Childhood Obesity vs. Social Media
I really think this infographic is incredible. It shows how little childhood obesity is discussed via social media in comparison to other health related issues like Alzheimer’s and Diabetes. There is even a section that compares the conversation rate of childhood obesity against popular topics like Justin Beiber and the video game, Call of Duty. Clearly there is not much being said about obesity even when it is the second highest cause of death in the United States. Although childhood obesity is not a specific cause of death, many children who experience problems with being overweight tend to continue this pattern into adulthood. These adults experience early onsets of heart problems and other health issues that result in early deaths. From this infographic we can see that even though childhood obesity is a current issue facing American society, it is one that is getting less noticed overall. Parents, I understand that social media is not a familiar territory for you but your children are constantly immersed in it. This is where I believe more can be done about the matter being discussed. Remember my post about getting college aged students more involved in the issue? As a college student I can vouch for the obsession with social media. It is really crazy how addicted we all are to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but there is a lot of good that can be done because of it. If I were to Tweet something that related to childhood obesity and requested that my followers retweet or favorite it (because many people my age think it’s “cool” to have some part in a social cause), the original post will spread so quickly that it will gain the attention it needs in order to become important. My message here is simple. Parents, if you are actively engaged in social media get the conversation about childhood obesity going. If you are not super tech savvy, discuss the issue with your older children and let them know how influential they can be with just one Tweet.
dyanazeidenstein 