Internet review

Citation

(2012), "Internet review", Health Education, Vol. 112 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2012.142112aaa.001

Internet review

Article Type: Internet review From: Health Education, Volume 112, Issue 1

Obesity

Body mass index is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared. If we define obesity as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more then just over 20 years ago in 1987 obesity rates in the UK were 10 per cent; by 1998 they had increased to 19 percent, and now in 2011 they are at a level of 25 per cent and are forcast to get worse. These rates are the highest in Europe and while many other European countries have similarly high rates of obesity there are exceptions, for example the rates in Italy and Romania are as low as 10 per cent.

In the USA things are even worse with 33 per cent of adults being obese and no state in the USA has obesity rates lower than 20 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, Japan and South Korea have obesity rates of only 3.2 per cent a fraction of their Western equivalents.

While obesity and its related health problems are a major cause for concern, the additional burden on over stretched health care systems is also a significant problem. The additional costs associated with obesity in England have been forecast to rise as much as 70 per cent between 2007 and 2015.

While the causes of obesity may be complex and multifactorial, lifestyle is obviously a major contributing factor to this condition. A sedentary lifestyle coupled with easy access to inexpensive fatty foods will have only one outcome, it is not rocket science!

Can the internet do anything to combat these lifestyle choices? In this review we will look at the possibilities.

Weight Management Centre: www.wmc.uk.com/

The Weight Management Centre is UK based and is part of the Discovery Learning Group. The organisation works with many different types of partner including, Primary Care Trusts, local authorities, and private and voluntary sectors. Although the Weight Management Centre is essentially a training provider, and this is reflected in the web site, there are nevertheless some resources that would be of interest to lay people interested in controlling their weight.

The BMI calculator allows users to enter details of weight and height and their BMI is returned. But more than this users will also find information on what constitutes a healthy BMI as well as the “eatwell plate” which can be used to get the balance right between the different types of food groups. This can also be downloaded as a pdf and thus used by health education professionals as part of a healthy eating programme. Lay people might want to download a copy and stick it to the fridge door!

In addition to the eatwell plate there are also interesting recipes for such things as fajitas, low fat burgers, root soup, tuna paste bake and even a vegetable curry.

For health education professionals and academics the web site provides a report, prepared by the Weight Management Centre giving more detailed information on the nature of the obesity problem and how it might be approached.

Finally a section headed “Case studies” looks promising but unfortunately only contains a single case study with the usual before and after photographs of “Dave” who has lost 4 stone following a programme developed by the Weight Management Centre. There is also a short video clip providing a little more detail about “Dave” and the programme. It must be assumed that this will be populated by further examples in the future and the web site will benefit from this.

Wellcome Trust: www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Teaching-and-education/Big-Picture/All-issues/Obesity/index.htm

The Welcome Trust have what they call a “big picture” series which is designed to bring cutting edge science into the classroom. The web site describes “‘big picture’ as a free post-16 resource for teachers that explores issues around biology and medicine.” It is available online or as hardcopy. The issue under review here deals specifically with obesity.

The web site is superficially simple with only three sections, Online Articles, Student Activities and A level Curriculum Matching. The latter may only be of interest to UK users but the other two sections will have wider appeal. Although it may appear simple, beneath these three headings there are some very interesting resources. The online articles have been written by the Welcome Trust but are well referenced and include good suggestions for further reading. The topics include such things as stereotyping and “fattism”, metabolism, beating the bulge, and responsibility. As you would expect from the Welcome Trust, all the articles are well written, on the whole not too academic, and ideally suited for the audience of young people for whom this web site has been designed.

The Student Activity section is in fact two online games designed to teach users about obesity and the benefits of healthy eating. The first game involves users interacting with “OB’s”, little creatures that they have to rear from babies to adults. They have to select a balanced diet and can explore the consequences of not doing so. The second game is rather more sophisticated in that users have to make policy decisions based on data provided in an Excel spreadsheet. Users have to decide how best to spend a mythical one billion leptons (OB currency) on such things as research into genetic modification, combating poverty, educating parents, and so on. The consequences of the decisions made are then displayed. The good thing about these games is that users can “play” with them independently or as part of a classroom activity. The web site also provides teacher notes, including lesson plans to facilitate this.

Finally the third section deals with the A level curriculum and provides guidance for students and teachers on the topics that are relevant in the study of obesity. These include Biology, Sociology, Sport and Personal, Social and Health Education. This is not very detailed and although students may not get much from it, teachers who are preparing relevant courses, probably will.

As a resource for teachers or for health educational professionals who are working with young people this web site is excellent and highly recommended.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm

This web site is hosted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA. It deals specifically with childhood obesity and provides health education professionals and teachers with resources to help them deal with obesity in young children. The materials provided are not really suitable for children or their parents.

The web site itself is limited, providing an overview of childhood obesity, how it effects health, and how it might be prevented. The real benefits of this web site are to be found in the links provided, where users will find a tremendous amount of useful materials. One of the key resources is a set of guidelines designed to promote healthy eating and physical activity in schools. The document is available online or can be downloaded as a pdf file. The content is extensive with yet further links to other resources and although aimed at schools in the USA, will be of interest to a wider audience. Another practical resource is the Children’s BMI for Schools. Based on an Excel spreadsheet this is intended for use by school staff, health education professionals, or any others involved in the health care of school children. The tool allows users to compute BMI-for-age for a group of up to 2000 children. The data collected can then be used to produce statistics on prevalence of obesity by age and sex. Key resources also provides a link to Let’s Move (www.letsmove.gov) another excellent North American web site aimed at dealing with obesity.

Finally there is a link to Publications and Resources and this alone makes this web site worthwhile. The resources available are extensive and cover a wide range of topics including nutrition, physical activity, obesity, policy and even ideas for after school. Not everything translates well into a Eurocentric perspective, but most users will find materials that they can use in their own health education programmes.

TurnoffyourTV: www.turnoffyourtv.com/healtheducation/junkfood.html

The sub heading to this web site is “why watching TV makes you fat” and it is authored by someone called Ron Kaufman who obviously has a gripe against TV in the USA. Unfortunately we do not know anything more about Mr Kaufman, his qualifications, knowledge of the area, and legitimacy remain a mystery so his views have to be looked at with caution. Despite this he has produced a web site that although largely text based is interesting, attractive, and is peppered with useful links.

In some ways this is what the internet is good at. Ordinary people who have issues to raise are able to have a platform on which to raise those issues. They may not have the backing of institutions like the Welcome Trust, but nevertheless they can make serious contribution to the issues of concern.

This web site is aimed firmly at the lay person and academics or health education professionals will learn little from the content nor the links provided. However, for lay people, parents and teachers, the content of this web site will be very attractive, easily accessible and very usful as well. Although the focus is on the detrimental influence of TV in our lives, the web site also provides information on nutrition and exercise. Not the grandest of web sites you will find but one that is certainly worth a look at.