Overnutrition
Meghann Dougherty, Grant Marshall, Ava Anderson
What is Overnutrition?
- Overnutrition (also known as hyperalimentation) is a form of malnutrition in which the intake of nutrients is oversupplied. The amount of nutrients taken in exceed the amount required for normal growth, development, and metabolism.
- Overnutrition can also develop into obesity.
- There are risks of serious health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
Factors Contributing to Overnutrition
- obesogenic culture (culture that tends to cause obesity)
- growing number of fast food restaurants
- economic inequality (unhealthy foods less expensive than healthy foods)
Ways to Solve/Prevent Overnutrition and Obesity
- early care and education about it in schools
- healthy food environments
- physical activity community strategies
- public awareness campaigns
- ways for schools to solve: encourage children to drink water instead of sugary beverages; ensure healthy food options/limit food and drinks with added sugar; increase the amount of time that students are being physically active
Real World Example: Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" Campaign
Let's Move is an initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama in 2010 and is dedicated towards solving the problem of obesity within a generation. This campaign is geared towards putting children on the right path to a healthy future. The five main pillars of this program (as stated by Mrs. Obama) are: creating a healthy start for children, empowering parents and caregivers, providing healthy foods in schools, improving access to healthy and affordable foods, and increasing physical activity. Let's Move has accomplished many things in the few years that it has been running such as businesses linking themselves to the organization and people from every branch of society coming together for it.
Works Cited
-www.uniteforsight.org/hunger/module4
-www.cdc.gov/obesity/strategies/community.html
-http://www.letsmove.gov/about
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