolution. You can learn more by viewing :http://www.jamieoliver.com/news/jamie-oliver-to-take-school-dinners-mini
ReplyDeleteLike Hina said “there are so many aspects of the student/ child a teacher is responsible for” but their health in reference to what they eat is not something we usually teach about. With childhood obesity on the rise it is going to our job as future educators to devise and implement lessons and or a unit on health education with emphasis on making the proper food choices and how important exercise is in our lives. Implementing lessons / a unit in the classroom about healthy eating and exercise will allow me to help one student at a time combat this crisis of childhood obesity as well as make students more aware of the concept they are what they eat.
ReplyDeleteI was also really surprised about what I learned when I attended this event! At the schools where I've been a student teacher, there's such a focus on curriculum, students' academia, and raising test scores, that I feel as if I hardly hear about any other aspect of these students' identities. Occasionally, especially at my current placement, we help the students with their social skills. I understand that we are teachers and it is our job to educate students, but I feel as if some teachers and administrators forget that the students we see every day are real people. Maybe it's because of the schools I've been placed in, but this really is my experience of the way students are sometimes perceived, and I don't at all agree with it. Yes, we should be careful of crossing personal boundaries with our students, boundaries that are reserved only for family. However, I still believe that it is our responsibility to educate our students about how to live healthy lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that childhood obesity can be a very scary topic. But that's why it's so important that we address health and nutrition in our classrooms. My group did our unit on School Lunches. You should check it out! I agree with Danielle, it is our responsibility to educate our students on how to live healthy lives. That means providing the knowledge but also strategies for advocating for themselves!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting your blog ... I have a 10 year old daughter who suffers overweight ... Acting, I'm looking for a solution to it ... Thank you very much again for the information
ReplyDeleteDerek Sheridan
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