Obesogens: An Environmental to Obesity

  • Utilizing the first article, discuss what is locally grown and what is currently in season in your area.
    • Tomato season is coming to an end.  However, melons, stone fruits, and pomegranates are currently in season. Additionally, zucchini and summer squash, onions, and okra are in season as well.  
  • Discuss your thoughts on seasonal/local foods and hospital menus. 
    • Using seasonal/local foods is a great utilization of the environment around you.  Additionally, I think it is a great challenge to figure out how to prepare them and only use what you are provided. Hospital menus in the area tend to be very boring and not particularly healthy. 
  • Find a Harvest Calendar for your state (or a state you are interested in) utilizing the link in the first article (found underneath the example Harvest Calendar for New York State). 
  • What are your thoughts on the second article? Have you heard of obesogens before?
    • I have never heard of obesogens before. I found the article to be informative and well organized. The articles shows the direct relation between pesticides and chemicals and weight gain.
  • Pick one of the potential obesogens discussed in the article and using your resources from earlier modules (such as toxnet), do some research on this potential obesogen. Share what you found! 
    • perfluorooctanoic acid
      • Health risks associated with exposure to PFOA are unclear. Increased cholesterol levels, increased risk of high blood pressure, thyroid disease, and liver damage have been associated with increased blood levels of PFOA in exposed humans in some studies. In laboratory animals, skin and eye irritation, weight loss, liver damage, and immune system impairment are the primary effects associated with exposure to PFOA. 

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 7, 2018 at 10:38 PM

    I agree with you on that hospital menus are very boring and bland. I also was surprised about obesogens and how there is an association on pesticide and weight gain. This is so fascinating. I question how this was researched. I feel that products that contain high fructose corn syrup have toxins of pesticide. My thoughts on this how do we know its the pesticide but not the action break down of starch to sugar.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 14, 2018 at 5:35 PM

    Hi Ryan,

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this week's material. I agree with you about hospital menus being redundant and boring, I also think they aren't necessarily nutritious. Something that I thought of that would be an interesting intervention/project would be to utilize hospital menus with local/seasonal fruits and veggies to custom build menus for patients based on the health conditions and needs. I think that the hospital would need to really dedicate their work toward this effort but it could be a nice collaboration between nutrition/health educators, clients, and hospital personnel (nurses/doctors etc.). It sounds like a lot of work but I think the outcomes could be interesting.

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