Since the onset of modern mass media, researchers have questioned the influence of media messages on the decision making process of people. An aspect of the research on this subject is how we decide about our health based on these media messages. Since 1980, the media has been linked with the public health crisis of rising American obesity rates. And this has produced prolific correctional and behavioral research linking obesity to media use. (unclear reference to 1980- are you dating the "media link" or the "prolific correctional research"?) A media link with the public health crisis of rising American obesity rates, since 1980, has produced prolific correctional and behavioral research linking obesity to media use. But despite these research conclusions and the subsequent (?) general public attention, the obesity rates in America continue to rise with predictions that this trend will only continue. In fact with these projections, by 2020 more than 50 percent of the U.S.
Health
Family watching television, c. 1958
English: The graph shows the correlation between b...population will be overweight or obese. (Cite. #)
The impact of obesity is present worldwide, with a particular prevalence in the United States and other developed countries. The National Center for Health Statistics observed in recent data that 30 percent of U.S. adults over 20 years of age - over 60 million people - are obese compared with only 15% in 1980 (CDC, 2004). The highest rates for obesity are seen among African Americans and Latinos and the poor. But every group is experiencing rising rates of obesity regardless of race, gender, or class. One of the most disturbing aspects of high obesity rates is that children and teens are now included. Adolescents today have an obesity level triple those of 1980 (Dietz). For obese adults and children there is a multitude of ill health consequences, such as, Hypertension, type- two diabetes, coronary...