The Health River of Lexington

What do we see?

• The coca cola truck in front of WKHS and the health student posters at RBHS are examples of educational standpoints on nutritional value.
• At WKHS the Coca Cola delivers 12-oz DASANI Sparkling Lime, 20-oz Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, 20-oz DASANI, 20-oz POWERADE Zero Mixed Berry to stock the vending machines.
• These drinks don’t contain any calories and sugar in them which support a healthy lifestyle.
• In contrast, the posters at RBHS explain to students about nutritional value and how to eat healthy.

How does this relate to obesity?

• Almost all of those drinks that are distributed contain GMO and students are not aware that genetically modified food is a predominant cause of obesity.
• According to the CDC, GMO was invented in 1994 and if you look at the obesity trend after 1994, the obesity trend has only increased. (CDC Report Below).
• The article “Eat GMOs get Fat” states “Genetically modified food... showing that progress towards obesity around the globe has been”

Obesity Trend

So, how is this related to schools or education?

• Schools play a vital role in creating a positive mindset that will allow our future generations to be successful with their career, personal life, and health.
• If schools serve these kinds of drinks(listed previously), it might influence a student to believe that these foods are healthy or drink these drinks on a daily basis.
• Schools must avoid serving foods that have GMO and they should try to only serve organic food to students.
• Also, schools must educate students about not just nutritional value, but also GMO. This will help create a healthy lifestyle for the students.

Comparing Physical Built Environments

• Neighborhood amenities directly relate to obesity rates because people are more likely to exercise when given the access and space to.
• In the left photo there is a wide space to play that is protected by a gate from outside threats. In addition there is a basketball court that is open to those that live in the neighborhood as an outlet for exercise. In comparison to the left photo the right picture depicts a neighborhood that does not feature any aspects to encourage exercise.
• The lack of sidewalks is the issue because it causes the individuals to be less likely to be able to safely exercise in their neighborhood which increases obesity.
• Those individuals with more money have access to buy in a neighborhood that supports an active lifestyle which directly reduces the risk of obesity.

Image 2

You ain't too broke to buy coke but that may falter for water

What do we see?

• The student at LHS is filling up her tray with 6 portions of french fries and the children hovering over the Ipad.
• The student states that this is the tastiest and cheapest lunch option that she eats at least three times a week
• Normally, a serving of school french fries contains 120 calories and 20g of sodium, but no other nutritional value.
• The girl eats about 720 calories and 120g of sodium in one sitting three times a week.

How is this related to obesity?

• According to Fitness Pal, one needs to do 72 minutes of running or an exercise equivalent to do that to burn 720 calories.
• However, as shown in the children hovering over the Ipad, must students do not get much physical activity, they use technology instead.
• This type of behavior can be very harmful to a student, because their intake does not have any nutrition and they are not burning off these excessive calories they consumed
• The article “The Dangers of Eating...” states “Foods that are high in calories and have low nutrients can lead to obesity” (Eating Too Much…).

Eating a lot and not Exercising

• This is a huge problem in our community.
• Many adults eat a lot of food and they do not exercise, because they do not have time or a place to exercise
• The girl eats 6 portions of fries almost everyday thinks her behavior is normal, because most of her family and friends eat this way.
• The article "This is why most Americans don't Exercise" by Tyler Schmall discusses reasons Americans give to avoid exercising.
• Schmall states "One in four (23 percent) have used eating too much to get out of a planned workout, and another 15 percent said they’d rather watch Netflix ... 42 percent saying that time is the biggest reason they fail to work out."
• This behavior in our community is tarnishing our health

More Statistics

Under the new guidelines, nearly 46 percent of U.S. adults now would be considered to have high blood pressure, a new study reported.

Further, 36 percent would be recommended for blood pressure medication, the study authors said.

That means the number of American adults diagnosed with high blood pressure would grow to 105 million from 74 million, and those who should be taking medication to 83 million from 72 million.