Causes of Childhood Obesity

Causes of Childhood Obesity Obesity is a superfluous amount of fat in the body. Obesity happens when a person’s body receives many more calories than it can burn by itself during the day. In other words it means that people eat generous helpings of processed food; moreover, this food can consist of a lot of cholesterol, which is extremely dangerous for the human body. Childhood obesity today has grown rapidly and has become a disturbing epidemic in many countries in the past few decades. Studies show that since the early 1970s, the percentage of both children and adults who can be characterized as overweight has doubled.According to a survey by the Public Health Agency of Canada in 2007, self-reported rates among children from age 12 to 17 of obesity were 2. 9% for girls and 6. 8% for boys. It is interesting that children who have problems with weight are more likely to become overweight adults. In a study by Lauren Marcus and Amanda Baron (n. d. ) it was found that obesity be gins in childhood for 30 persent obese adults. Sientists give many reasons for obesity, but the main three causes of childhood obesity are genetics, lack of activity, and children nourishment at school and at home.Muscular System: Muscle MetabolismIt is proven by scientists that genetics plays an important role of human beings. In spite of a fact that childhood obesity became a problem recently, the scientist already have evidence that childhood obesity is at least partly caused by genetics. Studies show that some ethnic groups have more prerequisites to be obese or are more defenseless to obesity-related disorders; moreover, a high body mass index could be associated with some genes (Denis Daneman and Jill Hamilton, 2010). A lot of people believe that a child has a 50 percent chance to be obese, if he or she has one overweight parent.When a child has both parents who are obese, there is an 80 percent or less chance of being obese. No doubt, genes affect how a person’s body s tores fat and how it is distributes through the body. Besides, genetics plays an important role in how rationally the body burns received calories during the day and burns calories during exercises, and also how effectively the body produces energy from food. Even though a child is genetically predetermined to obesity, exercises and a diet both in families and in schools are the main causes to gain weight.Lack of activity is another cause of childhood obesity. It is proven that daily participation in school physical education contributes positive effect to physical development, and builds a strong muscle system for the future. If a child is not active during the day, his body can’t burn as many calories as it needs to burn, and as a result, from year to year a child gains more weight. Doctors Trembley and Willms in 2003 argued that â€Å"Automated labor-saving devices and inexpensive and ubiquitous access to calorie-dense food create an environment conducive to obesity.Exces sive TV watching and video game use have been identified as a stimulus for excessive eating and sedentary behavior†. According to the research of Tremblay and Willmas a risk of being overweight is around 17 to 44 percent, and 10 – 61 percent of being obese is a consequence of watching TV and playing video games (ibid). It is necessary for children to have and participate in the active life; otherwise that calories received from a junk food in front of the TV couldn’t be burn properly by the body.That is why a child’s sedentary lifestyle serves as a gateway to the childhood obesity. Childhood diet at home and at school is the most important cause of childhood obesity. However, the members of the family share not only their genes, but also a diet habits that contribute a lot to childhood obesity in a family. Children of all ages spend half of their day in a school; therefore, school food is a very important part of children’s diet. It is not a big sec ret that the food which children eat every day at school is fast food.Furtheremore, everybody knows fast food is highly processed, and unhealthy in all its forms, so what children receieve is food made of off-the-shelf components, says Jamie Oliver (2010). A simillar situation at home, at first glance it is so convenient for parents to make purchases at supermarkets, buy a half-finished products and spent less time on cooking. Nevertheless, that food usually does not contain any nutrients; as a result the children’s body doesn’t get all useful vitamins to develop properly, so the metabolism can’t work at its full capacity or burn calories as well.It has been argued by Michael Wieting (2007) that obese children drink much more sugary drinks and eat more fries, potato chips, meat substitutes with ketchup and mayonnaise, and eat white bread. These all contribute to the higher calories, sugar, and fat intake. In the end, it is clear that childhood obesity can be cau sed by three main reasons such as genetics, lack of activity, and nourishment at school and at home. Genetics could influence how the body copes with calories, but if a child’s parents don’t take care over their progeny’s diet oth at school and at home, and also don’t organize child’s activity, he or she might gain weight easily in a very little time. Not only parents have to take care about their children, also everybody should remember that childhood obesity is becoming a dangerous epidemic in many countries, and everybody’s task is to prevent obesity, because children are our future. Bibliography Daneman, D. , & Hamilton, J. (2010). Causes and consequences of childhood obesity. Retrieved from http://www. aboutkidshealth. a/En/News/Columns/PaediatriciansCorner/Pages/Causes-and-consequences-of-childhood-obesity. aspx Michael, W. (2008). Cause and Effect in Childhood Obesity: Solutions for a National Epidemic. The Journal of the American Ost eopathic Association, 108(10)), 545-552. Retrieved from http://www. jaoa. org/content/108/10/545. full Marcus, L. , & Baron, A. (n. d. ). Childhood Obesity: The Effects on Physical and Mental Health. Retrieved from http://www. aboutourkids. org/articles/childhood_obesity_effects_physical_mental_health Oliver, J. (2010).Jamie Oliver's TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www. ted. com/talks/jamie_oliver. html Pulic Health Agency of Canada. (2009). Obesity in Canada – Snapshot. Retrieved from http://www. phac-aspc. gc. ca/publicat/2009/oc/pdf/oc-eng. pdf Tremblay, M. S. , ; Willmas, J. D. (2003). Is the Canadian childhood obesity epidemic related to physical inactivity? (Vol. 27, pp. 1100-1105). Retrieved from http://chaausa. nonprofitoffice. com/vertical/Sites/%7B0635C236-197E-47C6-8FBB-A80A08D4715B%7D/uploads/%7BB25D71A3-6FC3-4315-A19C-B8B476011EB2%7D. PDF

Compare Traditional Radio Listening with Listening to a Station Via a Mobile App. How Are They Different?

Hayden Cremeens COM 200 Chapter 8 Essay 6. Compare traditional radio listening with listening to a station via a mobile app. How are they different? When the radio became a popular past-time in America, it changed society. The radio industry is a rapidly growing business; the number of stations increased 100% from 1970 to 2010 (Dominick, 2013, p. 189). Traditional broadcastings like talk-shows and National Public Radio announcements eventually shifted into a majority of music-orientated stations; however both formats still remain.Traditional FM radio stations that are available nationally or locally have limitations of the genre of music that one listens to; opposed to mobile app, such as Pandora, that allows you to choose specific genres. Traditional radio stations have more commercials than mobile apps; therefore constant interruption during music streaming. Some traditional radio stations have embraced the apps.Clear Channel, a radio company, has had success with the merge of trad itional radio to a mobile app. Clear Channel has developed the IHeartRadio app; which allows users to listen to local radio stations in over 150 stations where ever their location (Dominick, 2013, p. 188). I prefer mobile apps because they stream directly to a computer, smartphone or other portable device (Dominick, 2013, p. 194).Apps offer choice-based stations like Pandora (Dominick, 2013, p. 194). Choice-based stations â€Å"†¦let listeners choose their favorite artists and types of music to create their own playlists. In effect, listeners program their own unique radio station (Dominick, 2013, p. 194). † References Dominick, J. (2013). The dynamics of mass communication: Media in the digital age (12th ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Article analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Analysis - Article Example Ancient Roman Houses welcome their visitor through a series of unique features beginning at the level of their entrance – the domus. An indicative series of these features is presented by Hadrill: green-and red-clad porter, the golden birdcage and the watch-dog painted by the porters cell (Hadrill, 44). The reason that Hadrill refer to these features is not for emphasizing on their beautifulness or their role as decorative objects; it is rather to show their potential use for the reflection of the personal perceptions and thoughts of the houses owner. Certain aspects of the style of life of the latter would be also revealed through the objects surrounding the houses entrance – or by the format and colour of the entrance itself. In the above context, the entrance of the Ancient Roman Houses becomes for their visitor the entrance to the psychology and the style of life of people of the particular era – different assumptions could be formulated by entering various A ncient Roman Houses as this differentiation can be explained by referring to the differences in the character and the style of life of each owner. In other words, the fact that Ancient Roman Houses all refer to the same era they may have different characteristics and formats – taking into consideration the criteria mentioned above. The upper target of Hadrill by referring extensively to the features surrounding the entrance in Ancient Roman House could reflect its willingness to influence the potential visitors of these houses to participate in this effort for identifying the characteristics (perceptions, style of life) of each houses owner – also to identify the trends that characterized the particular era regarding the construction of buildings. It is for this reason that extensive reference is made in the specific article on the methods and the principles that could be used for the interpretation of Ancient Roman

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Taxation - Essay Example The first problem involving Ms. Vaughan involves a sale of a house giving rise to the payment of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). CGT can only arise on the disposal of an asset, which is this case is the house. However, not all sales of properties are subject to CGT. The most common exemption and is relevant to the case we have is the sale of a person’s principal private residence. In identifying whether such sale is taxable or not, let us look into the facts involved in the case. Ms. Vaughan bought the property in Brechin in 2 January 1982. She resided in that house until May 1984 before moving to Germany. From then on until 31 August 1990, she did not reside in that house not even on holidays. She lived in that house again from June 1995 until May 2002 where at the same time, she lent a large portion of the house to a tenant. In June 2002, she moved to Liverpool and was never able to live in the house in Brechin again. The question now is whether or not the house in Brechin is the primary resident of Ms. Vaughn. A primary consideration in determining whether such house is the primary residence of a person is the time spent is that place and the intent to go back to such place and establish residence. Under our tax code, residence simply means the place where one lives. Determining ones residency is dependent on ones length of stay, number and frequency of trips to the place (i.e. habitual stay) and the intention to stay in that particular place. Judging by the amount of time Ms. Vaughan spent in the property in Brechin and the fact that she lent the house to a tenant while she occupied only a portion thereof belies the fact that she wants to establish the place as her primary residence. Thus, such sale of property do not fall under the exemption provided for under the law. The indexation allowance in capital gains tax is computed based on the indexation rate of March 1982. It must be noted that implementation for individuals of

Management across Culture in China. China is home to the oldest and Essay

Management across Culture in China. China is home to the oldest and most continuous culture worldwide - Essay Example With globalization came international business people. What is always confusing with different cultures is, those values that may be acceptable in one culture may be counterproductive or even unacceptable in another. In Peoples Republic of China, people view managers differently (Branine, 2011:226). People expect managers in both private and foreign sectors to be entrepreneurial, fluent, pragmatic, and flexible in both their native culture and that of their foreign investors. It is common and believable to find â€Å"benevolent authoritarian† young managers in Chinese companies. Even though this sounds rampant even in other cultures, in China employees expect their managers to deploy leadership by living an exemplary life. This means those managers involved in company operations are hard working and earn their employees respect and compliance. Management characteristics within Chinese culture are rapidly changing especially in the private sector. Traditionally, loyalty remaine d within families or groups however, this is transforming drastically. Mobility of labor is increasing dramatically especially within the foreign firms. Presently, once an employee gains some experience in a particular field, his or her employment options open up widely especially in the large coastal cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing. This shows that loyalty in Chinese culture regarding employment is vividly losing magnitude and at the same time, they are replacing it with experience and labor mobility (Branine, 2011:227). Roles of managers differ coherently with place and culture. With this respect, the role of a manager in China entail that, a successful cross-cultural manager in this country has to be aware that every individual in the organization has a very distinct role to play hence maintaining that role helps in keeping order. Managers may carry out their duties in their respective manner and even function autocratically. In some cases, they might use an intermedia ry to solve problems with their staff or do it privately (Branine, 2011:247). Due to cultural aspects like these, management across such culture is hectic and requires tolerance and perseverance. Nevertheless, China’s cultural adaptability is improving rapidly in spite of her traditional medium of cultural tolerance because of the increasing demand for global marketplace. A manager should receive and address any ideas raised by an employee in order to avoid exposure (Branine, 2011:264). This shows that Chinese culture is gently incorporating approaches brought in by change. In addition, since approach to time and priorities is moderate and typical in Chinese culture, there may be some flexibility towards strict adherence to schedules and deadlines. Nonetheless, the expectations regarding global trade and intercultural expansion are causing Chinese to adopt stringent principles of adhering to schedules. The process of decision making in Chinese organizations is bureaucratic. E ven though China is changing, the engrained bureaucracy within government offices and in the most entrepreneurial companies is still evident. Different departments apt to work separately and quite independently and only share specified and selected information (Branine, 2011:269). This shows that, rivalry often exist amongst these departments under the same company. These cultural

How the media has altered public life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

How the media has altered public life - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that cell phones play a fundamental role in the lives of human beings in the present-day societies.   Recent statistics indicate that the ongoing mobile technology has had greatly impacted individuals today. Ranging from making relations easy to reducing the globe into a small community, it is of great magnitude to comprehend how the mobile technology has influenced communication around the globe today. The industry has also witnessed mobile technology that is more multifarious than the ones used in the preceding centuries. Such mobile phones include iPhones, for instance, the blackberry phones that comprise of copious features like cameras, data storage, games, and text messengers amongst other composite features. With all these features, it is almost obvious that these gadgets are likely to take over the lives of individuals in the society. The use of cell phones in the society almost has no specific age group. Most persons hold the vie w that use of cell phones allows them to develop a sense of identity in the public arena. Davenport, LaRose & Straubhaar indicate that the use of mobile phones in the contemporary society can be termed as a compulsory need by the populace. This, on a great percentage, has a lot to do with the way people interrelate with each other in the society. With the introduction of the iPhones, for instance, the blackberry phones, the society has in simple terms be reduced to an ‘iPhone society’.   

Prices of Palladium Metal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Prices of Palladium Metal - Assignment Example The diagram given below explains the phenomena: D` D S P1 P2 D D` The diagram exhibits that when alternative metals are found to be usable in manufacture of automobile converters, then Platinum and Titanium are no longer needed for use in automobile converters (Sharma, 2009). Hence, there is a consequent movement in the aggregate demand curve for automobile converters, shown with the movement of curve DD to D`D`. The shift in aggregate demand curve shows there is lesser inclination of buyers of Platinum and Titanium buyers to purchase these metals at a given price level (Agarwal, 2007). The shift in aggregate demand curve alters the equilibrium point at which aggregate demand curve DD intersects with aggregate supply curve SS (Mendes, 2011). It is important to note that the supply curve remain unchanged because suppliers are willing to supply Platinum and Titanium metals at the same price and quantity as before. The new equilibrium point corresponds to a lower price of the metals and reduced quantity of metal being traded in the market (Baurnol, 2011). The elasticity of both demand and supply curve is taken as being ‘unit elastic’ because both suppliers and buyers have alternative materials available. Hence, at the new equilibrium point both price and quantity consumed of the two metals is lower than it was before. The net outcome is a fall in both prices and quantity consumed of the two materials. ii) The above mentioned change took place merely due to the reduced demand for the physical metal in the market. However, another effect takes place in the market after the news of alternative metals become public (Henderson, 2003). The second effect is termed as speculation effect. The speculators in the metal market either maintain a physical stock in their possession or futures contracts of these metals with the hope of selling these metals at a profit. When the news of alternative metals becomes public, these speculators will try to rid themselves of their possession of metal immediately. Their attempt would be motivated by the urge to go out of market before market goes down to a very low level. D S S` P1 P2 This second effect of the decisions of these speculators will change the supply in the market of the alternative metals. There is going to be a short-term increase in the supply of Platinum and Titanium due to unloading effect of speculators. This movement is depicted the diagram above with the rightwards movement of the supply curve. The net effect of this movement is a further decrease in the price of the commodity in the market (Fisher, 2007). However, the effect of reduced quantity consumed will be partly compensated by a partly increase in consumption. Those manufacturers which used to find Titanium and Platinum as too costly would now be able to afford these metals in manufacture of automobile converters. Therefore, the net effect of the above two phenomena in the market for precious metals would be a significant dec rease in the prices of the metals (which could certainly be referred to as a ‘market crash’) and a partly decrease in consumption of Titanium and Platinum. Impact on the Market for Nissan and Mazda The impact of technological breakthrough will also be felt on the market for automobiles as well. In this section, the impact on the market demand and prices of both Mazda and Nissan is discussed. The graphical

Aging Population and Its Effects on Job Market, Healthcare Research Paper

Aging Population and Its Effects on Job Market, Healthcare - Research Paper Example   Population aging is a problem of the future, as noted by Michaelis and Debus (2010). There is the likelihood that the elderly groups will double by 2050. There is a compelling need to ensure that people grow old with dignity and security. The old generation needs to participate in social life just like other citizens with full rights. Rights accorded to the senior citizens should not be inconsistent with other groups so that a reciprocal intergenerational relationship is encouraged. Aging has a direct impact on the job market, given that improved life expectancy will influence someone's decision to remain employed.The aging process is strongly linked to changes in income and earnings of persons nearing retirement age. Several factors have been proposed to influence the labor force decisions of older people as compared to the younger generation. Such factors include changing preferences for leisure, deteriorating health conditions and constraints in demand concerning the availabil ity of part-time employment opportunities in semi-retirement. The old age is seen to be less responsive to changes in the workplace. Employers are also unlikely to hire older people or sustain them for long at workplaces. The change in priorities of both aged working group and employers is more likely to cause shortages in the labor market. For example, in the medical profession, there is a large number of aging professionals who opt to retire. These decisions create a vacancy and lack of smooth transition in places of work.

Financial Planning and Forecasting Essay Example for Free

Financial Planning and Forecasting Essay We have also provided comprehensive documentation on the templates so that you do not need to guess or figure out how we implemented the models. All our template models are only in black and white color. We believe this is how a professional financial template should look like and also that this is the easiest way for you to understand and use the templates. All the input fields are marked with the ‘*’ symbol for you to identify them easily. Whether you are a financial analyst, investment banker or accounting personnel. Or whether you are a student aspiring to join the finance world or an entrepreneur needing to understand finance, we hope that you will find this package useful as we have spent our best effort and a lot of time in developing them. ConnectCode Pg iii Financial Planning and Forecasting Version 1. 0 1. 1. 1 Financial Planning and Forecasting Pro Forma Financial Statements Financial statements projections and forecasting are very common in corporate financial analysis. The reason is that it is very useful and important to forecast how much financing a company will require in future years. The projections are achieved by using historical sales, accounting data and assumptions on future sales and costs. These financial statements projections are known financial modeling as Pro Forma financial statements. 1. 2 Financial Statements Modeling This spreadsheet provides a template for financial statements forecasting. It requires simple financial statements inputs from the past 5 years and will automatically generate all the necessary Pro Forma Financial Statements projections outputs. The following diagram illustrates the process of using this template for financial statements forecasting.

Explain why Jews may observe the Sabbath in different ways Essay Example for Free

Explain why Jews may observe the Sabbath in different ways Essay In Judaism there are many divisions of Jews and their faiths. However, there are two main sub-divisions that all Jews will fit into unless they are only Jews by race and not by faith (Secular) although these Jews may carry on the traditions of their ancestors. The sub-divisions are Progressive Jews and Orthodox Jews. Orthodox can be translated from ancient Greek as meaning God given/ Right Belief, Orthodox Jews are those who are very strict observers of the Torah and rules regarding Jewish celebrations. Due to the ways in which society has changed since the torah has written, the orthodox Jews try to find ways of fulfilling the Torah in their society. The orthodox Jews believe that the Torah is the exact word of God as given to Moses who carved out the 10 commandments. The orthodox Jews believe that Moses was only secretary to God and what is written in the Torah is exactly Gods words from Mount Sinai. This makes it very important for orthodox Jews to keep all 613 mitzvot. As a result of this strict following of the law means that the orthodox Jews have strict ways of following the Sabbath. On this day they will always eat Kosher meals, as at all other times in the year, they will not drive a car, this is thought to resemble lighting a fire- forbidden to do on Sabbath in Torah, and this can be seen because the car parks at Orthodox Synagogues are always closed during Shabbat. The Jews will also not be allowed to cook, write or turn on lights as the Torah forbids that any creative work may be done at Shabbat because as God rested on this day then why should the Jews work. The above three examples are forbidden because they either result in fire being made, which is not allowed, or can have a creative effect, i.e. letter to politician. Other everyday happenings not allowed are turning on/ watching television and driving a car. These are both because they use electricity or petrol and so mean a flame being created to start them. Progressive Jews are those that have broken off from the orthodox Jewish community. Their main difference to the orthodox Jews is that they do not believe that the Torah is the exact word of God. However, Progressive Jews are still as strict about moral laws for the community but less concerned about ritual laws. Progressive Jews believe that as the rules have been intended for man then the ancient rabbis have written the Torah. They also believe that Judaism should change in order to accommodate modern society and so each generation of Jews should choose their own laws to follow. For example, some Progressive Jews might choose not to follow the Kosher laws and eat food products that Progressive Jews who do follow Kosher, would not, such as pork and bacon. (Jewish law believes the pig to be an unclean animal and so does not allow Jews to eat its meat, or that of any other unclean animal.) As a result of their different beliefs in the Torah the Progressive Jews will probably be less strict with their laws on Shabbat. Some progressive Jews might not follow kosher meals although many still will. Others will still drive to work, light a lamp or write a letter. The items that are forbidden in the Talmud are known as Melachah, which translates as work, this is because Jews are supposed to abstain from work on the Sabbath. Another main difference would be in the Synagogue. The service would often be in the vernacular language, whereas in orthodox synagogues the service is often in Hebrew, women would sit with men and sometimes there may be a female rabbi. However even with these difference s the fundamentals of Orthodox and Progressive Jews is the same. These are the family and the centrality of the Sabbath to the continuation of the Jewish faith.

Smoking as a Public Health Issue

Smoking as a Public Health Issue INTRODUCTION Smoking is an extremely crucial public health issue which is considered to be an immediate and serious threat to many developing countries across the globe (WHO 2005). Being one of the most significant determinants of increased rate of mortality and ill-health throughout the world, smoking is still a preventable epidemic (OTC 2005). Active cigarette smoking has long been known to predispose common people to several types of mouth diseases, lung cancer, atherosclerotic vascular diseases, impotence etc. and enhanced exposure to environmental tobacco smoke has deleterious effects to public health (Ong and Glantz 2004). Cigarette is utilised as an apparatus for self-administering nicotine which significantly causes drug dependency. It has been observed that nicotine inhalation via cigarette smoking is far more swift technique of drug intake as compared to heroin injections because nicotine takes not more than 7 seconds to travel from lungs into brain whereas, it takes 14 seconds for the heroin to reach the brain (DiFranza, Savageau and Fletcher et al 2007). Smoking prevalence as a global epidemic necessitates serious attention as about 1.3 billion people across the globe have been reported to smoke cigarettes and thereby experience numerous smoking-related health issues (Webb, Bain and Pirozzo 2005). In accordance with a study it has been estimated that by 2025-2030 approximately 10 million people are anticipated to die because of widespread smoking habitude (Edwards 2004). There are numerous ramifications of smoking in almost every area of knowledge including politics, economics, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, anthropology, pharmacology and pathology. This all-inclusive nature of the subject encompassing the bio-psychosocial segments of life makes it an appealing exploratory premise for the study. 1.1 Overview of the Report The report is designed to highlight the key epidemiological evidences pertaining to cigarette smoking, based on the global mortality rates and several stages of the worldwide tobacco epidemics. Moreover, the epidemiology of smoking habitude amongst general population of UK has been represented on the basis of age, gender and socio-economic factors. The central part of the report discusses a number of smoking related risk factors to public health and also evaluates the responsiveness of public towards the identified risks. Later segment of the report proposes the practical interventions to address the global epidemic of smoking which subsequently leads to conclude the overall study. 1.3 Rationale of the Study The main objective of this report is to accentuate smoking as a major public health issue and highlight the related health risks to general society based on the epidemiological evidences. By expounding on the public behaviour towards smoking and its damaging effects to the general populace, the study attempts to appraise the subject area. The report also aims to evaluate the effectiveness of current public health services pertaining to smoking cessation by probing in the interventions designed to reduce the underlying risks and improve public health. CIGARETTE SMOKING: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE The epidemiological evidences suggest that the consistently augmenting patterns of smoking lead to enhance worldwide mortality rates and the recent studies suggest that the developing countries have slightly higher smoking induced mortality rate especially in men, as compared to the developed countries (Table: 01). Table: 01 Estimates of Smoking Induced Global Mortality Rates Millions of Death from Smoking (Uncertainty Range) Men Women Developed Countries 2.43 (2.13 2.78) 75% 25% Developing Countries 2.41 (1.80 3.15) 84% 16% Total 4.83 (3.94 5.93) 80% 215 Source: Ezzati and Lopez 2000 In western countries smoking prevalence has been estimated to be 30% which is considerably less as compared to Asian countries where smoking prevalence is evidently incremental as for example 53% in Japan, 63% in China and 73% in Vietnam (European Commission 2007). There has been significant variation in EU pertaining to smoking trends as for instance 18% in Sweden to 42% in Greece however; the average smoking prevalence in EU was about 32% (European Commission 2007).   The segmentation of worldwide tobacco epidemic in four different stages has been exhibited below in Figure: 01, Figure: 01 STAGES OF THE WORLDWIDE TOBACCO EPIDEMIC Source: http://www.info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/lung/smoking/#cancer Smoking trends in Great Britain indicate that the overall gender-specific adult smoking rates have been declined by approximately 0.4% per annum since the year 2000 (Robinson and Bugler 2008) however, the most recent statistics reveal that smoking prevalence during 2007-2008 in UK has remained more or less the same. Gender-specific cigarette smoking trends in UK during 2004-2008 are exhibited below in Table: 02, TABLE: 02 CIGARETTE SMOKING BY SEX (2004-2008), UK PERCENTAGE (%) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2007 Men 26 25 23 22 22 Women 23 23 21 20 21 All 25 24 22 21 22 Source: General Lifestyle Survey 2008 The age-specific smoking prevalence trends observed in UK indicate that the age group of women between 20-24 years i.e. approximately 31% of young women in UK are indulged in smoking behaviour and similarly, men aged between 25-34 i.e. approximately 30% of men are also found to be regular smokers (Friis and Sellers 2009). Age-specific cigarette smoking trends in UK during 1978-2008 are exhibited below in Table: 03, TABLE: 03 CIGARETTE SMOKING BY AGE (1978-2008), UK AGE % 16-19 20-24 25-34 35-49 50-59 60+ 1978 34% 44% 45% 45% 45% 30% 1988 26% 37% 36% 36% 33% 23% 1998 31% 40% 35% 31% 28% 16% 2008 22% 30% 27% 24% 22% 13% Source: General Lifestyle Survey 2008 Representing the link between cigarette smoking and socio-economic sector of the UK society, it has been observed in a survey that smoking is much more prevalent amongst people associated with routine and manual occupations which includes approximately 30% of men and 27% of women whereas, people associated with managerial and professional occupations exhibit a slightly reduced smoking trend which includes 14% of men and 14% of women following smoking behaviour (Robinson and Bugler 2008). Socio-economic classification of cigarette smoking trends in UK during 2008 are exhibited below in Table: 04, TABLE: 04 SMOKING IN UK: SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION PERSONS AGED 16 AND OVER, GREAT BRITAIN: 2008 (%) Men Women Large employers and higher managerial 14 11 Higher professional 12 12 Lower managerial and professional 16 16 Intermediate 21 22 Small employers / own account 22 21 Lower supervisory and technical 26 24 Semi-routine 31 28 Routine 33 30 Source: General Lifestyle Survey 2008 SMOKING INDUCED RISK FACTORS TO PUBLIC HEALTH Smoking patterns are greatly influenced by the individuals bio-psychosocial status and considerably vary depending upon diverse factors including fiscal condition, population size, age, gender, and the existence of regulatory models. It has been studied that social pressures play an integral role in an individuals conformation towards a specific set of beliefs or behaviour and smoking too, like other forms of substance dependencies is shaped up in accordance with the surrounding environment of a smoker (Killoran et al 2006). Gender-specific smoking induced risk factors considerably fluctuate depending upon the societal, cultural and religious beliefs as for example 40% of young women in Spain have been reported to indulge in active smoking behaviour on the other hand, China remains less affected when it comes to smoking habitude in women which has been reported to be less than 5% only (European Commission 2007). Similar is the case with other Asian countries including India, Pakistan , Bangladesh etc. where smoking induced risks to women are significantly less as compared to men because of conservative culture and traditions in the region. Moreover, the statistics also exhibit that the smoking induced risk factors are less common in older age groups, in both men and women as the lowest ratio of smoking has been observed amongst people aged 60 and over (Merrill 2010) because younger generation is much more enthusiastic to experiment and usually exhibits callous attitude towards health risks. There has been a sustained and analogous pattern of smoking induced risks observed between both the manual and non-manual populace of the socio-economic sector in UK, which signifies the growing awareness of public towards the underlying public health issue. Apart from bio-psychosocial risk factors there are a number of other smoking related risks to public health which are summarised as follows: 3.1 Passive Smoking Second hand smoking, environmental smoking or passive smoking are all detrimental and risk the life of a non-smoker that is consciously or unconsciously exposed to hazardous effects of smoking induced chemical compounds and probable human carcinogens. Passive smoking has been identified as the most critical cause of smoking related ill-health and incremental mortalities in general population, due to lung cancers and coronary heart diseases. 3.2 Tobacco Carcinogenesis Excessive tobacco consumption in the form of cigarette, cigar, pipe smoking enhances the risk to mouth, larynx, and oesophagus cancers and if complimented by heavy alcohol intake, can subsequently trigger the tumours in tobacco carcinogenesis (DoH 2007). 3.3 Occupational Hazards Persistent interaction between smoking and a variety of industrial agents can develop a number of cancers as suggested by numerous experimental and epidemiologic data. It has been studied that the smokers working within the environment containing asbestos or uranium ores significantly provides the means to stimulate tobacco carcinogens and an increased risk of lung cancer (DoH 2007). 3.4 Coronary Heart Diseases Several studies suggest that cigarette smoking significantly contributes in premature sudden death from coronary diseases especially in populations where arteriosclerosis is prevalent thus, exerting a pronounced secondary effect to hyperlipidemia and hypercholesteremia subsequently increasing the risk of hypertension and heart attack (Ong and Glantz 2004). Air Pollution Studies suggest that excessive air pollution complimented by cigarette smoking, leads to death from acute pulmonary disease and lung cancer. The carcinogens contained in pollutant air is inhaled in relatively small doses and on the other hand, cigarette smoke is highly concentrated and inhaled directly into the lungs therefore, the damaged caused to the respiratory tract by the air pollution alone, is comparatively less than the damage caused by the intense tobacco smoke. However, for non-smokers the passive smoking in combination with the pollutant air can be a serious risk to health as heavily polluted air contains approximately 100,000 particles per cubic centimetre whereas inhaled cigarette smoke contains more than 5 billion particles per cubic centimetre (Webb, Bain and Pirozzo 2005). ANALYSING PUBLIC RESPONSIVENESS TO THE IDENTIFIED RISKS Despite of consistent efforts by the local governments and numerous international health organisations, it has been observed that the public awareness programs regarding smoking cessation are considered to be effective to varying degrees; as it is extremely difficult to determine the consumers perception towards the smoking related health consequences and addictive nature (Bauld et al 2003). The consumer base in the developing countries remain exceedingly unacquainted with the country-specific smoking related information and health policies as the preventive interventions like awareness campaigns, registration system to assess disease patterns and the identification of smoking related trends are not vigilantly established. Moreover, the consumer base in the developing countries expect low-cost and reliable preventive measures however, the fiscal limitations makes it difficult for the local governments to entrench inexpensive and equally effective smoking awareness schemes and interve ntions; as a result of which the public responsiveness towards addressing the smoking epidemic is significantly pitiful especially where it looms largest. In addition to this, smoking cessation becomes a complex issue due to its addictive attribute and several studies have rated it as amongst the most evil drug dependency as compared to heroin and cocaine (Donaldson and Donaldson 2003). The addictive trait of cigarette smoking is characterised by a cluster of behavioural, cognitive and physiological phenomena which consequently develops due to enhanced substance use resulting in increased desire for smoking which becomes a persistent exercise and as the time passes, the chances of withdrawal becomes unattainable. It has also been studied that the superfluous social acceptance of smoking has significantly contributed to its sweeping popularity and prevalence amongst the general population (Marmott and Wilkinson 2006) and this ignorant public attitude combined with lack of awareness; results in natural inclination of the masses to consider it a harmless and a nontoxic habitude (Stevens, Raftery, Mant and Simpson 2004). From the economic perspective, the tobacco industry generates humungous revenues by influencing the developing countries as a profitable target for market expansion, which is mutually advantageous to the developing countries leading them to compromise on their public health issues against enhanced fiscal benefits. Tobacco industry considerably influences the political set-up of several countries to advertise and promote cigarette smoking and their intriguing commercial campaigning significantly draw the attention of younger generation that are already less-informed and easily fall prey to such marketing tactics. Pre-targeted and smartly designed commercials significantly mislead the naive public and successfully manoeuvre them by relentless denial of tobaccos unfavourable health impacts. PRACTICAL INTERVENTIONS FOR SMOKING EPIDEMIC The smoking related health outcomes can be substantially controlled by integrating effective tobacco control policies and interventions that are capable to cease or significantly reduce its prevalence and consumption amongst the general population. It has been studied that tobacco smoking does not limit the effects of its pervasiveness to smoker itself rather the people present in the surrounding environment (Farmer and Lawrenson 2004) as for example, non-smoking adults including cohabiting partners and children of the smoker are also adversely affected. Hence, it becomes essential to edify the smokers to acknowledge their social responsibility towards the general public and strongly discourage them to exhibit their smoking habitude in public (Douglas et al 2007). The success rate of the practical interventions adopted in the developed countries has found to be much practicable as compared to the developing countries because the regulatory frameworks are stringent and the law enforce ment agencies are also equally efficient. In order to enable the general population to effectively combat with smoking-related public health issues, it is imperative to establish prudently designed and effectually devised practical interventions; for discouraging cigarette smokers and providing maximum protection to children, pregnant women, elders and other non-smoking adults by entrenching a number of the below mentioned tobacco controlling key initiatives: 5.1 Establish a Highly Informative Setting A highly informative environment can be established by effectively conveying the most updated and evidence-based tobacco related public health information to the general population and specifically highlighting all the associated risk factors. The local governments must exhibit maximum commitment towards smoking cessation campaigns by formulating effective regulatory framework and providing suitable means to the healthcare professionals to implement it (Scott and Mazhindu 2005). Highly developed countries and the international health organisations must also facilitate the poor countries by financing the research projects to evaluate causes, consequences and costs of tobacco use in the respective regions and thereby, devise a preventive strategy accordingly. 5.2 Media Campaigning Media is the most constructive tool to speedily communicate with the masses therefore, it is imperative to utilise both print and electronic media for positive campaigning and specifically rope-in the e-media to target todays internet savvy, younger generation. In the wide-ranging interest of public health, it is the social responsibility of media world to completely prohibit the enticing cigarette advertisements and instead make noble use of the media by broadcasting regular public service messages to discourage the prevailing smoking behaviours. 5.3 Stringent Policies to Reduce Tobacco Consumption Substantial increase in tobacco prices can significantly reduce its consumption especially amongst younger generation or those that are unable to afford. Governments must also concentrate on formulating such policies that can completely forbid the promotional campaigns and considerably restrict the sales through vending machines (DoH 2007). Since smoking is one of the most prevailing global epidemics therefore; strict rules and regulations shall be imposed to discourage smoking in public places as for example bus stops, restaurants, educational institutions, offices, hospitals and cinemas etc. This would not only limit its consumption but will also signify the governments seriousness towards addressing the underlying public health issues. Moreover, the tobacco industry shall be consistently introduced to consistent and rigorous tax networks so that the target of promoting controlled use of cigarette smoking can be achieved (DoH 2007). On the other hand, governments can attain dual be nefits by expanding the tax network for the tobacco industry thus reducing its consumption amongst general populace and can generate more taxed revenue. 5.4 Discouraging Nicotine Dependency Regular smokers become heavily reliant upon nicotine intake and therefore, seek for certain other alternatives as a substitute to cigarettes including chewable tobacco, tablets, patches and inhalers, if their accessibility to cigarette smoking has been disrupted. The governments while designing smoking related preventive strategies must acknowledge that nicotine is highly addictive and therefore, it is wise to introduce less-harmful and inexpensive alternatives to regular cigarettes and subsequently educate them to overcome their nicotine dependency by adopting practical interventions through professional medical assistance (Prabhat, Chaloupka, Corrao and Binu 2006). Moreover, the developed countries and international health organisations can also donates such inexpensive nicotine alternatives to poor and deprived countries in order to promote smoking cessation and healthy living across the globe. 5.5 Support Groups Nicotine dependency significantly damages the internal health of people which restricts them to participate in healthy sports activities. Governments can help the local bodies to establish tobacco control support groups in their respective neighbourhoods and to organise healthy activities and events to promote constructive attitude amongst general population. A strategically designed tobacco control program also facilitates in mobilising the civil society to effectively contribute both their money and time to engage nicotine dependent people in healthy activities (Prabhat, Chaloupka, Corrao and Binu 2006) and thereby, motivating them to overcome their cigarette smoking habitude. Formation of such support groups provide easy and consistent access of tobacco-specific valuable information to the smokers and also enhance their awareness to the associated risk factors. CONCLUSION Smoking has been established as a consistently prevailing global epidemic and that is so, because the related effects of smoking are not restricted to the smoker himself, but also extend to others through a range of risk factors including passive smoking and air pollution etc. which makes it a substantial risk to public health. Provided the fact, it is not only essential to discourage smoking behaviour in smokers but also educate the non-smokers to protect themselves from the associated health risks. Apart from individual preventive measures, there is a growing need for integrating practical interventions to ensure reduced exposure to tobacco smoke especially in public places by providing separate smoking and non-smoking areas or installing ventilation or completely banning smoking through industry led voluntary agreements or by introducing stringent statutory requirements. To conclude, cigarette smoking is radically injurious to public health and honest efforts are required at both individual and communal level to enhance public awareness towards the associated risks and particularly support the smokers to quit their smoking habit. Smoking as a Public Health Issue Smoking as a Public Health Issue It is now a matter of common public acceptance that smoking causes ill health. This statement can be backed up by huge amounts of authoritative literature (Dobson et al 1999) (Smoking Kills 1998) (Choosing Health 2001) The subject of this essay however, is whether or not it is a Public Health issue. We will argue strongly that it is and produce evidence to support this stance. The Wanless Report (2002 ) defines Public Health as â€Å"The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through organised efforts and informed choices of society, organisations – public and private, communities and individuals† On that basis we would suggest that the argument is already made since there is little doubt that smoking – both active and passive – will shorten life and cause disease. The evidence to support this statement comes from papers such as that by Prescott ( et al. 1998) who carried out a huge study looking into the effects of primary smoking and the risk of myocardial ischaemia in the general population. The results of the study were absolutely unequivocal with a finding of an increased risk of myocardial infarction in women of 2.24 and in men of 1.43. the reasons for the sex difference are several including genetic factors (Bennett 2004) and hormonal factors (Chapman 1999) To take a step further back, we have to define Health An authoritative definition of Health comes from the WHO who currently tell us that health is â€Å"a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. ( WHO 1992). A difficulty with this definition is that today many people confuse the attainment of happiness with the attainment of health (Kemm 2001). Ironically, in the context of this essay, Freud also offered us an observation on the definition of Health when he observed that most people equated well-being with happiness rather than health (Freud 1975) and he amplified this by observing that he had been advised by his doctors to give up cigars in order to improve his health. He commented that he was far more healthy but much less happy (Saracci 1997). Although Freud’s comment was clearly flippant, it does exemplify a deeper truth, that part of the problem with smoking is the pleasure that some people derive from it. One can always advance the argument that in a free society one should always have freedom of choice to damage yourself if you wish. (Hegel 1971) That is clearly the case, but in adopting that view you must also accept two further consequences of that position. One is that society is expected to pick up the bill when you are ill (via the NHS) and that by smoking, you may not only damage yourself but you may well damage others through the medium of passive smoking. (Kuhse Singer 2001) It is these latter points which actually make the issue one of Public Health. The Public (in general terms) are expected to fund the necessary treatment when you become ill. This is not an isolated incident as over 200,000 patients are diagnosed annually with some form of smoking related malignancy and over 120,000 will die from the disease. This is quite independent of those that develop other complications of smoke-related illness. (NHS Cancer Plan 2000). If you add to this number, the carers and the other economic costs to the community, the argument that it is not a Public Health issue clearly fails. We have raised the issue of passive smoking as one of the criteria for suggesting that smoking is an issue of public health. The evidence for this is rapidly accumulating. We can point to the cleverly designed study by He (et al.2004) which  was able to point to the statistical differences in illness rates between those industrial workers who had a constantly smoky atmosphere to breathe and those who were able to avoid it. There is little doubt that choosing to smoke where others will inhale the smoke is a demonstrably anti social behaviour. As if to underline our view, we can point to the fact that the Government takes a similar view as it has produced a series of Government White Papers (Choosing Health 2004) (Building on the Best 2003) and regulations (Saving lives 1999) which are all aimed at improving the health of the nation by reducing its collective exposure to cigarette smoke References Bennett Gottleib 2004 Passive smoking more risky for women with a missing gene. BMJ: 2004 Vol 26 320-322 Building on the best 2003 Department of Health: HMSO. 09/12/2003 Chapman S 1999 Smoking and Women: beauty before age? BMJ, Mar 1999; 318: 818. Choosing Health 2004 Government White Paper consultation on improving people’s health 28.6.04 BMJ, Dec 2004; 319: 1522. Dobson et al, 1999; National Centre for Social Research, RCP, 1999; Freud S. 1975 Letter to Lou Andreas-Salome, 1930 May 8. Cited in: Sigmund Freud house catalogue. Vienna: Là ¶cker and Wà ¶genstein, 1975: 49. He, T H Lam, L S Li, L S Li, R Y Du, G L Jia, J Y Huang, and J S Zheng2004 Passive smoking at work as a risk factor for coronary heart disease in Chinese women who have never smoked BMJ, Feb 2004; 308: 380 384. Hegel GW. 1971 Philosophy of Mind: Being Part Three of the Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences (1830). Wallace W, trans. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1971. Kemm 2001 The pursuit of happiness Cancer Nurs. 2000;23(1):20–31 Kuhse Singer 2001 A companion to bioethics ISBN: 063123019X Pub Date 05 July 2001 NHS Cancer plan 2000 A plan for investment, a plan for reform Department of Health. HMSO. 27/09/2000 Prescott, Merit Hippie, Peter Schooner, Hans Ole Hein, and Jà ¸rgen Vestbo 1998 Smoking and risk of myocardial infarction in women and men: longitudinal population study BMJ, Apr 1998; 316: 1043 – 1047 Saracci R 1997 The world health organisation needs to reconsider its definition of health BMJ, May 1997; 314: 1409. Smoking Kills1998 A White Paper HMSO: December 1998 Wanless report: HMSO 2002 World Health Organisation. 1996 Ethics and health, and quality in health care–report by the director general. Geneva: WHO, 1996. (Document No. EB 97/16.) PDG 20.8.05 Word count 1,192

Naturalism in Miss Julie Essay -- Julie

Naturalism in Miss Julie   Ã‚  Ã‚   Writers involved in the naturalist movement believed that actors' lines should be spoken naturally, and that mechanical movements, vocal effects, and irrational gestures should be banished. A return to reality was proposed, with the old theatrical attitudes replaced with effects produced solely by the voice. There was a call to individualise characters, instead of generalising them, to produce characters whose minds and bodies would function as they would in real life. Strindberg's 'Miss Julie' has been said to be an excellent example of this movement, as it involves stress on multiple motivation of action; a departure from the stereotypical depictions of character; and random, illogical dialogue. Strindberg's naturalistic conception of theatre also extends to non-literary aspects of staging such as stage dà ©cor, lighting, and make-up.    Strindberg avoids the regularity of mechanical question and answer dialogue, instead allowing his dialogue to meander, encouraging themes to be repeated and developed over the course of the play. In the preface to the play, Strindberg explains that he has broken with tradition by avoiding "symmetrical, mathematically constructed dialogue." The sexual tension and hidden aggression in the first scene of 'Miss Julie' could be said to be an example of this, especially while the cook Christine is present with Julie and Jean to inhibit the expression of what they really mean. However, it is noticeable that Strindberg's sub-textual dialogue at the start of the play radically changes once the seduction is completed and there is no more to hide. It is then that the dialogue becomes explicit and ceases to meander. An excessively theatrical sce... ...e dialogue has entirely ceased to meander realistically, and it is hard to recognise the play itself as a cornerstone of the naturalistic movement." However, Strindberg's preface to 'Miss Julie' has been heralded as the best manifesto of naturalism written, and the techniques that he advocated such as the removal of intervals and orchestras, the use of real props, and a reduction in theatre size, have come to have strong repercussions in modern theatre.    Bibliography: Brandt, George, Modern theories of Drama: a selection of writings on drama and theatre 1850 - 1990, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998) Strindberg, August. Three Plays. England: Penguin Group Penguin Classics, 1958. Styan, J. L., Modern Drama in Theory and Practice:   Vol .2: symbolism, surrealism and the absurd. - Cambridge, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981)   

Confucius and Confucianism Essay -- Religion

One of the most famous people in ancient China was a wise philosopher named Confucius (circa 551-479 BC). He was a great Chinese philosopher, educator, and political figure. His teachings and proverbs are in the Analects, which is the base of many Chinese theories. He was born in the village of Zou, and the state of Lu. His father died three years after Confucius' birth leaving the family in destitution, but Confucius did have a decent education. He was married at the age of 19 and had one son and two daughters. He worked as a keeper of a market. Then he was a farm worker who took care of parks and farm animals. When he was 20, he worked for the governor of his province. After a while he decided to teach, and he began traveling around and teaching few disciples that gathered around him. He became known as a man of learning and character. He had a great personality which people were attracted to. His respect for typical Chinese customs soon spread through out Lu. Confucius lived in China when it was really unsettled. The rulers were catastrophic, and Confucius thought the only way to keep life in order was for everyone to go back to traditional principles. He wanted China to go back to the quiet days of the "sage Kings". This was a time in Chinese history when Kings ruled organized kingdoms. They were peaceful because everyone knew their place in life and acted accordingly. Confucius taught in his school his beliefs about respecting family and ancestors for many years. His theories and principles were spread throughout China by his disciples, and soon many people learned from his wise sayings. One of his rules said, "Rulers can be great only if t... ...who was a devout follower of Confucious. These nine books were considered all you needed to live a good life. Confucianism started in 136 BC when Wudi?s advisors finally convinced Emperor Wudi that Confucianism was the superior school. Soon, emperor Wudi set up a Confucian academy to train officials. In order to get to the Confucian academy, there were a series of examinations. The examination system spread throughout China and the books previously listed became the basis for these examinations. First there were the preliminary exams. After that, the first level, if you passed your social class would be raised higher. Then the second level,which only one in a hundred passed. Finally the final exam, and the few that passed this exam then had an interview with the emperor who hand picked finalists for the highest government posts.