Overview and introduction to our views

1. Identify the problem:
 Childhood Obesity


2. Gather information- from all sources…and be critical and 3. Examine policies around the problem.
(1) http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/childhood-obesity-2008.aspx
 Childhood Obesity – 2008 Update of Legislative Policy Options
It is a pity that I didn't find the 2013 edition. However, I think it is a common view that childhood obesity in America is a hot topic in Education. That is why there are at least five editions of related policies in this webpage showing American's ideas about how to prevent childhood obesity from 2003 to 2008.
Through the policies, I find American children can have many ways (nutrition, Physical activities, Raising Awareness) to prevent becoming fatter. In terms of the variety of the policies, I really admire children's current academic life.
In terms of the theories (policies), I believe children can become thinner and thinner. However, I think here schools and governments may ignore one important factor--parents.
Yes, children's eating and physical activities can definitely be controlled in schools. But after school, children may still have many hours to get fatter. And the parent's values influence children directly. So parents should certainly be involved in the policies. But how? I think it may be a question.  

(I need some help here to analyze this topic critically)
--Qiaoyi Zhu

INDIVIDUAL POST BY QIAOYI:
4. Me:
Hi, everyone,
     I am Qiaoyi Zhu. I am an international student of Salem State University. This is my second and last year in America. After finishing the study here, I will go back to China to finish my last and forth college year.
     This semester I am taking EDU 309 Social Studies. In this course, I will learn to how to teach students social studies classes. To me, it is not so hard and challenging as EDU 300 because in China students also need to learn this course. The difference is that when I get the chance to teach one class of Social Studies, I have only one topic to choose, which is American Revolution.
     I just got this news today and feel very nervous about it. Actually, I did learn American Revolution in China before but not so specifically. So to teach this course in Horace Mann School is a really big challenge!
( ⊙ o ⊙ )！！！
    However, in our group here, I do not have to worry about American Revolution because our topic here is Childhood Obesity, which seems rather easier to me. And I think this topic can be really hot in current society because not only American children are facing this problem but also Chinese students are facing this problem!
Here is the link of an Chinese article named the number of obese people whose ages are under 18 has become 0.12 billion in China.
     http://health.people.com.cn/n/2013/0222/c14739-20563594.html

So this topic is very worth being analyzed.
In my opinion, I currently believe it is time to  control children's eating because Childhood Obesity can result from many factors, such as the habits of eating, what children eat everyday and how many dinners children eat per day.
the existing policy












INDIVIDUAL POST BY ASHLEY LUFT:

Hi, my name is Ashley Luft, and I feel like the greatest current event topic that I am aware of is childhood obesity. I think that it is a huge epidemic in the society that we live in today. For families that don't have a lot of money to be spending on healthier food, or the families that don't have the time to be making good meals, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and plenty more fast food chains are all easily accessible, cheap, and quick. But what parents aren't taking into consideration is that these choices are not healthy. Something needs to be done where fast and cheap is not completely a bad decision. 

As you know, children spend the majority of their day's in schools. If schools are feeding their students five days out of the week, and possibly two meals a day, they should provide their students with good, healthy choices for their students to eat. I am teaching in the Carlton Elementary School, and the school lunches I have seen are absolutely appalling. They have chicken nuggets, that look inedible; meat, that looks fake; and other foods that are even hard to determine what they are by looks. I remember when I was in school, our school ended up getting a chef, and our lunches turned into the greatest things ever. We had different lines, with different choices, from pizza, to subs or salads, and something that changed every day such as taco boat, or turkey slop. Now, these foods may not sound appetizing, but the taco and turkey meat was real meat and did not look like something straight out of the garbage. Even if it was something you did not like, you had plenty of other lunch options to choose from. In the school I am teaching, they have one line with one meal, and the students where school lunch is their only option sometimes skip school lunch because it's not appetizing to them. Being the adult that I am, I am eager to try new foods and experiment, but Carlton School lunch isn't something that I could say I would try, so I can't exactly blame them for not wanting to eat their food. 

I feel that if schools were provided with the funds for a chef, new lunch lines, or better food, that isn't processed in twelve different ways, they could provide the students with healthier and better lunches. This is where we should start to fix the epidemic on childhood obesity. 

INDIVIDUAL POST BY RANDY DITTMAN
Childhood obesity seems like it is becoming more and more of a problem.  The problem is something that comes up both with food students are served at home, as well as what food they are served at school.  While schools cannot control what food is served at home, they can try to improve student nutrition during the school day, by offering better choices in the cafeteria.

I know that money is an issue, but I think that with the budget they have, schools can make more health-conscious choices.  For example, a lot of tacos and frozen pizzas are served.  I think that for the same cost, they might be able to offer some other choices that are healthier.  It does not need to be restaurant quality, but it could maybe use more fresh ingredients.   For example, instead of making macaroni and cheese, they could serve something like rice and beans, which can be pretty healthy, and use fresh onions and tomatoes to add flavor.  The cafeteria should not just focus on kid-pleasing choices, but instead on healthy options.  If there are no bad choices, like frozen pizza, then students can't make a bad choice.  I know that there are worries that if students are not given food that they like, that they will just not eat.  However, I am not sure this is true.  When I was small and did not eat enough, my parents asked my doctor if they should try giving me more foods that appealed to me.  The doctor's answer was that no, if I were hungry, I would eat what I was served, and that this would promote better eating habits as I got older.  Maybe that is something that school cafeterias need to think more about.