Stopping Childhood Obesity

The rates of overweight and obesity in American children are continuously rising at an alarming rate.  According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), obesity affects 17% of American children and adolescents aged two to nineteen years old.  Since the 1980s this rate has tripled (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention).  Serious chronic diseases that in that past were not seen until adulthood are triggered by childhood obesity; these include health conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, and Hypercholesterolemia (American Heart Association).  Additionally overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults (American Heart Association).  In order to see a decrease in rates of obesity among children and adolescents these risk factors need to be addressed aggressively.  

Although American children in general are affected by overweight and obesity, children in the Midwest are particularly affected.  Concurring with is statement, the National Conference of State Legislators’ records indicate that 31% of children in Missouri are either overweight or obese; that is nearly one-third of Missouri’s children.  Furthermore according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 29% of Missouri high school students are overweight; this rate is higher than the 28% national rate.  These are sobering statistics that needs to be addressed aggressively.

Prevention is significant in stopping the childhood overweight and obesity epidemic, but other methods need to be employed to decrease the already established overweight and obesity rates.  Through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Choose My Plate Campaign families are encouraged to eat the right portion sizes, eat healthy snacks, and limit fats and sugars.  A key component to the Choose My Plate Campaign is the elimination of ‘empty calorie’ foods.  Empty calorie foods are foods that have not nutritional benefit beside the consumption of calories.  According to the National Institutes of Health, children consume most of their empty calories from, fruit drinks and soda, dairy desserts and whole milk, grain desserts, and pizza.  These are foods that can easily be eliminated and pave the road to reduce childhood obesity.

 Not only are families urged to establish healthy eating habits among their children, they are also encourage to establish lifelong physical activity habits.  The National Institutes of Child Health & Human Development, children need 60-minutes of physical activity per day and should focus on endurance, strength, and flexibility.  Increasing the physical activity rates of every child to meet these requirements is a vital step in controlling childhood obesity.  Physical activity for children has a multitude of benefits including maintaining a healthy weight, building strong muscles and bones, and building self-esteem.  In order to address the childhood obesity epidemic, families are urged to establish lifelong healthy eating and exercise habits for their children.  

References

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Overweight & obesity.  Retrieved from the internet on Sept 1, 2012 from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

Health & Senior Services. Childhood obesity. Retrieved from the internet on Sept 1, 2012 from http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/child_obesity/

American Heart Association. Overweight in children.  Retrieved from the internet on Sept 1, 2012 from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/WeightManagement/Obesity/Overweight-in-Children_UCM_304054_Article.jsp

 

 

Making a Successful New Year's Resolution

While most Americans are ringing in the New Year, they are also resolving to adopt a healthy behavior such as losing weight, quitting smoking, or exercising more. It is admirable that millions of Americans set goals to improve their lives so why do so many people fail at achieving their resolution? According to Positive Psychology News, about 30 percent of people have scaled back their resolution efforts after 2 weeks, most people have given up by June, and only 12 percent of people achieve their resolution (Fieldsted 2011).  The secret to keeping a new year’s resolution lies in the motivation, structure, and self-efficacy of that goal.

            The first step in making and keeping a new year’s resolution is having the proper motivation, support, and psychological readiness to make that change.  In a study done by Koestner, Lekes, and Powers, it was found that goals based in personal interest and meaningful values were more likely to make progress than goals based on external pressures (2002).  This means that new years resolutions should not be made because everyone else is or because it’s that time of year, but because you have a goal that is meaningful to you and have the desire to change.  “If you don’t have strong, internal motivation within yourself, you won’t be successful” (RachBeisel 2009).  Melissa Jones, a licensed psychologist in Provo, states that goals should be set when you are ready to meet them and have the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional motivation (Fieldsted 2011).  An aspect of maintaining motivation that is often overlooked is having a support system.  When someone wants to make a change, they need to tell somebody about it that will hold them accountable to that goal (Fieldsted 2011). Share your goals with friends who will help keep you on track and nudge you back in the right direction if you stray from your goal (Dubin 2009). 

            Most people are ineffective at achieving their personal goals because they are structured poorly, too ambiguous, too difficult, or unrealistic, as well as failing to create a  plan of action to achieve that goal (Koestner, Lekes, Powers 2002). The key is to focus on realistic goals with measurable results (RachBeisel 2009).  For example, a lot of people just make a goal to lose weight.  The problem with this is how much? By when? For what reason?  If you decide to lose 25 pounds, that can be overwhelming to thing about.  Break things down into small steps that can be managed (RachBeisel 2009).  Aim to lose 5 pounds by a certain date by losing 1 pound per week.  This goal is specific and measurable and not so big that you feel defeated before even starting (RachBeisel 2009).  It’s important to create bite-sized jobs you feel confident you’ll be able to accomplish (RachBeisel 2009).  The reason you’ve adopted this goal should reflect personal interests and values, not because of social pressure or expectations of what you should do (Koestner, Lekes, Powers 2002).

            The second step in making and keeping a new years resolution is to set a specific, measurable, and realistic goal that allow setbacks to be viewed as growth.  Staying realistic is what most people struggle with in maintaining their goal.  Do not make resolutions absolute such as saying you won’t eat junk food.  Saying you can’t have something makes you want it more, and this is not realistic.  Make your goal specific and measurable by eating one less junk food item per day.  This sets parameters and allows for adjustment to meet the ultimate goal you are trying to meet.  Another important lesson is viewing setbacks as growth.  Jones states that one of the main reasons people lose motivation early on is because they expect perfection in their resolutions (Fieldsted 2011).  As soon as one slip up occurs people feel like they have failed and give up.  Jones also states that forgiveness and compassion need to be built into you resolution (Fieldsted 2011).  If you fall short of your goals, ask yourself what kept you from achieving them and try to make corrections (Dubin 2009).  This is where it is helpful to have a support system that will motivate you to keep going and help you overcome your setbacks.  One way to prevent setbacks and deal with obstacles is to create a specific action plan.  Gollwitzer states that people who are ineffective at meeting their goal have failed to develop an action plan, therefore, not specifying when they will initiate their goal pursuit and how they will ensure their persistence in the face of distractions and obstacles (Koestner, Lekes, Powers 2002).  Research suggests that that furnishing goals with specific implementation intentions can greatly enhance success (Koestner, Lekes, Powers 2002).  This makes sense as any plan of action is easier to carry out when a step by step plan is laid out.  

            “A key part to achieving your most lofty goals is to get started immediately.  Action precedes motivation” (Dubin 2009).  If you wait until you have motivation to start something, you might never start it.  Instead of waiting for inspiration to act on you goals, take action and inspiration will follow (Dubin 2009).  Start with small steps and you will pick up momentum realizing that it’s not too bad.  This will make it easier to keep going and help you stay motivated.

            Perhaps the most important aspect of being successful at achieving your new year’s resolution is self-efficacy.  “Higher self-efficacy is generally correlated with a greater likelihood of achieving one’s goals” (Grohol 2009).  Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief that they have control over their behavior.  The Theory of Planned Behavior states that in order to change a behavior you have to change your behavioral intentions.  Self-efficacy controls one’s beliefs and positive intentions towards a behavior.  To be truly successful at achieving your new year’s resolution, you need to develop your own self-efficacy.  Everyone has their own stressors in life and different expectations they want to meet.  You are in charge of your expectations.  Sometimes we don’t meet our expectations at work or in our family, but we don’t quit on them so don’t quit on yourself (Adams 2011).  Research shows that people who believe that self-control is changing and unlimited tend to set more resolutions and be more successful than people who believe you are born with a limited amount of self-control (Grohol 2009).  The lesson learned here is put your mind to it and don’t give up on yourself.  You control your behavior so make it what you want it to be.

            The key to making and keeping a new year’s resolution reside in creating a specific, measurable, and realistic goal.  Choose to work on one goal at a time and develop an action plan to achieve it.  Make sure it is the right time for you to make a change and don’t let outside pressures force you to make a change you don’t desire.  Develop a support system that will encourage you and keep you on track.  Find the right motivation and self-efficacy and you will be on your way to successfully achieving that no longer elusive New Year’s resolution.

References

Adams, A. (2011). New year’s resolutions and self-efficacy. Applied Social Psychology. Retrieved on October 4, 2012, from http://www.personal.psu.edu/bfr3/blogs/ applied_ social_psychology/ 2011/11/new-years-resolutions-and-self-efficacy.html

Dubin, H., RachBeisel, J. (2009 December 31).  Where to begin: expert advice on maintaining resolutions. Retrieved from http://www.umm.edu/features/ prepare.htm

Fieldsted, P. (2011, December 31). New year’s resolutions about motivation, not the new year. Daily Herald. Retrieved from http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/new-years-resolutions-about-motivation-not-the-new-year/article_a0b0739b-fab5-5872-9aa6-fb2843229ffe.html

Grohol, J. (2009). The psychology of new year’s resolutions. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 4, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2008/12/28/the-psychology-of-new-years-resolutions/

Koestner, R., Lekes, N., & Powers, T. (2002). Attaining personal goals: self-concordance plus implementation intentions equals success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 83(1), 231-244.

Katherine Sattovia

CPR

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

The scenario is all too familiar, thanks to television shows and movies: a man at work suddenly collapses. Coworkers gather around him, panicking, trying to figure out what to do. One brave soul finally takes control and yells, “Call 911! I’m going to perform CPR.” The hero starts pumping rhythmically on the man’s chest, stops, breathes into the victim’s mouth, starts pumping again. Then, one of two things happens: Paramedics arrive or the victim starts choking for air. The situation seems simple. The victim appears (in most cases) to be just fine.

Though it has been around since 1740 when the Paris Academy of Sciences recommended mouth-to-mouth for drowning victims, many people still do not know how to perform it (“History of cpr,” 2012). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR, is a lifesaving technique employed in the event of sudden cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when an individual’s heart no longer is beating suddenly and unexpectedly. It should be noted that sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as having a heart attack. A heart attack is caused when a blockage or something else impedes blood flow in the heart and can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. Typically, an individual who suffers SCA can die within minutes if no treatment occurs (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, 2011). Sudden cardiac arrest affects nearly 900 individuals in a given day. Each year, approximately 383,000 SCAs occur outside of the hospital. Eighty-eight percent of these occur in the home (“Cpr statistics,” 2011). The victim may not have a history of heart problems or a high risk of heart disease, yet can still fall prey to SCA. African Americans are almost twice as likely to experience sudden cardiac arrest as Caucasians, and are also two times less likely to survive (2011).

            Because brain death can occur between eight and ten minutes due to a lack of oxygen in the brain, it is extremely important to attend immediately to an individual with SCA. Brain damage can occur within only a few minutes of sudden cardiac arrest. CPR can help keep oxygen going to the brain and other vital organs until additional help arrives (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012). However, nearly seventy percent of people do not know how to react in an emergency in which the victim has undergone SCA, either because they do not know how to administer CPR or because they are not comfortable administering CPR. Only eight percent of individuals who fall prey to SCA outside of the hospital currently survive (“Cpr statistics,” 2011).

            Why is CPR an effective skill to learn? When CPR is administered right after sudden cardiac arrest, that individual’s chances of survival can double or even triple. Sadly, only about 32 percent of individuals receive CPR from a bystander (“Cpr statistics,” 2011). Though AEDs are a more effective method of treating sudden cardiac arrest, they are not always available for use. CPR is a skill that can be used in any setting, either until an AED can be found or medical professionals arrive on the scene.

            There are two different types of CPR that can be administered. It should be noted that in all forms of CPR chest compressions are advised as the beginning steps. One technique is Hands-Only CPR, which only utilizes chest compressions. This type of CPR is best for individuals who have are untrained or uncomfortable with administering CPR. Chest compressions at approximately 100 beats per minute should be performed until help arrives. In this type, no rescue breaths are used (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012).

            The second CPR technique is for the trained and comfortable individual. This technique involves beginning chest compressions (without checking the airway) for 30 compressions, then performing a rescue breath and checking the airways. This cycle continues until paramedics arrive on the scene (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012).

            It is very easy to learn CPR. In fact, there are many videos online which show the Hands-Only CPR technique. The American Heart Association has many videos, such as its “Two Steps to Stayin’ Alive” video, which teaches Hands-Only CPR to the tune of “Stayin’ Alive” by the BeeGees (“Cpr statistics,” 2011). The American Heart Association is responsible for training over 12 million people per year, including both health care professionals and the general population (“Cpr & sudden,” 2010). The American Red Cross also provides certification courses in CPR and AED training. With these courses, an individual can be CPR/AED certified for two years. The American Heart Association does not have a minimum age requirement for learning CPR. The ability to perform CPR is based upon an individual’s strength rather than age. Some studies have shown that children as young as nine years old can learn CPR (2010).

            The Northeast Missouri Heart Health Corporation is attempting to raise awareness of this issue among all the residents of Adair County. Through its efforts, NEMO Heart Health has helped raise awareness of heart health by bringing in AEDs into the workplace, having benefit walks, such as the Heart and Sole Walk, and by fundraising efforts like the Gents and Joules dinner event. Despite the success with putting more AEDs into the workplace and schools, the possibility of sudden cardiac arrest is possible in any location. It is the goal of the Heart Health Corporation to create awareness of the need for CPR and to get as many residents of Adair County prepared for the worst. SCA can affect anybody, anytime, anywhere: will you be prepared?

 Written by Denise Dale

References

Cpr & sudden cardiac arrest (sca) fact sheet. (2010, April 26). Retrieved 16 September, 2012,

from http://cprstatistics.net/events/cpr-statistics/.

Cpr statistics. (2011, June). Retrieved on 18 September, 2012, from

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/CPRAndECC/WhatisCPR/CPRFactsandStats/CPR-Statistics_UCM_307542_Article.jsp.

History of cpr. (2012, September 14). Retrieved on 17 September, 2012, from

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/CPRAndECC/WhatisCPR/CPRFactsandStats/History-of-CPR_UCM_307549_Article.jsp.

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2012, February 07).Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (cpr): First aid.

Retrieved on 17 September, 2012, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-cpr/FA00061.

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. (2011, April 01). What is sudden cardiac arrest?.

Retrieved on 21 September, 2012, from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/scda/.

Breathe Easy - Benefits of Smoking Cessation

Being free from the addiction to nicotine is one benefit of smoking cessation but there are many more. Smoking cessation is associated with lower risk for lung and other cancers, coronary heart disease, stroke, respiratory symptoms, and of developing COPD (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Smoking cessation by women during their reproductive years can also reduce the risk of infertility. While quitting smoking can help lower the risk of premature death this factor greatly depends on the number of years a person smokes, the number of cigarettes they smoke per day, the age at which they began smoking, and whether or not the person was already ill at the time of quitting (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1990). So when thinking about smoking cessation the sooner it is the done the more health benefits there are. While quitting smoking at a young age is best there are benefits to quitting smoking at any age. Quitting at 30 reduces the chance of dying prematurely from smoking related disease by more than 90 percent (Peto, Darby, Deo, et al., 2000). Quitting at age 50 reduces the risk of dying prematurely by 50 percent compared to those who continue to smoke. Even people who quit around age 60 or old will live longer than those who continue to smoke (Doll, Peto, Boreham, Sutherland, 2004).
Some benefits associated with smoking cessation occur immediately while others do not happen years later. Immediately after quitting smoking a person’s heart rate and blood pressure, which are abnormally high while smoking, return to normal. Within a day of quitting carbon monoxide will be eliminated from the body and lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris. After two days of being smoke free there is no nicotine left in the body and the ability of taste and smell improve. After three days breathing becomes easier and energy levels increase. Within 12 weeks circulation improves and after 9 months coughing, wheezing, and breathing problems improves because lung function increases by up to 10%. After 5 years of being smoke free risk of heart attack falls to about compared to a person who is still smoking and after 10 years lung cancer risk falls to half that of a smoker and risk of heart attack is equal to that of someone who has never smoked (National Health Services, 2012). Besides benefiting the health of smoker quitting can also save money by eliminating the expense of cigarettes and decreasing future health care cost. Quitting smoking can also lead to social acceptance since smoking is currently less socially acceptable than ever (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2001). A last benefit of quitting smoking is that it will set a good example for younger people, such as children or nieces and nephews, in a person’s life. So when thinking about quitting smoking it can be easy to think about how difficult it is, instead remember all the benefits associated with quitting.

Works Cited

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2010). How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1990). The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health.

Peto R, Darby S, Deo H, et al (2000). Smoking, smoking cessation, and lung cancer in the U.K. since 1950: Combination of national statistics with two case-control studies. British Medical Journal; 321(7257):323–329.

Doll R, Peto R, Boreham J, Sutherland I (2004). Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years’ observations on male British doctors. British Medical Journal; 328(7455):1519–1527.

National Health Services (2012). The Benefits of Quitting. Retrieved from http://smokefree.nhs.uk/why-quit/timeline/.

National Institute of Drug Abuse (2001, August). Research Report on Nicotine: Addiction.