ETEC 512 Revised Lesson Plan

PART 1: Establishing the Problem

Please consider the following questions:

1) Why is obesity a major problem in our society today?
2) How is childhood obesity affecting our children?

Please select one or more of the following activities, complete the activity, then join the discussion forum and engage the disscusion with your classmates. FOllowing this week's discussion actitivties, please complete the participation self-assessment on the class Moodle website. Also, please sign up for one of the conference groups based on one of teh major subfields in psychology. 

ACTIVITIES:

Explore a website

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Childhood over- weight and obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/child- hood/index.html.

View a presentation

Johnson, S. B. (2012, December). Childhood obesity: A psychologist’s view of the way forward. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organiza- tion. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/ childhood-obesity.pdf

Watch a video

Obesity Society. (Producer). (n.d.). The obesity epidemic -->. Re- trieved from http://www.obesity.org/news-center/the-obesity-epidemic. htm

Read an article

Johnson, S. B. (2012). The nation’s childhood obesity epidemic: Health disparities in the making. CYF News, 7(2). Retrieved from http://www. apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2012/07/childhood-obesity. aspx

View a documentary

Prevention Institute. (Producer). (n.d.). We’re not buying it -->. Re- trieved from http://www.preventioninstitute.org/focus-areas/support- ing-healthy-food-a-activity/supporting-healthy-food-and-activity-environ- ments-advocacy.html

PART 2: Exploring the Problem

In order to help you gain a better understandign of the problem of childhood obesity,  explore their understanding of the problem, please explain in an analytic essay (500 words) why childhood obesity is a problem. Use the information provided in Part 1 to analyze why childhood obesity is a problem. 

This week you are also required to engage in a discussion with you classmates about how you wish to proceed with your final group preseantion. The focus for this week will be on the implication levels of childhood obesity. A list of resources has been complied below. You may focus on any implication level, but each member of your group must choose only one for the preseantion. You can use additional resources, but you must include one of the resources below as a reference. A Process worksheet has been made available on teh course site to help you organize your research.  

Once you have completed this activity, please remember to complete the self and peer assessment on the Moodle website. 

Implication levels of childhood obesity:

1) The individual

• Health, stress, and longevity
• Cognitive development
• Self-esteem and appearance. 

MyFoodDiary. (2014). [A website allowing people to track their own diet and exercise.] Retrieved from http://www.myfooddiary.com/?source=g_ ds_tracker&OVKEY=diet%20and%20exercise%20tracking&gclid=CJX- a4oaHh7YCFY6e4AodGGoASQ

2) Functional units such as the family

• Family budget
• Schedules and time allotment
• Food preparation and mealtime

National Public Radio. (2013). On the run: How families struggle to eat well and exercise [Podcast series]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/ templates/story/story.php?storyId=172693794&live=1

3) Institutions

• Schools

• Hospitals and health care facilities

Khadaroo, S. T. (June 27, 2012). Obesity in America: Schools on the front line of the fight. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0627/Obesity-in-America- Schools-on-the-front-line-of-the-fight

4) Society

• Health care costs

• Economic burden of illness

Hellmich, N. (November 17, 2009). Rising obesity will cost U.S. health care $344 billion a year. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30. usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2009-11-17-future-obesity- costs_N.htm

PART 3: Possible Causes

This week, your group is required to select one of the below-listed possible causes for obesity, research the possible cause, and prepare a presentation for the class on their findings. Example resources are provided below as a starting point for research. You can access the Moodle website discussion board and discuss how your group wishes to proceed. A process worksheet is available to help you orgnaize your research. Please remember to complete your self and peer assessments by the end of the week. 

CAUSES:

1) Governmental policies and structures

• Tax policies

• Laws and regulations

Grynbaum, M. M. (2013, March 11). Judge blocks New York City’s limits on big sugary drinks. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes.com/2013/03/12/nyregion/judge-invalidates-bloombergs-so- da-ban.html?pagewanted=all

Grynbaum, M. M. (2012, September 13). Health panel approves restric- tion on sale of large sugary drinks. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/nyregion/health-board-ap- proves-bloombergs-soda-ban.html?_r=0

Mudd, M. (2013, March 17). How to force ethics on the food industry. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/ opinion/sunday/how-to-force-ethics-on-the-food-industry.html?page- wanted=all

2) Corporate policies and practices

Food for thought: Food companies play an ambivalent part in the fight against flab. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/ news/special-report/21568064-food-companies-play-ambivalent-part- fight-against-flab-food-thought

Moss, M. (2013, February 24). The extraordinary science of addictive junk food. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes. com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.htm- l?ref=magazine

3) Media

Federal Communications Commission. (n.d.). Media and childhood obesity. Retrieved from http://reboot.fcc.gov/parents/media-and-child- hood-obesity

Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. (2013, March). Where children and adolescents view food and beverage ads on TV: Exposure by channel and program. Retrieved from http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/ resources/upload/docs/what/reports/Rudd_Report_TV_Ad_Exposure_ Channel_Program_2013.pdf

4) Institutional, societal, and cultural practices

Just, D. R., & Wansink, B. (2009). Smarter lunchrooms: Using behavioral economics to improve meal selection. Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, & Resource Issues, D03, D12, p. 118. http://www.choicesmaga- zine.org/magazine/article.php?article=87

5) Lifestyle issues and physiological factors

Mayo Clinic. (2013). Childhood obesity. Retrieved from http://www.mayoc- linic.com/health/childhood-obesity/DS00698/DSECTION=causes

PART 4: Related Psychological Content

Based on the class presentations, hold a discussion with your group on what psychological science content is related to the problem of obesity. Use the following questions to guide your discussions:

1) “Why is childhood obesity of interest to psychologists?
2) How can psychology as a health science help address the problem of childhood obesity?”

Once you have engaged the discussion with your group, please choose ONE of teh following subfields of psychology and access the relevant unit readings on the Moodle website in order to learn more about your selected subfield. While reviewing this information, please consider how the content can be applied to the analysis of why obesity is a problem. 

Please discuss with your group how your selected domain can be used to answer teh question: Why is obesity a problem? What are the casues of Obseity? What are the implications of obesity given the content of your selected subfield?

Don't forget to complete your self and peer assessment for the week. 

Biopsychology Domain/Biological Bases of Behavior unit lesson plan

• Overall geography of the brain • Structure and function of the hypothalamus • Pleasure center/addiction loop • Neuroscience

Development and Learning Domain/Life Span Development unit lesson plan

• Early childhood development • Neuronal development • Importance of sound nutritional habits • Self-esteem and identity

Cognitive Domain/Memory unit lesson plan

• Expectation and learning sets • Sight and smell of food • Variety of foods available

Development and Learning Domain/Learning unit lesson plan

• Theories of learning • Reinforcement and extinction • Role models and observational learning

individual Variations Domain/Motivation unit lesson plan • Motivation • Appetite • Set/settling point weight

• Attraction to sweet and salty • Wariness to novel foods • Unit bias

Sociocultural Context Domain/Social Psychology unit lesson plan

• Idealizing thinness in some cultures • Attribution theory • Central and peripheral routes to persuasion • Conformity • Norms • Mere exposure effect

PART 5: Solutions

For the final group presentation, your group is required to propose possible solutions to the problem of childhood obesity based on teh implication levles you researched, as well as, your group's choice of psychology subfield.

For each cause your group identified in Part 3, investigate a suggestion that might counteract, overcome, or resolve the problem of obesity. You are required to develop a proposal or plan of action for this suggestion (a process worksheet has been provided) being sure to address how psychological science can help change behavior to address the problem of childhood obesity and using information from psychological science to support their proposed solutions.

Your final group presentation can be developed to address a particular audience: peers (presentations could be made to the psychology class or health classes in the high school or to students in middle or elementary school classes), parents (presentations could be developed for PTA meet- ings or Back to School Night), or the school administration or board of education (presentations could be developed to recommend changes that would be helpful for the school population).

Example resources are listed below, and an assignment rubric is listed in the Appendix.

Cornell University Food and Brand Lab [a website]. Retrieved from

http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/

Let’s Move. America’s move to raise a healthier generation of kids [a website for a White House program]. Retrieved from http://www.lets- move.gov

Mayo Clinic [a website]. (n.d.). Childhood obesity. In Diseases and condi- tions. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obe- sity/DS00698

Obesity Society [a website]. Retrieved from http://www.obesity.org The Prevention Institute [a website]. Retrieved from

www.preventioninstitute.org U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health PubMed.

com [a website]. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ (Search for childhood obesity and check “Free full text available” on the left.)

Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity [a website]. Retrieved from

http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/