if you want to read an incredibly long and boring essay i wrote, then read on. not too long ago i had a poll on my blog asking ya'll which topic to write an essay on for a critical thinking class. all the topics were pretty controversial-either politically or morally. i chose to write about obesity in the united states. but, the class wasn't really on the topic we were going to write about. it was about critical thinking. i am just deciding to post this because i found out that i passed my essay with flying colors on the first try. for some reason i do really good at writing (only when it counts for college though-so don't go on analysing my writing on here) but really have no desire to persue a career in it. anyway-here's my essay. i'm just glad it's done.
The issue I chose to discuss for my original essay was the best way to address obesity in the United States. I had no idea how wide of a range this topic could have until I researched the issue and learned more about critical thinking. I have since learned that the definition of the problem with obesity in America is going to depend on who defines it and what it is defined to mean. There are so many interpretations and tangents of the problem that it is a completely open-ended issue. Something I was blinded from seeing not too long ago.
I have read some essays that lead me on a critical thinking trail with endless possibilities. The essays I read led me to ask whether or not America is experiencing an obesity epidemic, whether or not obesity is a disease, and whether or not being obese is the individual’s responsibility. As well as controversies about what causes it and who is affected by it. This problem as stated leaves the solutions endless and the issue ambiguous. Wording the problem this way leaves the reader unsure of what to do with it. To better come to a way to address this issue, the issue could be narrowed to more specifically talk about one aspect of it. For example, the topic could ask if America is experiencing an obesity epidemic, and then the question would be less open ended and be able to focus on a solution to the issue.
I have gathered some evidence from essays about obesity. In an essay that is for the argument that obesity is a disease I found the following information, “The NIH's (National Institutes of Health) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, state: Obesity is a complex, multifactorial chronic disease that develops from an interaction of genotype and the environment. Our understanding of how and why obesity develops is incomplete, but involves the integration of social, behavioral, cultural, physiological, metabolic and genetic factors” (Nakaya, 2006).
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is a very credible source that comes from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/). This is a strength about this evidence and I have every reason to believe that the information put out by the National Institutes of Health is correct. However I do find a weakness in this piece of evidence. The definition stated is trying to link obesity with disease, and classify it as such. There is a lot of information in the evidence but the evidence does state “our understanding of […] obesity […] is incomplete”. The incomplete understanding of this subject leads me to believe the evidence is weak.
Continuing with this evidence, it is apparent that the NIH is making effort to prove that obesity should be classified as a disease. After reviewing the statement I believe the topic is not settled, meaning that obesity has not been finally classified as a disease or not. Although this credible source attempts to classify obesity as a disease, the source is still interpreting definitions and such to make obesity appear as though it is a disease. Also, seeing where this source is coming from, they would be very bias to claim that obesity is a disease seeing as it is such an unhealthy thing for the body. Although obesity is unhealthy, it does not make it a disease.
In my evaluation of this evidence I have noticed that while this source sounds very credible, they are attempting to link obesity with disease. This organization appears to specialize in the identification, evaluation and treatment of obesity, but not disease. To me, anyone who is attempting to classify a condition as a disease should specialize in diseases specifically. This would give the evidence more credibility. My interpretation from reading the essay this evidence came from I have gathered that the author is interpreting this evidence to mean that since the source NIH claimed obesity is a disease, that obesity is now a disease. This statement is not necessarily proof, but just a statement.
The second piece of evidence I would like to discuss came from the essay “America is not experiencing an Obesity Epidemic”. The evidence reads “The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledge that [these] results are counterintuitive: ‘Overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat. It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle’” (Nakaya, 2006).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a very credible source that comes from the Department of Health and Human Services as well (http://www.cdc.gov/). This is a strength about this evidence and I have every reason to believe that the information put out by the Department of Health and Human Services is correct. A weakness of this evidence is that it is supposed to be swaying the reader to believe that America is not experiencing an obesity epidemic and is doing so by attempting to prove the BMI is incorrect. It states that people are overweight when they are not because the BMI doesn’t take into account muscle mass or body fat percentage.
The author of the essay takes this evidence and is making assumptions out of it to make a point in his writing. The evidence states: “Overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat. It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle”(Nakaya, 2006). This statement is used by the author to sway readers to believe America is not experiencing an obesity epidemic. This evidence was interpreted by the author that many Americans are actually not overweight due to their muscle mass, yet the BMI indicates they are overweight. The weight is not fat, just muscle. The statement says “may or may not”. The evidence is not certain on either which way, yet the author is assuming that Americans are not overweight due to their muscle mass, and the BMI is inaccurate.
My evaluation of this evidence leads me to believe that for it to impact the readers to believe that the BMI is incorrect the author is making some interpretations. First, the author is interpreting the quote stated “…overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat”(Nakaya, 2006) to possibly mean overweight is not due to increases in body fat, which is why the author feels the BMI is wrong. The author is also interpreting the quote stated: “It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle” (Nakaya, 2006) to possibly mean that overweight is for a fact being caused by an increase in lean muscle. These interpretations are being made to sway readers to believe that America is not experiencing an obesity epidemic because the BMI doesn’t take into account all information to determine one’s health status.
Given the phrasing of the problem that I have chosen and evaluating the evidence at hand, the problem as stated remains to be completely open ended. There are a lot of issues related to this problem that are not clearly defined or proven. I think that a couple of solutions could happen if certain steps are taken. One solution needs to be using more accurate information to determine how many Americans are overweight. The BMI doesn’t take into account enough information and is classifying individuals as overweight when they may not necessarily be. However, two limitation to this solution is that first, it may be impossible to accurately calculate how many Americans are overweight due to the fact that individuals are constantly gaining and loosing weight. Second, the current information provided regarding the matter is just a calculated statistic. In order to be more accurate, one would have to get first hand information. It is just an impossible task, to gather all the necessary information may be too tedious.
Another solution would be to prove whether or not obesity is a disease. The determination of such will factor into how people treat this issue. However, the limitations associated with this solution is that first, it may be impossible to ever prove if obesity is a disease or not due to many interpretations of the issue and interpretations to the definition of “disease”. Second, if it is proven one way or another, it could change in the near future due to enlightenment of new interpretations of either obesity or disease. And lastly, if obesity is classified as a disease it could affect how insurance handles their customers in regards to obesity. It could be a major set back and cost a lot of money for insurance companies because they may have to make exceptions for more individuals and pay for costs associated with obesity. This factor may limit the potential solution from ever happening.
After thinking critically about the issue I have selected I have come to the conclusion that there is no “best” possible solution. The problem has so many branches off the initial problem that it becomes many problems. The initial problem is just too general. Even if the problem were more specifically tailored, there are still too many interpretations of evidence and assumptions that it just remains open-ended.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from
http://www.cdc.gov/
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
Nakaya, A. C. (Ed.). America is not experiencing an Obesity Epidemic. San Diego:
Greenhaven Press, 2006.
Nakaya, A. C. (Ed.). Obesity is a Disease. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006.
The point of the class was to realize that every issue is an open-ended issue because it all depends on who analyses and inteprets the issue. it's true too!
1 comment:
That was a long essay! Good job. How's school going? how are you guys doing?
Post a Comment