HRE #14: Tobacco & Cessation Programs

Tobacco causes over 440,000 deaths each year! It is important to continue discussing its risk factors and how it greatly impacts our lives and our health. This student's project uncovers the truths about smoking.

In his research, he listed 5 main reasons why people start smoking in the first place:
"The 5 reasons would be: peer pressure, curiosity, their guardians/ parents, advertisements, and their role models. But later on some people decide to quit, but not many. Reasons people would quit would be because of health, first of all."

Regarding second-hand smoke:
"Dangers of secondhand smoke are the same as direct smokers, such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, asthma, etc. This is a danger to our society because statistics show that non-smokers with partners who smoke in the home have a 20–30% greater risk of lung cancer, and those exposed to cigarette smoke in the workplace have an increased risk of 16–19%."

The student viewed a short film on how advertising companies market tobacco. Here are his thoughts on the movie:
"This film showed us how tobacco and alcohol companies are desperate to get people, especially young people to purchase their product. The tobacco companies make their advertisements glamorous and fun to smoke. Just as the alcohol companies do the same, but in reality, it’s killing you little by little. But the one thing the advertising companies of tobacco and alcohol do not advertise are the dangers and health risks of their products. They also never advertise how many people die every year instead they try to advertise newer and fun advertisements to attract younger viewers. But the film did not discuss a topic on how to resolve these problems. Instead of the government spending money on anti- advertisements against these companies, they should have used some of the tax hikes from these products to give free treatments to quit these addictions. Because now you have companies that sell their medications at high prices and treatments to help you quit at a high price and most people cannot afford them, so most people continue smoking and drinking. It’s not just advertisements that get young people to start these addictions, its parents and adults by their actions. So the best way to stop smoking and drinking is to “DON’T START”!!!!"

The student was asked to mark all the areas on campus where students were found smoking. Notice that some areas are NOT designated smoking places. (Click on the picture to get a bigger view)
















The student created podcasts where he interviewed smokers and non-smokers on their thoughts on smoking on campus - should it be allowed? Listen to their responses:
(podcasts will be up soon)


And the student also created a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on smoking and why one should quit - or better yet, never start!

HRE #12: Alternative Health and Medicine

The purpose of this project was to explore naturopathic medicines and other complementary alternative practices to allopatic (western) medicine. Below are highlighted excerpts from student's research and experiences:

What is Naturopathic Medicine?
"Philosophies and practices that seek to improve health and treat disease chiefly by assuming the body’s innate capacity to recover from
illness and injury. Philosophies include:
Homeopathy, a form of alternative medicine, by treating imbalances in a hypothetical vital force. Traditional Asian Medicine, herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage
Diet and Supplements, dealing with a healthy diet and vitamin supplements
Hydrotherapy, involves the use of water for soothing pains and treating diseases."

"Alternative medicine is defined as “quackery” because along time ago a report was written and a lot of people and western culture (allopathic) don’t believe in natural healing. Many of there techniques are unusual and people want a quite fix, and just want to get there problem fixed quickly. The naturopathic way takes more time and effort cause it sometimes means a lifestyle change, some people aren’t willing to make that change."

"Naturopathic doctors and western medicine doctors go through the same type of schooling in the beginning. They get their undergrad, basic pre-med, and take many of the same courses for example bio-chem. Naturopathic students also take more farm logy, nutrition, and mind, body and spirit courses. A naturopath goes through four years of schooling. First two years are their basic sciences and the final two years are focusing on clinical applications."

For her field experience, the student was asked to spend an entire day visiting the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine as a prospective applicant. Here are some brief thoughts about her experience:
"After doing the research and visiting SCNM I’ve really taken an interest in alternative medicine. I find it amazing and would like to partake in some of there practices. a lot of there methods are off the wall but people believe that they work, so I don’t think anything is a bad thing if people are getting healthier. Cardiovascular disease and cancer can be caused by lifestyle and one of the areas naturopaths focus on is lifestyle change. That could relatively lower both disease rates. Holistic means a complete well being to me. It reminds me of the complete package, because the focus is getting body, mind and spirit all balanced out. I find it fascinating and would like to try some of the methods in the future."

Here is her Public Service Announcement on moving towards a holistic lifestyle.

HRE #11: Cancer Society and Social Support

The focus of this student project was on cancer - the research of it, but more importantly, the cultural implications of cancer. How much of our lifestyle impacts the cause of cancer and what type of medical and social support exists. Below are highlighted excerpts from this project:

"The top three cancers for men are prostate, lung, and colon cancer. The top three cancers for women include breast, lung and colon cancer. Eighty percent of all cancer is caused by your lifestyle or environment some factors include: Sun Exposure, Tobacco, Alcohol, Unhealthy Diet, and you should all take a health education class to further inform you on this topic. By changing theses five things, you can live a longer and healthier life. Phytochemicals also play a role in cancer. Phytochemicals are found in fruits and vegetables, they can stop the shaping of the cancerous tumors and can stop cancer from starting. Some examples of phytochemicals would be PEITC which keeps carcinogenes from binding to DNA, you can get this from broccoli. There are also flavonoids that are found in most fruits and vegetables and it helps cancer causing hormones from locking onto the cells. Phytochemicals are also found in green tea."

"Lung cancer is the [a] type of cancer that is found both in men and women. Some risk factors for lung cancer include: gender, somking status, type of smoking, number of cigarettes per day, type of cigarette, duration of smoking and type of industrial work. Males have a higher risk of getting lung cancer. The chance of getting lung cancer will increase with age. People who smoke cigarettes have twenty times the chance of getting lung cancer than from those that don’t smoke. Cigarette smokers have a higher chance of getting lung cancer than those who smoke a pipe or cigar and people who smoke a pipe or cigar have a greater chance of getting lung cancer than those who don’t smoke. If a man smokes less than half a pack per day he has five times greater risk than those who don’t smoke. If a man smokes one or two packs per day then he has fifteen times higher chance of getting lung cancer. If he smokes more than two packs per day this chances went up to twenty times higher than a non smoker. Exposure to materials that industries use can also cause lung cancer. For example if you are exposed to arsenic, radiation or air pollution, it can also cause lung cancer. To help prevent lung cancer, don’t smoke and stay away from people who do. If you do smoke, it’s never too early to quit. Some warning signs include coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath, weight loss, bloody sputum, loss of appetite, and wheezing. If you some and have most of there symptoms, call your doctor right away."

Below is an excerpt of this student's personal frustrations with loved ones who exhibit unhealthy behaviors linked to cancer. I think we can all identify with her concerns because we all have people we care about that we wished lived healthier lives.
"[He] has smoked cigarettes since he was sixteen years old, which means that he has been smoking for thirty-one years. He smokes about forty cigarettes per day. He has also been a very heavy drinker for about twenty-five years. He would normally drink about a twelve pack of beer per day. And as I have mentioned before, the combination of these two increase the chance of getting cancer of the mouth, larynx, throat, esophagus, lung and liver and remember that the combination of drinking and smoking can cause cancer to develop fifteen-fold. For years I have tried to talk to him, he would get angry and say I don’t want to hear this. I would still randomly read him articles, show him pictures, and tell him information about how he can quit and that the whole family would help him."

"[She} is only twenty three years old and has been smoking for about seven years now... I have tried to talk to her many times and I have even showed her pictures of what could happen to her but all she does is get really angry, and then goes out side and smokes.... [She] smokes about ten cigarettes per day. Nothing will get through to her, not even the fact that she has a four year old son. Im so scared that she is going to get cancer, and I don’t want to lose [her] from something that could have been prevented. And in twenty years I don’t want her to never meet her grandchildren because of cancer. I hope that scientist come up with something to make smokers quit without missing it afterwards."

Powerful. Emotional.

For the expedition portion of this project, this student was asked to attend events that supported treatment of cancer. One of the events she participated in was the "Race for the Cure" Here's a brief highlight of her reflection:
"Overall, It was an emotional walk, but everyone walked with their head held high and keeping faith that one day breast cancer will never kill another mother, daughter, aunt, grandmother, lover or friend again. I’m so glad that my mama and I could experience what the walk was really about. I do plan to go again next year and I also would like to do the three day race as well."

Below is her Public Service Announcement on cancer:

HRE #9: Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

(Student project will be posted soon)

HRE #8: Cardio Designs for the Fitness Enthusiast

The purpose of this project was to research and understand the impact of cardio designs for the fitness enthusiast - someone whose lifestyle is already active, but is looking to improve fitness benefits. Below are excerpts from this project:

Fitness enthusiast or those who are in more extensive training might often use heart rate monitors to design their cardio training. Below, the student reiterates the importance of heart rate and what it means to monitor it:
"Knowing heart rate is important because you can adjust exercise to reap health benefits. Heart rate indicates the amount of stress or how many times your heart beats per minute during an activity. A person with a RHR of 45 would probably be in good to excellent physical condition so their heart doesn’t have to beat as hard to get the same volume of blood circulation. Monitoring heart rate gives you the exact bpm and the rate of perceived exertion gives a person a range but people may not feel that they are working as hard or harder. Heart rate monitors help people train in certain zones for particular benefits. I would monitor sedentary people or people with low cardio respiratory endurance over an athlete or someone with moderate endurance who knows what their body feels like at certain heart rate levels. A fitness enthusiast would probably be running or cycling because those are the most common and to keep them from getting bored I would recommend rock climbing, swimming, and one-on-one sports. Vigorous exercise means to exercise at an intensity level that is above 60%. Vigorous exercise most likely cannot be sustained for a long period of time for most people. Examples could be running, cross-training or interval training, and cross-country skiing. MET stands for metabolic equivalent and represents the rate of energy expended at rest (1 MET). Exercises are in multiples of 1 MET and depend on intensity. MET applies to fitness because it gives levels for various activities. In performance and training males are genetically predisposed with more muscle mass, which equips males to be physically stronger and faster and women"

During his expedition, the student was asked to reflect on his physiological and psychological experience as he gradually took his heart rate through his training zones:
"I went to the gym and tracked my heart rate while walking on the treadmill. At 40-50 percent I felt find and was able to breath easily. I wasn’t sweating and was able to talk fine. At 50-60 percent I began to sweat but not to where it was rolling down my face. My breathing began to get deeper but I was still able to breath out of my nose fine. At 60-75 percent I was sweating and couldn’t breathe out of my nose comfortably anymore. I could feel the burn in my legs while I was pushing up to and past 75 percent. At 75-85 percent my breathing became very heavy and I could feel my heart began to race. At 85 percent and above my breathing became very hard and my whole body began to burn trying to push through the last two minutes. I could feel my heart racing like it was ready to burst. Sustaining that was not very easy I think I quit at a minute. The cool down at 50 percent I could still feel everything from the 85 percent but my heart rate dropped very quickly. My breathing was still very hard and I couldn’t breathe through my nose comfortably for a few minutes. I still felt like I was exercising hard because I was still sweating during the cool down but my body went back to normal fairly quickly."

Because podcasting has become such a huge movement with iPods, there has been a tremendous surge in the fitness industry to provide programming in mp3 form. The student searched different fitness podcasts for cardio training and assessed their advantages and limitations:
"I searched the web looking for podcasts that were specifically designed to listen to when working out. The ones that I found were all free to use and download to your mp3 player. Once loaded to your mp3 player they are accessible at any time during your workout. I listened to demos both for cardio programs and for muscular strength and endurance and found that they weren’t very motivating for me. They sounded more like instructions rather than a tool to help you workout harder and more efficiently. I would think that the audience of these would be novices who need help but don’t know who to ask and don’t know what to do. Not to get them motivated but to give them a better understanding of what workouts they can do and how to do the correctly. I wouldn’t recommend these to anybody that has access to trainers to aid them or has another person to workout with. I would only recommend this to somebody who is training alone or at home who doesn’t have aid from anyone."

Below is the Public Service Announcement for helping fitness enthusiasts stay active and have versatility in their training.

HRE #7: Cardio designs for the Health Seeker

The purpose of this project was to understand the benefits of physical activity from a health seeker's perspective - not the physical fitness enthusiast. How does one create a cardiovascular program for the sedentary individual?

What are some aerobic activities one can engage in?
1-Stair Climbing
2-Doing your own yard work
3-Brisk Walking
4-Dancing
5-Wash your car

What is the Surgeon General's recommended guidelines for physical activity and why are they important for helping people implement activity in their lives?

Accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity over the course of most days of the week. It is important that someone new to any form of physical activity build their program gradually so they don’t get disappointed and the can maintain it for the long run. I would just tell them what the surgeon General recommends, after they get used to physical activity then I would start implementing more specific workouts to fit their goals and wants.

Below the student reflects on his expedition where he was asked to wear a pedometer for 2 weeks and track his experience and steps on WalkerTracker.com

(1) Was it hard to keep track of your daily step count – were there days you forgot to log in?
Well it wasn’t hard keeping track of my daily step counts it was just hard remembering to log in, I made a book were I keep my steps and I write them down every night before I go to bed. I just forget to log in and post them online. Yeah I almost always forgot to log in but I did and I posted all my progress.

(2) Out of the 14 days, how many days in total did you reach 10,000 steps a day?
Out of the 14 days I only reached 10,000 steps 4 times.

(3) Do you think obtaining 10K steps a day is a reasonable activity? Do you think most people can attain this goal? If so, why aren’t people simply walking more?
Obtaining 10,000 steps a day is reasonable it’s just hard. I don’t think most people can obtain this goal, the only reason I obtained it was because ether I ran or played football with my friends.

My pedometer experience was great, I loved wearing the pedometer and people asking me hey why are you wearing that and me telling them is a project for my fitness class. I think that just by me wearing the pedometer and my friends looking at me wearing it and asking me question I helped them get a little motivated in physical activity. Now my sister and her boyfriend wear one to, they ask me all the time if I reached 10,000 steps because they haven’t done it once yet. This was just a class assignment but I’m going to continue wearing my pedometer, not only for my self but so people can ask me why are you wearing that and I can tell them to stay in shape just by walking.

Below is the student's public service announcement about increasing your daily physical activity:

(PSA post to come)

HRE #6: Body Image & Eating Disorders

(Student project will be posted soon)

HRE #5: Nutrition and Culinary Costs

This project focused on the role of nutrition within our fast-food society. The student researched all aspects of nutrition and below are highlighted excerpts from the project.

When asked to explore how eating habits evolve and how the culture contributes to poor eating patterns - here's what he discovered:
"How I was raised, how I eat or cook for myself now and the information from thisclass all have contributed to my current dietary habits... I think three people have stated that they want to eat healthier. They went to Quiznos one day instead of another fast food place then stopped thinking healthy. None have really made any changes; they probably relapsed back to contemplation stage or just need some other kink of motivation."

Below are some tips to good eating:
"Don’t eat fast food. Watch your portion sizes. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Watch how many calories you eat. Try cooking for yourself."

The student also watched two movies related on fast food industry and was asked to reflect on his thoughts:

Reflections from "Super Size Me":
"In Mexico, the television commercials almost always carry a slogan or phrase on the bottom of the screen which states that fruits and vegetables are good for your health, or other health related comments. Our government can not commit to such a simple task because all of the food industry lobbyists ensure that no legislation or government agency will do any harm to them. In their defense of the lawsuit brought against them by the two girls, McDonalds stated, “… a matter of common knowledge that any processing that its foods undergo serve to make them harmful than unprocessed foods.” Shouldn’t’ this stir everything up, cause uproar and make the headline news, or should we focus our attention to the latest celebrity fashion? The world needs to think and stand up for itself; pay attention to what is going on and sometimes even question the facts. Stop accepting the norm and think outside the Big Mac box."

Reflections from "Fast Food Nation":
"This film made me think about immigration as much as it did about the fast food industry. I can now see that they both go hand in hand as one affects the outcome of the other"

"I thought the scenes in the meat plant were very eye opening because it showed how fast paced the workers were expected to operate, yet, if they made a small mistake, such as spilling the intestines over the meat, the line would just move on and there would be no time to correct the mistake."

"The main problem, as I see it, revolves around money. Mickey’s Burgers bought their cattle from the meat company as opposed to the farmer they used to conduct business with because the factory chard them less money. In order to do so, the plant hired illegal immigrants with no training what so ever at a low pay rate because they would work for a lower amount of money in comparison to American workers. As a result, many injuries and contamination occurs when handling the meat because the workers remain untrained to in order to save the company money. I guess nobody cares about their customers anymore; they’re just out to make a quick buck."

For his expedition project, the student was asked to compare the cost/ingredients of a McDonald's quarter pounder with that of the same burger ingredients bought from Sprouts. Below are his calculations and conclusions:

McDonald’s
Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese

Hamburger Calories- 510
Ketchup Total Fat- 26
Mustard Sodium- 1190
Pickle Carbohydrates- 40
Slivered onions Protein- 29
Two slices of cheese
Bun

Ingredients from Sprouts
Hamburger- $2.99 lb at 1.31 lbs= $0.75
Ketchup- $2.29 bottle with 25 servings= $0.09
Mustard- $1.99 bottle with 43 servings= $0.05
Pickle- $2.29 jar with 24 per container= $0.20
Chopped onion- $0.25 per onion= $0.03
Cheese- $3.69 for 15 slices= $0.25
Bun- $2.39 for 6 buns= $0.40
Total=$2.04

Below is the public service announcement for good nutrition and health eating:

HRE #4: Nutrition for Athletes & Supplementation

This project focused on nutrition and supplementation - specifically for the athlete. Below are the excerpts from this student's research:

"Athletes live very different lives then regular people athletes and to follow strict diets and rigorous training and are always being evaluated. Athletes have different nutritional requirements to a non athletic person, an athlete might need more protein in there diet or overall calories just to maintain body weight there are many different nutritional guide lines an athlete would have to follow for different sports."

"Some common reasons why athletes turn to supplements to gain better performance are to maybe recover faster, gain weight faster, loss weight faster, have more endurance etc."

This student recommends 5 ways to evaluate supplements for is safety and efficacy:
1. What it is or what its classified as or what supplement family is it under an example would be if an athlete was going to decided to take L-arginine before work outs they would want to know that its an amino acid.

2. Side effects of the supplement read the entire label and do your on research on the internet or ask a dr.

3. Read and research the ingredients know exactly what everything that’s in the pill or powder is and what its going to do.

4. How long they should be on the product and how long they can stay on the product and exact amounts of how much they can consume a day.

5. Look into is the statements from the products are actually true there are a lot of scams out there and does this company really have a sold product or is it all just advertising.

When asked his thoughts on if supplementation should be more restricted, he stated the following opinion:
"Yes and no some products are ok like some protein powders but others should be banned to until the age of 21, half of the legal hard core supplements are available to anyone that’s 18 and a lot of 18 year olds are in high school and buy these products and does god knows what to there bodies....work hard the harder your train the better the results, the second thing I would be is eat healthier and eat more get add quit calories so he could recover and grow at a faster rate the last thing I would say is never give up it might seem like a losing battle at first but in the end you will win the war of growth."

In the expedition part of this project, the student was asked to go to a health store (GNC, Hi-Health, etc) and learn how advertising played the promotion of supplements.

"In my store we make sure and put the best selling products on display or the most popuar at the time. For instance we have a big cut out of a body builder holding a bottle of Hydrocut hardcore and it says “GET RIPED GET DEFINED GET NOTICED!’ when people see this sign they always ask to see the product anther sign we have in our bodybuilding section is the sign that reads “ HARDCORE? PROVE IT!” this sign drawls wall the men, it seems to make the customers feel as if they have to prove there hardcore by buying something form the section, like they feel challenged by there man hood in a way. One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve been working a supplement store is how everyone is looking for the “quick fix” the one pill that will burn all there fat the powder that will grow muscle beyond there wildest dreams. The truth is these products don’t exists."

Below is the public service announcement the student created in order to bring awareness about supplements.

HRE #3: Childhood Obesity

This project focused on childhood obesity and the public issues that surround this devastating reality. Below are the excerpts from this student's research:

"Childhood Obesity 4% overweight 1982, 16% overweight 1994, 25% of all white children overweight 2001, 33% African American and Hispanic children overweight 2001, Hospital costs associated with childhood obesity rising from $35 Million (1979) to $127 Million (1999, (www.annecollins.com)"

"What causes childhood obesity? The causes of obesity are complex and include genetic, biological, behavioral and cultural factors. Basically, obesity occurs when a person eats more calories than the body burns up. If one parent is obese, there is a 50 percent chance that the children will also be obese. However, when both parents are obese, the children have an 80 percent chance of being obese. Although certain medical disorders can cause obesity, less than 1 percent of all obesity is caused by physical problems. Obesity in childhood and adolescence can be related to: poor eating habits, overeating or binging, lack of exercise (i.e., couch potato kids) family history of obesity, medical illnesses (endocrine, neurological problems), medications (steroids, some psychiatric medications), stressful life events or changes (separations, divorce, moves, deaths, abuse), family and peer problems, low self-esteem, depression or other emotional problems (www.aacap.org)"

When the student was asked to reflect on his own thoughts on childhood obesity, here's what he said:

"I have a stepbrother and sister who are both obese. My brother weight about 290 ,and he is only 17 my sister is 16 and she weight about 200. In the u.s.a. Americans do not practice good eating habits. If a person comes from another country, the odd are good that they will be fat in five years or less. I have a friend from; when she came to the u.s.a. the first thing that caught her attention was all the fast food restaurant. So our culture today needs to change our eating habits.

[These are the ways our culture has contributed to the rise of childhood obesity]: To many fast-food restaurant. Vending machine at schools soda or candy. Less exercise at school.
Parents are kids themselves. Bad eating habits. The problem of child hood obesity will get worse. I never seen so many obesity kids in the years of 2005-2007 now its almost common to be fat as a child. And to stop the problem, we need money, programs, and government assistant. And today’s time convinces is everything. So I don’t see the problem getting better anytime soon."

When asked what he would do to create a campaign to fix the childhood obesity epidemic, he suggested:

"I will call it [the campaign] PUNCH THE FAT OFF! That alone says it all; kids will love it."

Below is the Public Service Announcement this student created to bring awareness to the ongoing epidemic of childhood obesity:



(If you can not view the PSA, go here.)

If you have any questions or thoughts about this project, please feel to post a comment. What are your thoughts on childhood obesity? Will we manage to ever bring it under control? Do you know anyone who is suffering from health problems due to childhood obesity?

HRE #2: Obesity & Discrimination

(Student project will be posted soon)

HRE #1: Physical Activity vs. Exericse

This project was about distinguishing the differences between "Physical Activity" and "exercise" and how to bring about community awareness to the benefits of living an active lifestyle.

Here are some of the insights from the research:

"There is a variety of ways we as human beings can engage in physical activity, ranging from simple physical activity to intense exercise. While physical activity is simply body movement produced by skeletal muscles, exercise is defined as planned physical activity with the intent to improve or maintain certain components of physical fitness and health. Both of these activities are physically active, require energy (calories) and both provide health benefits; they are simply different levels of activity."

"It is a very important thing for fitness and health professionals to understand the differences between the terms “physical activity” and “exercise” for a number of reasons. One being that when approaching a sedentary individual the word “exercise” is intimidating, that person most likely will have a negative connotation to that word and automatically put up a barrier of resistance. Where as physical activity is a much simpler idea to grasp and put into motion for an inactive person. It is also important to understand the differences in the intensity between the two, physical activity being things most people do on a daily basis without thinking about, and exercise being a planned action to achieve fitness and health related benefits."

"Health and fitness professionals need to appeal to people’s personal issues; there is not really just one reason for being inactive. Although to an active individual they may all seem the same, in the sedentary mind their reason is different from everyone else’s and “no one understands.” In most cases they are right, most health and fitness professionals approach every overweight or unhealthy person the same way, and the unhealthy individual knows this and takes offence to it, puts up a mental barrier to change and continues their path of inactivity. Professionals need to dig for each and every person’s reason and respond according to that individual’s goals, limitations and needs. 67% of people may be inactive but most think they have a valid and different reason for their inactivity and because they think so, they do. Each person will need some sort of knowledge, to help them realize the importance, such as the risk of CVD they currently may have and that through physical activity they can lower this risk drastically. This risk will shorten their life expectancy and lessen the time they have to spend with their family, and evaluating the person’s current fitness level and forming a light, simple and short routine to get started on may start the ball rolling for that person and help them on the road to health."

The student was asked to follow the show "THE BIGGEST LOSER" and share insight on how shows like this positively/negatively impact and influence public opinion on exercise and what it means to live a healthy lifestyle. Here's an excerpt from his thoughts:

"Overall this show provides a very good motivator to sedentary people. At the same time it expands a detrimental stereotype of trainers and might discourage the hiring of trainers for people who believe they will not respond to that type of help in a positive way. I would have to say that I see Bob as the most level headed and effective of the three, while some people may respond to harsher treatment, most seek a middle ground and I think he offers the best overall experience for the contestants. There are a few areas that I believe the show needs to improve on such as the educational portion; frankly the ten second blips of information between commercials just don’t cut it. If I were to create a similar show I would not have contestants get kicked off the show unless their commitment level was not high enough. Kicking the contestants off reinforces failure and might have a very negative affect. The amount of weight the contestants are losing per week is very unrealistic for the viewer and in most cases very unhealthy. For viewers this makes their goals seem that much more unobtainable. And considering that eating habits equate from 75-80% of weight loss results, I believe that this should be shown much more than it is, which is practically never. All in all this show is a let down, it is unrealistic for the public to have expectations that mirror the show and it doesn’t aid weight loss in the viewing population outside of hopefully motivating people after seeing that it is possible for them to lose the weight they want to."

The student was also asked to have conversations with several sedentary people to gain a better understanding on the barriers they may have to physical activity. He asked each for the opportunity to discuss (and educate them on) the benefits of living an active lifestyle and here is one of the responses he received:

"When first bringing up the topic of physical activity with my uncle Don, he was a bit angry because I have been trying to get him up off his lazy bum for the last 5 years to no avail. Luckily I was able to calm him down and go on with the conversation. The responses I got from my aunt Carol and aunt Sheila were both initially sarcastic enthusiasm, and mainly simple “mmhhmm’s” and “yea’s” but after I was able to find out what would be convenient and fun for them they shifted to interested demeanors and ended up being thankful (I think) for the help I gave. The potential clients were all very interested in asking me questions like, “How often do I have to do this?” and “Is this going to be really hard?” One brought up a past experience of exercise and getting so sore they quit two days after they started and returned to a sedentary lifestyle for the next year and a half. Another seemed very concerned about her ability to actually so any of the physical activity I had in mind, she seemed to think that she was physically disabled, but after explaining the different steps to weight loss and health benefits she calmed down and started to agree that it wasn’t as hard as she had thought. After talking with the three potential clients they all scheduled workouts with me and seemed excited about it, so I think the message was received."

Finally, the student was asked to create a Public Service Announcement about the importance of adopting an active lifestyle. Check out his PSA below:




If you can't see the PSA - go here.

Please feel free to comment and discuss this project! What were your thoughts on the PSA? How do shows like BIGGEST LOSER and other media influences impact your thoughts about exercise? Even though the health benefits of physical activity are well-known, what are the most challenging barriers people face towards exercise?

Food in the Fast Lane!

Jennifer Mrozek Sukalo, MS of Healthy Lifestyle Solutions was fantastic enough to come into our classroom on Wednesday and speak to the students about making healthy choices in the real world. She gave us effective tips on incorporating good foods into our everyday lives. We all received delicious recipes and a list of staple foods every household should have!!

Jennifer, we appreciated your spending the morning with us!!

If you have any questions for Jennifer, remember you can always email her directly.

So class - what were your thoughts and list some key points YOU took away from Jennifer's lecture?

Podcast Challenge #1

Students had a podcast challenge over the Labor Day Weekend! For extra credit, they were asked to interview people on their exercise habits, barriers to exercise, as well as, inform them of the Surgeon General's Recommendation on Physical Activity.

The following students (Areia, Tamara, Keith, Paul) took the challenge and came up with these podcasts!

Podcast Challenge #1 - Areia (1st)



Podcast Challenge #1 - Areia (2nd)



Podcast Challenge #1 - Tamara




Podcast Challenge #1 - Keith



Good Job everyone!!!!