Letter Assignment

December 1, 2014

Dear President Obama,

            I am writing this letter to petition a change in our country regarding an issue that is coming to the forefront of our society.  There has increasingly been a link between childhood obesity and media usage.  These negative effects have been researched and proven to exist in the long term.  I believe that the government should encourage parental restriction of media viewing and media usage in order to benefit the upcoming generation of America’s future leaders.

            The percentage of overweight children has tripled in recent years.  Ten percent of children between the ages of two and five are overweight, as well as fifteen percent of children and adolescents ages six to nineteen.  This is a clear and present danger in our society.  Obesity is linked with several chronic diseases, and is related to the number of television hours consumed.

            Longitudinal studies have reported that television time in childhood is strongly related to adult television time later in life.  Television has also predicted a higher body mass index more than thirty years later.  Television and other related media has been linked with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and many more diseases.

            I am a current student at Brigham Young University and have studied the negative effects of media on obesity in my Family Life – Human Development major.  I have learned four mechanisms of the negative effects seen from television viewing and obesity.  The first is displacement of activity.  The more media that is viewed, the more sedentary in nature an individual is.  The second is unhealthy eating habits learned from food advertising on television.  Advertisements increase children’s choices and preference for products, and the main products advertised on television are pre-sugared breakfast cereals, soft drinks, candy, salty snack products, and fast food.  The third mechanism is increased calories from this snacking.  The fourth mechanism is poor sleep habits and an overall lack of sleep.

            As you can see, there are many negative effects that viewing television and consuming a lot of media can have on obesity and poor development.  Please take this information into consideration and take advantage of your influence on the country by educating the public on what they can do.  Encourage parents to take a stand and restrict media for their children, because they are our future and we do not want them to develop these poor habits early on that will last a lifetime.

Thank you,

Maddie Hunt