We had a Talk about Childhood Obesity
We had a talk with a group of other nursing students after one of my instructors' classes in late January 2017. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had just reviewed its data on childhood obesity on its website, and the study revealed a concerning trend of overweight and obesity in youngsters in the United States. I was astounded when one of my close friends noted that, according to the CDC, obesity prevalence among children had more than tripled since the 1970s. But, the chat stopped after we spent some time discussing the potential causes of such a tendency as well as potential solutions. Since the discussion involved nursing students, the language terminologies used such as Body Mass Index, Obesity and overweight were very familiar that everyone could get every gist of the conversation. Our lecturer being an authority in nursing issues clearly streamlined the communication to the extent that everyone fully trusted his contributions to the debate. Behaviors that show faith such as eye contact and lack of self-contradiction were evident given the aspect that none of us hesitated to respond to individual elements of the topic under discussion when such moments reached. Moreover, every student demonstrated how a change in lifestyle had the potential of reversing the situation for better. I can recall that there were disagreements especially on causes of childhood obesity where one blamed it on food ads. However, all other reasons such as lack of exercise and consuming junk foods had no resistance from the group.
The Impact of the Conversation
The conversation shaped the perceptions on overweight and obesity since enabled me to separate myths from facts. Since then I have changed my lifestyle by watching the kind of foods I consume and appreciate the value of exercise in general health. It feels fulfilling to engage in a discussion whose subject matter and language you are well-conversant and trust. Otherwise, I would not hesitate to say that any discussion with a strange language creates a lot of distrust. A person should appreciate differing opinions, respect members, converse (not argue) and focus on the positives to add value to a conversation.
