Year: 2016

It has recently become more convenient for parents to opt for convenience food, which normally contains processed food. From looking at the graph below:

(Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 2014)

This graph published by the government of common trends in UK households published each year gives detailed statistics on purchased quantities. It shows expenditure and how different households have spent their income on different food and drink. From this graph we can see that ‘Mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fatty acids are higher in the eating out diet. They are found in olive oils, rapeseed oil, vegetable oils, fish oils, nuts, milk and some meat and meat products.’ (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 2014) Proving that convenience is not always the best lifestyle to lead. You can be consuming 3% more mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated by eating out.

Finally after looking in to the rise in technology factors relating to obesity, and also some genetic conditions that also relate to obesity I came across a child’s diet. This being by far the biggest variable, as the genes that can be inherited are rare. Also technology has to be monitored by a parent and a new media product or service could not alter this. I researched into how obesity can change a child’s life both in the short term and long term and I found that a child can develop the following:

• Type 2 Diabetes
• Depression
• Bowel cancer/Breast cancer
• Stroke

After discovering many conditions that are significantly detrimental to an individual’s health I found further research into how and why a child’s diet is the most important factor. Firstly I researched into school dinners as mass time of a child’s life is spent here, the UK government first realised there was a significant problem with school dinners in 2006 once they realised there was a problem with child obesity, the government came up with many solutions to improve school dinners but they proved to be to expensive for most schools. Therefore in 2014 on the 17^th June many primary schools had new school dinner standards. These were designed to make nutritious menus that were also imaginative; these standards are now mandatory in all schools (Department for Education et al. 2014). If this statement is correct then I assumed that a child’s diet wouldn’t be affected by what they eat at school, and therefore would be affected by what they eat at home. Many specialists say that dietary problems are caused from a young age, for instance if you breastfeed your baby, the baby takes however much they may need. Yet studies show that if you bottle feed you are more inclined to ensure that your baby finishes every ounce rather than stopping when they signal that they are full. This is because of the packaging used on the back of formula, stating the weight of your baby and how much they should be eating. Physically every child is different, and every situation is different. Consequently this is unpredictable, whereas breastfeeding gives the child as much as they need with the baby being in control of this. Breastfeeding also gives the parent peace of mind if their baby isn’t eating as much as normal, it probably wouldn’t cross the parents mind. However if the baby does not finish the formula milk the parent is more likely to panic, causing stress on the parent and child.

As I researched into ways why there is a significant rise in obesity in children over the past decade. I came across the rise in technology and how this has previously been related to obesity in children. It is easy to think that the rise in new technology could be the reason for children no longer spending as much time outside burning calories. Although for some parents this may be an easy way to keep their child occupied however this is not the healthiest way to do so. With the rise in obesity becoming an increasing problem it is even more important now that parents limit their child’s screen time.

It is also proven that sleep deprivation can be a direct link to obesity, which technology also interferes with the amount of sleep one may have. This can significantly increase the impact of the child watching television before they sleep, decreasing the amount of sleep they may receive. This effects the metabolism if the body and mind is tired for the next day, reducing the chances of performing exercise the following day. With children watching more and more television spending up to an estimated time of 7 hours per day watching television, advertising has become more popular on children’s television. When advertisements are shown on television they glamorise the different options available at the supermarket, which are normally nutrient-poor food and drinks. This contributes to the increasing popularity of overweight children as they expose children to the advertisements that may affect unhealthy nutritional decisions. Propositioning if children remember these brands they are more likely to ask parents for them. Even the child being aware of different foods will more than likely make them want to try it. The type of food that is advertised is continuously unhealthy food on children’s television, which is particularly discriminating and also one-sided for advertising companies. The advertising companies are also specialists in exploiting persuasive techniques to entice children into wanting their product. This could be a technique such as collectable toys for example ‘Bobbys toys’. Secondly another technique used is attractive food packaging and advertising, normally creating moving appeals to falsify long-lasting relationships with children to create brand loyalty, for example ‘McDonald’s, Ronald McDonald’. The television regulator Ofcom has investigated the problem and also The Food Standards Agency has also been inspecting the issue. However still to this day there is an on-going debate around this issue.

It is a rising concern that citizens all around the world no longer live a healthy lifestyle, including children. Many children do have a healthy lifestyle but there is still a large amount of children that are overweight. During research into this I found there are many reasons why a child may become obese that are self-caused. There are very rare conditions that can be inherited. But mainly the key causes for obesity is diet and exercise. I firstly researched into genetics, as many parents and professionals state that the rise in obesity in children could be down to genetics, better known as the FTO gene. Believed that if you carry this particular gene (FTO) and a specific nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in the fat mass you are more likely to have a higher BMI. This was one of the first genes to be identified with obesity around the world; this was shown that the FTO gene was found in people that had a high BMI, regardless of age or gender.

Figure 1. (Martin E. Hess, Jens C. Brüning. 2014)

This graph highlights the effects of carrying the FTO gene, and the other associations this gene has including ADHD and depression. Finding that the main reason for a rise in an individuals weight can be due to an increased energy intake, impaired satiety response and increased food responsiveness. Whilst there is evidence that genes can contribute to the rise in obesity, this is still a rare gene to carry.

As I am approaching a new challenge within this semester I have thought deeper into my R&D idea from semester A, I have made the amendments following my feedback from the presentation. I have decided to stick with my idea from semester A as I feel it is something I am passionate about and think it would actually be a good service for individuals.