The American epidemic of obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The American epidemic of obesity - Essay Example This essay "The American epidemic of obesity" outlines the danger of obesity, its consequences and recommendations how to prevent it. The absence of supportive policies in key sectors such as health, agriculture, transport, urban planning, environment, food processing and distribution, marketing and education is also a cause of this change. For a friend who is overweight, I would advise that they change their lifestyle. They should cut down their intake of regular soda as it is high in sugar and hence calories. Diet soda, alternative most health- conscious soda consumers opt for is also reported to contain some artificial sweeteners that have been linked to health issues such as cancer and should, therefore, be avoided. I would advocate that they take fresh fruit juices as they are much lower in calories and have no additives. They should also reduce their intake of fast foods as fast foods are high in calories and fat hence contributing to overweight and obesity. Intake of greens and fruits as well as legumes, whole grains and nuts should be increased as they are low in calories and fat. It would be important for the friend to improve her physical activity and make her diet healthier in order to ensure that her health is not at risk. This is because obesity and overweight lead to cardiovascular problems such as heart d isease and stroke. When there's too much fat in the body, it may clog blood vessels leading to a rise above normal in blood pressure and may result in a stroke.

The objectification of women in online advertising Essay

The objectification of women in online advertising - Essay Example This "The objectification of women in online advertising" essay outlines how media and ad are using women to attract men audience. Women are being used by men and their bodies are glorified in images in the interest of male population. Adverts fully comply with the standards of female beauty by showing slender and exquisite women who are meant to instantly catch the eye of a male viewer. Call it sexism or objectification, this kind of online advertising is an open threat to women because it reinforces their inferiority to men. It makes these arguments that women can be handled by men like submissive automatons more emphatic because women, in deed, appear to be submissive given the way they are made to strike myriad poses for the male gaze. The purpose of this essay is to explore how subtly media through online advertising seeks to spread the ideology of male dominance in the society by objectification of women. The following discussion will also scrutinize a collection of adverse inf luences executed on women by this manipulative practice. It is suggested that female objectification is actually an iceberg and sexual objectification is only the visible tip of this iceberg (Goh-Mah, 2013). While some see no problem with the media environment in the US which is sexually charged and adamantly defend singularly offensive poses in the name of liberalism, others refuse to believe in this hypocritical charade and question its potential to adversely affect giant masses of women across the globe. Many, acutely distressed by the way women are presented to promote various products and brands, even call for the force of law to prevent the way by which media seeks to further its horrendous interests which have grave social repercussions. The female body parts are made way more pronounced than the product promoted because advertising aims to promote women as sexual objects (Pardun, 2013, p. 116). Not only these images make a point of accentuating different parts of a female body to make them â€Å"fit into an ever narrowing ideal o f female beauty† (Goh-Mah, 2013), they also attempt to add a hint of sarcastic humor to them. In this way, the online advertising producers end up creating such images which not only unreasonably expose a woman to even promote products like beer or a shoe, but also present objectionably weird poses which help men derive satisfaction from them. A kind of media environment which places less emphasis on sex is required to ensure â€Å"better public health for American youth† (Pardun, 2013, p. 116) which is the main target of these advertisements. However, this end cannot be achieved if even ads meant to sell jeans display skinny models in panties whose breasts are magnified by photoshop techniques. It is suggested through creators of such ads to women that by getting their jeans, they too can have bodies â€Å"that any woman would want to see and touch† (Pardun, 2013, p. 116). Such is the ideology upon which modern online advertising is based. There are many hidden aspects of the issue of sexual objectification in online advertisements. This issue started around the 1970s, but is rampant in the present age (Heldman, 2012). These aspects need to be properly explored to dispel the ambiguousness enveloping myriad riddles which have been the source of discomfort for women and feminists for quite long now. Many approaches have been used by scholars over the years to understand and analyze different media through which women are exploited