Analysis of Journal

Throughout these last couple weeks, I've been reporting on articles that were from the ADA Journal or the American Dietetic Association Journal about experiments mainly dealing with weight loss and obesity.  These articles were all consistent with each other in the ADA Journal because each one used the scientific method to identify, evaluate, and solve the problem.  That being said, the epistemology is science-based because the scientific method is a method that is clear, and easy to understand when written correctly.

When referring to Linton et al, the convention I found that was used most was the Conventions of Language.  Although the articles do not disagree with anyone directly within the writings, I do believe they are disagreeing with what is seen as the social norm in todays health field by those not in the health field. These articles are summaries  of conducted experiments to determine something better in the world of health than what is present as of now.

When referring to Swales's Genre Model, Move 1 (Establishing a Territory) the ADA Journal claims health and nutrition as its centrality and the articles I chose were mostly about weight loss in adolescents.  In Move 2 (Establishing a Niche), specifically Step 1B (Indicating a gap), this journal helps fill in areas that continually have new findings as the technology in society improves.  In Move 3 (Occupying a Niche), the purpose of these articles is to inform dietitians and providers in the health field of new and upcoming research and information to help society battle obesity and nutritional concerns.  Since this journal is specifically for the field of dietitians, the articles will jump right into the topics stated in the title instead of addressing the ongoing issues in today's society.

Reading these articles from this journal has allowed me to open my eyes to new ideas in the world of nutrition.  Without reading them, I would not know what is new and upcoming with weight-loss and how it is being addressed in today's world.

Inner City Obesity

A couple of months ago there was a study released on the average weight lost in a day camp for inner city kids that are morbidly obese over a 6 week period.  There were 27 children who participated in this experiment and they were in the range of 14 years old with 55% of them being female and 59% being African American.  These children had an average weight of 223 pounds +/- 53 pounds prior to the 6-week program.  This study was set up because there are limited resources available in inner-city schools that other schools might have.  To help with the cost effectiveness of this program, the parents of the children who were involved in the study were informed to prepare healthy lunches and then once at camp, the children were involved in classes that helped reinforce the benefits of a nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.  Along with these classes, the children were involved in 3 hours of exercise each day for the entire 6 weeks.

In the end, the children attended about 4 weeks of the camp and lost about 5-10 pounds.  Even those these results don't seem to be that good, this program could potentially help reduce the likelihood of morbidly obese children in inner-city schools.

I think this type of program would be a wonderful idea because just because a school district doesn't have the resources to provide for the children doesn't mean nothing can be done.  Something can always be done, and by doing this weight loss program that is a step in the right direction in preventing childhood obesity.