Diet, Media Representation, and Public Health Policy (rewrite) Aabha Jain, Ashley Schneider Public Health Policy and Management April 17, 2003, Updated April 26, 2007 Nutrition Public health nutrition is a sub-field that encompasses many aspects of nutrition including food borne illness, starvation, marasmus (overall protein-energy deficiency), kwashiorkor (relative protein-energy deficiency, or malnutrition from the lack of a specific micro-nutrients (e.g. calcium, iron, folic acid) (12). Although these problems are devastatingly common in some Third World countries, in America the more dominant nutrition problems are those over that involve either under nutrition (anorexia) or over nutrition (obesity). America’s nutrition problems have developed due to the public’s tendencies to push to one of the two extremes of an eating pattern which is to either eat too much or too little. As a result not knowing how to get the proper vitamins and cannot find a middle ground between the two extremes. Many Americans do not realize the health implications that over or under eating can cause for a person and for that reason many people tend to ignore most of the warnings that are given to them about not having a proper diet. This leads to many people having severe problems when they are older such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure for those suffering from obesity, and fatigue, mal-nutrition, and emotional problems for those suffering from anorexia (17, 20). Moreover, there are so many different food products on the market and consumers tend to go for taste when choosing food rather than the health content and that also has lead to a major increase in nutrition related problems. Additionally, exercise is another aspect of a person’s well being that must be done properly and done correctly. Exercising is a good way to help keep one’s body in shape and help prevent many of the risks and problems that may arise due to lack of inactivity and over-eating. Though exercising should be a good way to take care of one’s body many people do not understand the proper ways of working out and as a result sometime causing more harm to their body than good. The problems occur by either over exerting their bodies in intense workouts or misusing the equipment and as result injuring themselves (21). Therefore, it is important for people to realize that even though exercising is a good way to keep in shape, there are proper ways to do the activities and be healthy and safe. The goal of this chapter is to examine how obesity and anorexia have played a role in poor nutrition in the US and how people can learn how to have a proper diet, be healthy, and keep in shape.Obesity With more than half of adult Americans currently overweight or obese it is no surprise that the Surgeon General and other public health experts are calling American obesity an epidemic. Poor diet is one of the contributing factors in five out of the ten top killers in America: coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and liver cirrhosis. That translates into 30% of all deaths in the United States (12) and is only second to mortality rate in the US, the first being smoking (4). The recent data that has been studied, it has been discovered that in the past decade alone obesity rates have doubled in the country, thus leading to more health-related illnesses. For example, in the United States in 1991 the percent of people obese from 18-40 was 18.4%. In 2001, the percent obese in the same age group was 34.5% (22). It is self-evident that a nutritious diet is an essential aspect of good health. Moreover, it is important to know that obesity has been increasing in rates over the past few decades and it does not seem to be slowing down, and “The United States now has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation in the world” (4). This seems to indicate that though the US is a prospering nation in the world, the citizens of the US do not have the knowledge of learning how to take care of themselves. Over one half of adults in the country and one quarter of children are either overweight or obese. A previous study has also shown that premature deaths have also been linked to those who are overweight or obese (4). This is a very serious concern and the way these trends are going the problem does not seem like it will be getting better any time soon. One of the biggest problems that contribute to the rise in obesity is the fact that people are consuming more but not being more active. As a result all the food that they are eating is not being converted to energy and is instead being turned into fat. Moreover, “the growth of the fast-food industry has made an abundance of high-fat, inexpensive meals widely available” (4). Fast food causes people to not eat a proper diet and instead consume large amounts of fat and calories (4). In addition there are many health problems that are associated with those who are obese and many people do not realize that they are at risk of having these illnesses. One of the health related problems that may be associated with obesity is hypoglycemia. When people feel dizzy or fatigued it may be caused by a drop in their blood sugar level and may not even realize it. Hypoglycemia occurs in individuals who do not exercise and consume large quantities of meats, fats, and sugar (17). High blood pressure, hypertension, is another health problem that arises due to obesity. It has been noted that the majority of hospital visits that occur in the United States are related to high blood pressure. The causes of hypertension include a diet that is high in salt, fats, and cholesterol, and if high blood pressure is not treated properly than other problems may arise such as heart attacks and strokes (17).Diabetes is another example of an illness that is more susceptible when individuals have a poor diet. If a person has diabetes he or she becomes more susceptible to other serious diseases which could one’s life at risk. Due to many of the serious consequence that diabetes has it is the 8th leading cause of death in the United States. Diabetes occurs when an individual’s blood sugar level is too high and need insulin to maintain a balanced level of blood sugar in the body (17). A low-fat diet is the best to avoid getting diabetes or to control it if a person already has it. Anorexia Recent studies show that among all adolescent girls between