TMP proposal

Childhood Obesity Among Minorities in America 

There is a growing childhood obesity epidemic, which leads to the development of other health outcomes such as high cholesterol, cardiac problems, along with mental and emotional health and well-being. Childhood obesity increases the chance of chronic illnesses into adulthood by 80%, with regard to the population that does make it into adulthood. A large part of the cause for childhood obesity can be attributed to the media. The media, prominently television, has impacted the way families eat, bombarding them with commercials packed with attention-grabbing music, images, and sweet treats that children swarm to. These commercials specifically affect minorities, who have less access to healthier food and more access to junk food because of its lower costs and accessibility. The majority of neighborhoods in whcih minorities reside heavily lack social capital, where there are more unhealthy resources, and less opportunities to counteract that unhealthy eating pattern. Typically, the lack of interest in what this particular population eats relates to their lack of interest in other challenging areas of life- they are satisfied with the bare minimum, where healthier food becomes more of a luxury and privilege than a right. 

Knowing that the media inadvertently harms our youth of today, shouldn't there be some sort of media intervention?? Is media regulation even a possibility at this day and age? Is the media to blame or are the parents of these overweight children at fault for a decline in their youth's short and long term health?