Research Article Review: “Survey of American food trends and the growing obesity epidemic”

            Nowadays, obesity is becoming more and more common in every country, it is a concerned health problem in the world. There are some factors cause obesity epidemics, such as over consuming high fat foods, lack of physical activities which leads to calories intake excess and heredity. Regarding the food types consumption correlates to obesity, many people will think these kinds of food must include cheese, meat, nut and cooking oil etc. Surprisingly, the primary research article “Survey of American food trends and the growing obesity epidemic” written by Qin Shao and Khew-Voon Chin found out that the crucial factor of rising obesity is the consumption of corn product.

                  (This picture is referencing from Public Health & Social Justice)

           
             The authors surveyed and obtained the Loss-Adjusted Food Availability Data (1970-2008) from the Food Availability Data System at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Services (ERS) in this research. In order to analyze the relationship between obesity prevalence and calories consumption for various food types, they used Pearson’s correlation and statistical analysis by fitting a multiple linear regression and using both full and reduced model functions. The analysis of Loss-Adjusted Food Availability Data “which include seven major aggregated food groups including 1, meat, eggs, and nuts; 2, dairy; 3, fruit; 4, vegetables; 5, flour and cereal products; 6, added fats and oils, and dairy fats; and 7, caloric sweeteners” (Shao & Qin, 2011) demonstrated that these food types showed either negative trends or no change in trends of consumption and did not lead to the rising trends in obesity. In addition, they also analyzed the relationship between rising obesity and total cheese intake, but the result also revealed that there is no correlation with the two.

                                                        (This picture is referencing from PubMed Central)

              However, in the further test the authors “performed a fitting by multiple linear regression analysis with food types that showed correlation coefficients > 0.95, which included chicken, corn products, dairy fats, salad and cooking oils, and total cheese, in a full model function” (Shao & Qin, 2011). This analysis showed that “only corn products had p-values smaller than 0.05” (Shao & Qin, 2011), which means that consumption of corn products had a significant effect on rising obesity trends. On the other hand, they found out corn products and total cheese both have p-values closest to 0.05 in the reduced model, but their results confirmed a correlation between corn products, but not total cheese, and obesity trends.

 

                                              (This picture is referencing from PubMed Central)

            Further more, the authors asked whether genetically modified corn might be associated with the rising obesity because genetically modified corn has been planted in the U.S. since 1996. To investigate this relationship, they obtained data between 2000 and 2008 on the adoption of GM corn from the USDA. The result showed that the trends of obesity and adoption of GM corn were similar which proved that the hypothesis is true.

            In conclusion, the research article “Survey of American food trends and the growing obesity epidemic” proved the novel correlation between corn product consumption and obesity prevalence. The research applied the knowledge of math and statistic to investigate and analyze the factor which lead to rising obesity, this method is not only accurate but also credible.

Work Cited

Shao, S., & Chin, K.V. (2011 June 21). Survey of American food trends and the growing obesity epidemic. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3133759/?tool=pmcentrez. (2011, July 23 )

Diet and Healthy Weight

Diet is what we eat in our daily lives. It has a significant relationship to our weight, and we can find out this relationship easily. For example, if we consume a lot of junk food in a month, we will discover our weight will increase. Instead, if consume more vegetables and less meat, our weight will decrease. Our diet is an independent variable and our weight is a dependent variable.

Obesity is a common health problem in Western countries. The main reason is because people are absorbing excess calories than we can consume a day. In the long term, without enough physical activity, we get fat and gain weight. Junk food, such as hamburgers, pizzas, French fries are all high-calorie foods, if we eat too much this kind of high-calorie food our body will store fat. Anything in excess, even protein can be stored as fat which can lead to weight gain.

           (This picture is referencing from Eat Great to Lose Weight Diet Plan)

In order to have a healthy weight, no matter weight gain or weight loss, we need a balanced nutrition-diet plan; our meals should be balanced with the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Some people misunderstand that if we want to lose weight, we just have to minimize the amount of food that we eat or even stop eating. It is totally wrong, even if we lose weight in that way will have an obvious outcome in the short time, it is harmful to our body. In the future, if you start eating more again our weight will gain back easily.

(This picture is referencing from Captain Series)

In order to get a healthy weight, we should start with a calorie calculator to determine how many calories you will consume in a day and how many calories you will need in order to gain weight or lose weight. For people who want to gain weight, they will need to increase the calorie intake, but to do so it does not mean that they should eat a lot of high-calorie junk food. They can change their diet by increasing the volume of food they eat or by choosing foods that are energy-dense which include legumes, nuts, seeds, olives, and avocados, etc. On the other hand, for the people who want to lose weight, they have to eat fewer calories than they currently eating every day. They can eat lower calorie foods such as green and leafy vegetable. There is a guideline in About.com for building the meal plan, it shows that “5 to 11 servings of grain (half should be whole-grain) , 2 to 3 servings dairy or calcium containing foods , 1 to 2 servings of protein sources such as meat, eggs, poultry, fish or legumes , 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day”. The outcome will be more effective with combination of physical activities.

What we consume in our daily meals will directly affect our weight. A good diet plan can help us built our healthy weight effectively and efficiently. Diet is a critical factor for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. 

Work Cited

About.com , (2011, June 16). How To Lose Weight. Retrieved from http://nutrition.about.com/od/diets/a/mealplan.htm. (2011, July 17 )

Controversy In Genetically Modified Foods

            Nowadays, technology is advancing at surprising speeds. We can see highly technical implementations everywhere in daily life, such as communication, entertainment or even diet. Genetically modified foods become more and more common in the market, if you have bought some corn, soy or canola oil recently, they may be genetically modified.

                                   (This picture is referencing from Glogster website)

            Genetic modification is done by isolating particular genes and transferring them in to certain species so that we can create crops with desired traits. With this technology people not only can add desired nutrients and vitamins into the crops, but also improve the resistance towards pests which would lead to an increase in productivity.     

            Genetic modification seems like a very beneficial technology but has been heavily debated against. Some consumers think there is no evidence to prove that genetically modified crops are one hundred percent safe. The growing concern of this technology may have some unexpected and negative effects on human health. For example the website ProQuest demonstrates that it is because genetic modifications insert new genes into crops, it may cause some new allergens for some people. Since most of the genetically modified foods in the market are not labeled, we have no way to differentiate the organic foods and the genetically modified foods. Even though most of the consumers are indifferent to genetically modified foods, some consumers believe it is necessary for producers to label the genetically modified foods, so that the consumers who have concerns about the genetically modified foods can be aware and make informed decision. 

            In my opinion, genetic modification technology is a great improvement for agriculture. Insects and pests cause great financial loss, genetically modification technology deals with this problem directly since it can improve resistance to certain pests. Genetic modification technology can also increase productivity by changing the genes and raising the adaptive ability of the crops, so that they can be grown in formerly inhabitable places. In some countries healthy foods are very scarce and the nutrition is lacking due to different reasons, such as pollution and weather. Genetically modified corps ensures the nutrition of the food. Even though it may cause some unexpected problems, I believe that they should carry out extensive tests on new genetically modified foods before sale in the market so that it can help to eliminate these kinds of problems.

            In conclusion, since several consumers still have concerns about this kind of high tech food, it is necessary to label the genetically modified foods that sell in the market. It can protect the consumers and make them have more confidence on the safety of their foods.

Watch out for products that lack credibility

       There are many “good” and “bad” websites on the internet and a prime example of one that lacks credibility is the Ultimate Colon Cleanse program. This is a diet pill program, which demonstrates many advantages about the pills they are trying to sell, but they seem less credible since there is a lack of research and evidence behind their claims.

The website states that it is an easy way to lose 20 lbs. in 30 days by using the Ultimate Colon Cleanse program. Losing 20lbs in a month can be argued how unhealthy it is but it is also very appealing to individuals trying to lose weight. It is difficult for our bodies to adapt to such an immense change of the weight in a short period of time. Some sources from the ABC News website that counter the diet pill program say that “it also said customers should look out for products claiming users will lose more than three pounds a week for four weeks or longer. Any weight loss faster than that rate is unsafe.” (ABC News, 2008)

           In addition, this website talks about how effectively the pills work but does not provide any specifications of the pill. We have no way to know how it works or whether there are some harmful ingredients in it that makes it effective.

           Also, the website shows that we can lose weight by taking these combinations of various pills without exercise and dieting. “‘There’s no secret remedy that has been buried for all these decades. I promise you, if there were something good, we'd all know about it. It would be on the front page of the newspaper. We'd all be using it and they wouldn't have to promote it on television,’ said George Washington University Weight Management Program medical director Arthur Frank.” (ABC News, 2008)

            Furthermore, there is no successful case or experimental test and results that support the effects of this weight loss program. Besides, the author is unknown on the website thus the pill and claims lack credibility. We are unsure who wrote the article and it lacks a publish date, so it is hard to know whether the information it provides is updated or bias.

    To sum it all up, the Ultimate Colon Cleanse Program sounds very appealing to many people but is potentially very harmful or even dangerous since their claims don’t come from a credible source. So when looking for a product or program I believe that looking at the title first is important to see if it’s too good to be true, and looking for advertisements and credible sources on the website. In the end it is up to the consumer to decide.

Work Cited

ABC News, (2008, Jan 2). Can a Diet Pill Work Without Diet or Exercise?. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=4074113&page=1. (2011, June 12)

Introduction of My Blog

Hi everyone, my name is Maggie Zhong. This is my first blog and let me introduce something about myself. After I graduated from an international high school in China, my university life begins in Canada. I am a second year business student in SFU, so that most of the courses that I am taking are business course. I take Kin 140 this semester is because I want to learn something other than business and know more about health. 

          (This picture is referencing from the Traditional Chinese Medicine website)

This blog is for the busy people who still do not realize the importance of diet, such as some students and workers. Food is not only the satisfaction of hunger but also the critical source of health. Diet seems like the most common thing in our daily life but there is significant relationship between it and our health. My experience will prove it. Studying in university is really different from studying in high school; the irregular course time schedule makes me hard to have my meals in regular time. In order to sleep more, I usually wake up around lunch time and skip my breakfast if I do not have class in the morning. Sometimes I will overeat at meal in the restaurant; sometimes a package of snake or junk food will be my lunch or dinner. In my two years university studying, I have made some bad habits of diet, as a result I have a pain in the stomach frequently and has to be treated with medicine. Now I am paying more attention to my diet and health. 

                (This picture is referencing from the The Pillar Of Health LLC website)

The main message about my topic is eating healthier, living happier. I believe most busy people have the same experiences as me. In the long term, unhealthy diet or irregular eating will not only affects our body shape and cases healthy problems, but also leads to various illnesses. 

In the process of creating the blog posts, I hope I can not only improve my researching and analyzing skills, but also broaden my knowledge about food and health. What's more, I want to share the information that I found about diet with my audiences so that to remind everyone to pay more attention to their regular diet through this blog.