Interview by Qiaoyi

I. 

Interview:
First name of the person I interviewed: Xinyi--My friend and a student in Salem State University.
My topic: Childhood Obesity

Questions:
1. Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not?
Yes. I do agree with Wei that Childhood Obesity is a worldwide topic and worth being paid attention to. Apart from the fact that we can easily found very fat children here and there, I also find that the foods and drinks increase the rate of getting fatter. I heard from news that New York has banned big soda. And the reason why they did this was because the government thought it will help to decrease the rate of getting fatter. Although I haven't done any research on Childhood Obesity, I can sense how serious this topic becomes through the government's action.

2. Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not?
 If you mean Salem State. I will say yes because I have seen many classmates and college students getting fatter and fatter, which influence their daily life badly through these years when I study here.
If you mean the circle where I live rather study, I will say no because I always hang out with my Chinese friends and strangely, they are not worrying about obesity;
When it comes to the children I met recently, I will say yes because I did find many students in Horace Mann School are facing the problem of obesity.

3. What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?
One thing I just heard is about the ban of big soda. Another is that students can always have the snack time for eating things during classes. During the snack time, they will be produced with fruits and vegetables, which are very nutritious and may help to keep fit.
I don't know much about the local policies related to childhood obesity. But I found when we give children some cookies as gifts, they will first ask for the permission from their parents then eat them. Although this is definitely not a policy, I do think is a way to deal with Childhood Obesity

4. If their is policy around your issue/ problem/ topic?
Oh, it is like the third question. I will answer the same thing.

5. What are advantages of this policy?
In terms of the ban of big soda, the advantage is to prevent children from getting fat too fast.
In terms of the snack time, the advantage is ensure students' nutrition by making them eat fruits and vegetables which are full of vitamins.
In terms of the permission for eating something from children's parents, the advantage is that children can may have the chance to keep fit under their parents' supervision. 

6. What are disadvantages of this policy?
 In the snack time, I always found students eating some fries and chips. Eating them is not healthy and may accelerate them to get fatter much fater.

7. How might the policy be improved?
Maybe during the snack time, children do not have to bring any snack by themselves. Let the schools offer all the snacks to them, like fruits and vegetables.

8. Does the policy need to be replaced?  why?
No. It is better to improve them because all the policies are useful to keep students from getting fatter.

9. What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community?
Like what I said in the sixth question, during the snack time, I hope student can eat more fruits and vegetables rather fries and chips.

10. Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem?
Well, I think you may ask the elementary teachers, students, your professors and some students whose major is nutrition. That is what I am thinking.

II.

 (This interview is for the snow day extra point. But I think it can also be applied here)

Interviewee: Wei Huang
Major: International Economy
Minor: Communication
Date: March 12 2013

Interviewer: Hi, Wei Huang. What is your opinion about Childhood Obesity?

Wei: Hi. Because I am a Chinese, I am more familiar with the Childhood Obesity related to Chinese. In my opinion, I think Chinese children now are getting fatter and fatter. When I was a child around seven years ago, I hardly heard from others who talked about the students' obesity. But now I always found the news about the childhood obesity in China.


Interviewer: So you mean when you were young, you and your classmates as well as many other students in China were not as fat as the students now? How come?

Wei: I think it is because our education system emphasizes on academic classes and doesn't pay enough attention to gym classes. As a result, almost every school has cut back the number of gym classes. I am not kidding. All the things I say here are from the news I heard. Apart from the unbalanced emphasis of the education system, parents should also be to blame. They don't attach importance to children's exercise.


Interviewer: You think children's parents and the education system which the schools rely on should be to blame. Apart from that, don't you think children's eating habits and the foods are also responsible?

Wei: Yes. I think you are right. But in China, I don't think these two factors are the main factors.

Interviewer: What do you think of Childhood Obesity here?

Wei: It is definitely a sharp problem here. We can tell from our daily life that many children, teenagers and college students are really fat. They give us the signal that we should not ignore Childhood Obesity.

Interviewer: You do get Childhood Obesity very well. Here is my last question. What do you think we can do for solving this problem?

Wei: Well. Definitely, the education system should have some related polices which schools can rely on and get some related ideas from. Also, the schools should make a suitable plan for students' foods. Parents also need to pay attention to children's eating and exercise. Those are what I can come up with.

Interviewer: Thank you!

My reflection:
1. Wei, Xinyi and I are good friends and all from China. Because of Wei's minor and Xinyi's major, I thought they must have something to tell me about the Childhood Obesity. However, I find maybe it is because we have the same culture background, our thoughts of this topic can be summarized in the same ways. What they thought are almost what I thought. On the other hand, they helped me to confirm that Childhood Obesity is a really serious issue.

As Xinyi mentioned, I also heard from the news that New York City has forbidden banned on sugary drinks bigger than 16 ounces in restaurants for preventing people from getting fatter. I think this can contribute to solving Childhood Obesity.

Next time when I need to do this interview, I plan to visit some people who are older than me. Or I may interview some local people.

2. I will do some research before interviewing so that I can give those who I interview some suggestions and get more ideas for interaction.