Sociologists have drawn conclusions that children are socialized at a young age by their parents.
Human nature has demonstrated one thing over decades gone bye, that once a system has been adopted by a society, people are very reluctant even resilient to change that system. The Aristotelian world view affirmed all matter was formed from earth, air, water and fire and stated that heavy objects fall at a faster rate than do lighter objects, dominated civilized society for over a thousand years. All one had to do to disprove a large portion of this premise, was to drop two objects simultaneously and watch as they both fell at the same rate regardless of their respected weights. This simple test could have proved the existence of gravity thus ending the Aristotelian world view. Why did it take this test eighteen hundred years to be preformed? Simply put humans’ have no will to change, as can be seen in today’s society with the current obesity epidemic. Over the centuries it has been proven that humanity as a whole most often takes the road least traveled, meaning once something is done easily, no matter which side effects incur people do not have the will to change. Because of the lack of will to alter contemporary life, the enormous power of big business, the media’s overwhelming influence and the fact that people are oblivious to their current state of affairs, as far as health is concerned, humankind is now destined to a life of obesity.
Sociologists have drawn conclusions that children are socialized at a young age by their parents. Values, morals, habits and attitudes towards life are all passed from parent to child. At this point in history diet is not a value being widely conferred to youth. With the majority of parents working long hours and often having hectic evening schedules, nutritional meals can often be neglected. In substitute for the lost meals an alternative must be acquired and many are finding a quick, inexpensive method to be that of fast food restaurants. As seen on the MacDonalds arch “ Billions and Billions” served. While these restaurants do provide a quick meal and a fun atmosphere, the food being consumed is quite less than ideal. The average MacDonald’s meal contains 1200 calories, half of which is called for in an ideal diet for an adult weighing approximately 180lbs. Keeping this in mind if a child notices that eating at fast food restaurants several times a week is a normal occurrence that child is likely to, in turn, choose to dine at fast food restaurants later in life. Not only does the family pass on its eating habits, but also passes on forms of entertainment and leisure. If one were to paint a picture of a modern day family spending time together, they would most likely be seen in front of a television. As the use of television, internet and video games increase, the amount of physical activity that is preformed decreases. This is problematic in two senses. Firstly its is recommended that people receive at least thirty minutes of cardio activity three times weekly and while playing video games or watching television may provide hours upon hours of neural stimulation it does not assist in burning off excess calories. Secondly while people are watching television they are more likely to be snacking which in turn results in the accumulation of more excess calorie consumption which is then stored by the body as fat cells. As children are brought up with the notion that fast food meals and nights spent in front of the television are customary, they will continue these patterns throughout the rest of their lives. While these values are the current norm of society they are also a large contributor to why sixty percent of the population can be considered overweight and as these values become more and more excepted so will the predominance of obesity.
