By: Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/05/040525061725.htm
Summary: Obese Children get worst reactions from air pollution compared to normal weight children. The lungs of of an obese child would have an effect that's two times to five times worst than a normal weight child. There was also an increase of fat tissue, white blood tissue, and elevated c-protein which makes scientists believe that, that might be the reason why obese children have a stronger effect on air pollution. Scientists also did a experiment with 611 children with 10% of them being obese and they did checked their lungs with air pollution and the obese children had a bigger effect. They also stated that obesity can cause the host a lot of problems such as diabetes, heart problems, and asthma which is probably obvious.
Reflection: My thoughts about this is that it's pretty astonishing how obese children are more sensitive to air pollution rather than normal weight people having a mild effect. I think that parents should be more careful on what food they give their children and not give their kids fast food on a daily basis. Hopefully this article can make people realize how bad it is to be obese or overweight and make people try and exercise more. I think that the reaction on the air pollution to obese people aren't probably horrible but it could potentially be really bad but I would never know because they didn't say what the effects were in the article.
Questions:
1. What could be done about this?
2. Do you think this could be solved from genetic engineering? If so how?
3. What percentage of the population do you think will be obese or overweight and why?
4. What could we do about the air pollution to make it better?
I think this is a really scary discovery. So many people in America are obese, and if the air pollution level is rising, then they could be harmed awfully. This study could potentially lead to other discoveries about the harms of being obese. With all these known problems about obesity, I think it's good that people like Michelle Obama are taking initiative to help obese kids with programs like "Lets Move". To help America children become healthy weights, more programs like this could be started.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question 2, I do not think this could be solved with genetic engineering. Scientists would probably not genetically modify humans, and even if they did, it would take a lot of time to perfect. I don't think GM people are the answer though, kids just need more excersize.
Extension:
DeleteOpinion: I know there are some people in my family who are bordering on obesity, and this air pollution factor only makes me more worried about their health. This could help me to convince them to start excersizing and eating better, though.
Question 2: Even if they did start to GM people, the results would probably be very catostraphic. It would be hard to find a gene that would help out with this as well. If the process of GMing animals becomes perfected, then it may be a different story. As for now, though, it would not work out.
I think that both subjects of obesity and pollution in the world are very big issues that have a lot of attention brought to them. When they both combine maybe it could have a larger affect on the population and they could be motivated to do something about it. I know that in my house we exercise and play sports to stay healthy, but now there is another incentive to stay healthy. To answer question 4 we could stop reduce the amount of things we burn and release into the air. Its a difficult thing to do but if everyone raises awareness and attempts to make a difference then we could see a change.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on the problem is bad news for a big portion of the population. Unfortunately for some people being healthy is hard because they may not be able to afford healthy food, or may be born with a slow metabolism.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 3: I found this site http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html that has information about the trend in obese people. Currently 35.7% of the USA is obese. Unfortunately it is really easy to get a hold of unhealthy food because it is cheaper, and it is more affordable.
In the past, obesity was not a very big issue. Today in the 21st century, obesity has become a scare for the people of America, and other countries as well. With tons of ways to become obese, it is very easy to fall into this catorgorey. It is sad that pollutants effect obese people more than they effect average people. If someone was to run or exercise outside, they would be exposed to pollutants. While trying to help cut down on weight, they would be hurting themselves even more according to the article. Pollutants have a negitive effect on everyone that is exposed to them, but it is sad that obese people have it worse than a person with an average weight for their age. Personally I had a grandfather that was obese. He was a great guy and only became obese towards the end of his life. He smoked but quit when his body started to show signs of distress because of all the toxins he was putting into himself. If he had still smoked while he was gaining weight, he would of had many more problems and would of been affected greatly by the combination of his weight and smoking. Thank goodness he quit and saved himself a couple of years. When I read this article, this is what came into my mind, and it makes me realize how much worse it could of been if the two were combined.
ReplyDeleteTo answer number 1: We could create cleaner factories and automobiles that would have much cleaner exahust than today. This would decrease the number of pollutants in the air and help reverse global warming.
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