What stands out to me the most is where America stands in these various categories of health. In fact, it scares me, because it shows explicitly what is wrong with a larger percentage of America. The average America woman is 5’4”, weighs 140 lbs. and wears a size 14 dress. Source Here The reason this is scary is that this is equivalent to a 24 on the B.M.I. (Body Mass Index). A 25 is overweight, and a 24 is dangerously close to this, which would result in the national average being overweight. In addition, size 14 is when clothes start to go into plus sizes, which means that the average American woman is wearing plus sizes by technicality. In addition, out of the women that do try to lose the weight, two-thirds of them gain it back within a year. Virtually all women gain it all back in five years. The average American man is not much better, in fact weighing 17 more lbs than he should at his given height, which is 5’9”. Source Here This does however vary by source. In fact, the two sources provided have slightly different statistics. Here, a chart provides more evidence to show the national average being too high.
In any situation though, the findings are not good and there is a problem that needs to be addressed. In order to address this issue, I feel like physical activity and more “Television blackout” days should occur, and span more channels so people don’t just simply watch something else.
Out of all the concepts we have learned about in this unit, co-counseling is the one that has seemed the most progressive to me. It essentially involves two people talking with each other, taking turns to talk about something on their mind. The person listening does not comment on what the other says, and do not add their own anecdote. Instead, they simply ask questions about what the other is saying. They do not try to solve the issue, merely listen. Before I learned about co-counseling, I thought that therapy was a stupid concept and that it was part of what is wrong with America, with every minor affliction or issue being given a diagnosis. I still think this, but I think that co-counseling is a good start towards bringing people together and gaining better understandings of each other. It is something that I would like to try and use in my own life, and I intend to do so.
In the last month, my definition of health has changed significantly. While it used to only concern the physical, I now think of the mental and emotional parts of health as just as important, if not more. The reason behind this is that the psyche plays such a large part into who a person is and how they act. In addition, I think that what makes these three aspects of health so significant is that they are very difficult to change, if at all. While physical health can be treated by going to the hospital, taking medicine, or going to the gym, changing ones mental and emotional health is a long process that can be easily influenced by outside sources. In fact, I think that mental and emotional health is not who you are, they are instead a reflection of what you have been exposed to in your life.
I think that improving anybody’s health is a very difficult task. While physical health can be fixed by any of the things I said above, all other aspects of health involve a person “cheating” in a way. In order to improve one’s social health for instance, they can continue to act as they normally do, but this will not change anything immediately and it will take a very long time to make any significant change. So instead they have to be aware of their actions in social situations. This has worked for me in the past, because I feel like I have become less “socially-weak” then I once may have been. But at the same time, it gives me a sense that I am not the same person I once was, or that I am pretending to be something I’m not. Along those lines, trying to improve emotional health is very phony, because you are holding back your emotions and therefore not being yourself. Many aspects of health are like this, and can lead to many moments of doubt and contradiction, but if done for the right reason through the right means, it can make you a better person over time.
Out of all the concepts we have learned about in this unit, co-counseling is the one that has seemed the most progressive to me. It essentially involves two people talking with each other, taking turns to talk about something on their mind. The person listening does not comment on what the other says, and do not add their own anecdote. Instead, they simply ask questions about what the other is saying. They do not try to solve the issue, merely listen. Before I learned about co-counseling, I thought that therapy was a stupid concept and that it was part of what is wrong with America, with every minor affliction or issue being given a diagnosis. I still think this, but I think that co-counseling is a good start towards bringing people together and gaining better understandings of each other. It is something that I would like to try and use in my own life, and I intend to do so.
In the last month, my definition of health has changed significantly. While it used to only concern the physical, I now think of the mental and emotional parts of health as just as important, if not more. The reason behind this is that the psyche plays such a large part into who a person is and how they act. In addition, I think that what makes these three aspects of health so significant is that they are very difficult to change, if at all. While physical health can be treated by going to the hospital, taking medicine, or going to the gym, changing ones mental and emotional health is a long process that can be easily influenced by outside sources. In fact, I think that mental and emotional health is not who you are, they are instead a reflection of what you have been exposed to in your life.
I think that improving anybody’s health is a very difficult task. While physical health can be fixed by any of the things I said above, all other aspects of health involve a person “cheating” in a way. In order to improve one’s social health for instance, they can continue to act as they normally do, but this will not change anything immediately and it will take a very long time to make any significant change. So instead they have to be aware of their actions in social situations. This has worked for me in the past, because I feel like I have become less “socially-weak” then I once may have been. But at the same time, it gives me a sense that I am not the same person I once was, or that I am pretending to be something I’m not. Along those lines, trying to improve emotional health is very phony, because you are holding back your emotions and therefore not being yourself. Many aspects of health are like this, and can lead to many moments of doubt and contradiction, but if done for the right reason through the right means, it can make you a better person over time.
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