Counterintuitive Spring 2023

5 academic sources with purposeful summaries 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858

1. Contrary to popular belief, anyone can practice meditation. It doesn’t require any special, expensive equipment or anything fancy. It can be practiced wherever, whenever, and however feels right to you. The mind can become extremely crowded due to the obstacles of daily life, causing stress. However, meditations help produce a tranquil mind and a deep state of relaxation which make daily stressors easier to overcome. The benefits of meditation do not just come to a halt when you end your meditation. It allows you to go through your day with a clear mind. While meditation isn’t a replacement for traditional medical treatment, it can be a very useful addition to treatment for both physical and mental illnesses. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are many types of meditation and relaxation techniques including guided, mantra, and mindfulness meditations. Each of these techniques shares the same goal of achieving inner peace. 

https://www.verywellmind.com/the-benefits-of-meditation-for-generalized-anxiety-disorder-4143127

2. According to Arlin Cuncic, an author for the website Very Well Mind, 6.8 million Americans struggle with chronic daily anxiety. It is not surprising that so many people are affected by anxiety due to the fast paced lives we all live. However, meditation and being mindful offers a way to finally relax. Meditation and mindfulness go hand in hand because they are very similar. Mindfulness is the act of becoming aware of the present moment. It involves noticing what your senses are showing you. For example, noticing any sounds that you may hear, any smells that you can smell, and so on. Mindfulness-based meditation can be used to treat anxiety disorders. Cuncic states that “the basic premise of mindfulness-based meditation is to learn to detach from anxious thoughts. This is achieved by practicing awareness, identifying tension in the body, understanding your thinking patterns, and learning how to deal with difficult emotions.” However, it is important to understand that this process takes time, and will not cure you immediately. Like anything, mediation requires practice in order to get good at it and experience its full benefits. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/02/09/7-ways-meditation-can-actually-change-the-brain/?sh=7ce096e21465

3. Meditation has neurological benefits that have been confirmed by fMRIs and EEG. A study was conducted at Yale University that revealed mindfulness meditation “decreases activity in the default mode network or DMN, the brain network responsible for mind wandering and self-referential thoughts”, says Alice G Walton. Mind wandering can lead to unwanted thoughts or worrying. Many studies show that meditation quiets down the DMN, allowing you to become better at snapping back into reality when the mind wanders. There was another study done at Johns Hopkins where they discovered that mindfulness meditation has the ability to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and pain. It can also help social anxiety and addiction, which are common struggles in society. 

https://www.verywellmind.com/mindfulness-meditation-for-panic-disorder-2584082

4. People with anxiety disorders often struggle with unwanted thoughts, worries, negative thinking, and more stress than the average person. However, meditation provides relaxation techniques that can alleviate these symptoms. Many people have misconceptions of what occurs during meditation. Meditation does not mean just “doing nothing” or having no thoughts. It is allowing your thoughts to happen and detaching yourself from them, so that there is no judgement placed on your thoughts. Mindfulness is the act of acknowledging your thoughts, sitting with them, and allowing them to pass. This allows you to understand why certain thoughts come up, and change your ways of thinking. You cannot just push your thoughts and feelings to the side, because they will come up at some point. Meditation allows you to face negative thinking without reactions. 

https://psychcentral.com/anxiety/meditation-for-anxiety

5. Sometimes, the act of sitting with your thoughts can be scary. People who struggle with mental illnesses often push away any negative thoughts and emotions because they are too hard to deal with. However, pushing these things away is not helpful, because it doesn’t make them go away, it only piles on. The idea of practicing meditation can seem difficult. That is why it is important to remember that peace is a practice. Results come in time, and it gets better with time and practice. According to Sandra Casabianca, a 2020 review shows that people who practice meditation for a long time start showing changes in the areas of their brain that modulate the stress and anxiety response. “Specifically, the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus show increased activity. Also, the amygdala, which is involved in the fight, flight, or freeze response, shows decreased activity. All of this indicates improved emotional regulation, according to the review.” says Sandra. 

Working Hypothesis 1: 

Meditation can be an extremely useful tool in the event of an anxiety/panic attack. 

Working Hypothesis 2 

Mindfulness meditation is an extremely useful tool for those who suffer with mental illnesses such as generalized anxiety, panic disorders, depression, and more. 

Current State of Research 

As I began my research, I came across multiple different types of meditations. In my paper I can discuss a specific type of meditation- mindfulness meditation. This is used to treat a variety of mental illnesses, not limited to just anxiety. There are so many studies that revealed that meditation actually has a physical effect on your brain and has the ability to change it. So, I have a lot of good resources to prove my hypothesis.

Working Hypothesis 1

The devastating effects of COVID-19 on the classes of 2020 and 2021, such as poor online learning, institutions being shut down and staying inside constantly, led to the decline in their mental health, social skills, and becoming unmotivated to continue with their education.

Working Hypothesis 2
COVID-19 was beneficial in certain aspects to high schoolers because it improved their health care attitude, brought them closer to their families, and prepared them in case something like this pandemic happens again in the future.

Purposeful Summaries

The Impact of COVID-19 On High School Students

COVID eliminated a normal life for all of high school students, in so many different ways. High school is a learning environment and social environment, and this pandemic kept kids from having a normal daily routine and the motivation to do their work. The constant disappointment of canceling important events such as prom or graduation, was heart breaking. As Mary Kreitz states, “They’re aware that many colleges and universities that have shut down and wonder how this will affect their own future plans. If schools remain closed for the rest of the spring, students in their senior year will likely forfeit their last shot at a championship sports season, miss their last chance to perform with the choir or never get to perform in the play they’ve been rehearsing for so long.” (Kreitz). Mary explains how these students practiced for these type of events for so long, and the fact that COVID killed their chances of being able to engage in these, broke their hopes and motivations.

COVID also shut down the ability of students to stay engaged with their sports and even their clubs. “Many students enjoy participating in sports, music, school plays, robotics and a variety of other activities. Participation in these activities helps students to be more attractive applicants to colleges, universities and future employers. More importantly though, participation in these activities is an important part of students’ identities.” (Kreitz). Sports helped kids gain scholarships, relieve anxiety, and really let them find themselves as a student-athlete. It was also an amazing source of exercise, and there are a limited amount of workouts the average person can do in their house. Since some of these teenagers couldn’t play for the junior and possibly senior seasons, they lost potential scholarships.

Overall, the pandemic took away students social activities, a normal senior year, and a normal high school education. Their anxiety was increased because of the unknown, and it led to the decline in their mental health and motivation because of minimal social interaction and poor teaching.

Kreitz, M. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on high school students. Retrieved from https://www.childandadolescent.org/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-high-school-students/

How is COVID-19 Affecting High School Students?

COVID-19 has impacted students of all ages, but the most major of its impacts have been on high schoolers. It has disrupted their daily lives, increased their anxiety, and even make them feel unprepared for life.

It has been reported that 60% of US teens reported worry about a non-parental family member getting sick, and 59% indicated anxiety about a parent or guardian getting sick. Only 10% indicated they had no concern about COVID-19. Before this, the average teenager didn’t have to worry about stuff like this; they worried about what sport they wanted to play and where they wanna go to college and what their future job would be. They would worry about the happy things in life and be excited for all of the exciting events that high school has to offer.

The fear of the unknown is what ruined the hopes of students. Rules from the CDC about openings changed almost every day; one day prom was happening and the next it wasn’t. These unknowns create a general feeling of anxiety, and dealing with that anxiety for months on hand has a negative impact on students, leading to problems with depression. The mental of these once, happy students has not plummeted.

The pandemic changed education as well. Online learning was established as the new normal as the pandemic began its course; zoom meetings every day and just simple tasks put out onto google classroom as homework. Many students began to feel extremely unprepared for college because this new way of learning wasn’t benefitting them in any way. A survey confirmed that 32% of high school seniors reported that the pandemic reduced the likelihood that they would enroll in college, and 40% indicated they did not plan to enroll in college because of the pandemic. Many reported fear that they are falling behind because of online learning. This is so unfortunate and will effect their future and how they plan to proceed in life.

Riverside Military Academy. (2021). How is COVID-19 affecting high school students? Retrieved from https://www.riversidemilitary.com/news-detail?pk=1386421

Modelling the long-run learning impact of the Covid-19 learning shock: Actions to (more than) mitigate loss

There are many studies being done or that have been done to support the fact that the pandemic is putting long term effects on students’ education. One of the recent studies being done has showed that even school closures that are not long term still have negatives effects on students’ learning. . Andrabi et al. (2020) analyse the impact of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake on children’s learning four years later by comparing households that were close to the fault line with similar households that were farther away and not affected by the quake. Schools in the affected area were closed for an average of 14 weeks, a little more than 3 months. However, four years later children in the affected areas were not just three months behind, they were the learning equivalent of 1.5 years of schooling behind. This study also showed that students were learning less each year after because of the closure. The article also produced multiple graphs showing data from each grade and how it was declining every year after the shut-down.

Students test scores have fallen significantly, their motivation has depleted, and this pandemic will have the hardest impact on their future and how successful they will be.

Kaffenberger, M. (2021). _{Modelling the long-run learning impact of the covid-19 learning shock: Actions to (more than) mitigate loss}. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059320304855

Schools, skills, and learning: The impact of COVID-19 on education

Though the covid pandemic is a health disaster, it is also a social, mental health, and education disaster as well. In-person schooling helps kids develop so many great life and social skills that they will use forever. It helps them socialize, teaches them how to have good time management, and motivates them. Missing school means missing a lesson in your classes, and having to make up for that lost time. Studies have shown that even just ten days of extra schooling significantly raises scores on tests of the use of knowledge (‘crystallized intelligence’) by 1% of a standard deviation. So if students miss that same amount of time, their test scores could be depleting as a result. Online learning makes it easy to slack off and simply cheat your way through a class, which results in retaining almost nothing.

This disaster has also severely affected the college graduates. It is putting a hold on their final exams, and the last part of their learning . The studies show that poor market conditions at labour market entry cause workers to accept lower paid jobs, and that this has permanent effects for the careers of some.This is extremely unfortunate and these students who have put so much hard work into this schooling, could end up the exact opposite of where they wanted to be.

Burgess, S., & Sievertsen, H. (2020). Schools, skills, and learning: The impact of COVID-19 on education
Retrieved from https://voxeu.org/article/impact-covid-19-education

“I Hate This”: A Qualitative Analysis of Adolescents’ Self-Reported Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented multiple obstacles and challenges for the adolescents in school because of quarantining.

Kids around these ages love in-person interaction; it lets them grow as a person and to develop social and relationship skills. Being quarantined takes away those experiences and can even increase their risk for psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Isolation will continue to have negative impacts on social skills and mental health. Depression risk in young adults increases 3 times adolescents experiencing social isolation, and experiencing loneliness during this period is associated with poor mental health up to nine years later . On top of newly developing mental health issues, those who already had poor mental health are having increasingly worst symptoms as well. The need for therapy and psychiatry visits are at an all time high, but the pandemic still continues to limit the amount of doctors appointments allowed. So its okay for old patients to keep coming in, but we can’t accept any new, extremely depressed/anxious patients? Do we just let them suffer?

The piece written in the “Journal of Adolescent Health” goes into detail of studies being done that ask students what their three biggest challenges were currently during the pandemic. It was found that academics and work habits were the largest challenge out of all of the ones depicted on the tables made. The rest after that were mental health, physical health, friends, family, routine, social connection, covid rules, future, socioeconomic, important events, exposure of covid, and technology.

It was surprising to found that social connection and future were not as high on the list, but many different students were asked in the survey so it can bring in a lot of different results. Still though, it proves that COVIDs biggest effects were on academics, mental health, and the students’ future overall.

Scott, S., Rivera, K., Rushing, E., Manczak, E., Rozek, C. & Doom, J. (2021). _{“I hate this”: A qualitative analysis of adolescents’ self-reported challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic}. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X20306789?casa_token=DoCOkz0umzIAAAAA:ut41vzU_JXzREJ_GqxgW5_LSl9EBq8S47l81Gtb4haJhMrInwjrmfZa4AkBjv6jmNGTHy7ZTAA

Topic for Smaller Paper

1. Definition Argument

COVID-19, is first and foremost a health crisis, but also a social crisis. It ruined the senior year of the classes of 2020 and 2021 by shutting institutions down, introducing isolation, and using poor online teaching which caused these students’ mental health to be worsened, to feel unprepared for their future, and decrease their social skills. Since the pandemic is continuous and ongoing, these students are still feeling the consequences of this and will probably feel them for the rest of their lives.

2. Cause/effect Argument

Staying isolated, even when not in a pandemic, can have multiple negative affects on any high school student. Being within the same building for multiple weeks on end can make people feel crazy or even just lonely. But with COVID-19 going on, it makes people fear to be around others, but also after a long amount of time, makes these teenagers very anxious. Not knowing what their future will look like, or if they will go to college or have to take a gap year is very anxiety-driving. This isolation, which also contains poor teaching, leading students to feel behind, causes depression. This long-term isolation is causing these high schoolers to feel extremely not ready to move onto college or a career, and feeling depressed because the rules change every day, causing multiple big events to be shut down.

3. Rebuttal Argument

The pandemic, although very serious, has given high schoolers many benefits as well. First and foremost, the pandemic has caused many students to start improving their health care attitude, since many go to see a doctor whenever they feel ill and some even chose to get vaccinated. Before these times, many students didn’t feel the need to see the doctor every time they felt ill, and didn’t believe in getting vaccines. It has also let them choose better diets and to wear a mask and sanitize, to make sure they are keeping themselves safe. COVID has also brought students closer to their families since they are home a lot more often now, which is very good for their relationship skills. Being close to your family can make you feel happy again also. Finally, if anything like this pandemic, or even worse was to happen in the future, many high school students would know how to handle it because they would have experience and therefore be more prepared. No one was prepared for this pandemic, but now if another health crisis pops up in the future, they will be prepared for what is thrown at them.

Current State of Research

When I began my research process about a week ago, I did not think I would find many sources to support my hypothesis and to give me a better understanding on how negatively COVID impacted the youth. After David showed me how to use google scholar, it actually help me find multiple scholarly sources that had super great information to back up my claims and had multiple studies with their data within them. As i continue my research, I am confident that I will find more articles to support my hypothesis and that my essay will be heavily supported.

• Working Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1: While men are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer every year, women are more likely to develop new cancers from obesity and inactivity. 

5 Sources with Bibliographic information and hyperlinks to the material

Purposeful Summaries of your Sources

1. Obesity and Cancer (nih.gov)

Obesity and Cancer | CDC. (2021, March 10). http://Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/obesity/index.htm

This study covers that weight, weight gain, and obesity account for approximately 20% of all cancer cases. Evidence on obesity is showing the benefits of physical activity for breast and colon cancers. The growing epidemic of obesity provides a challenge to clinical practice and the implementation of guidelines for the management of weight. Data from the past 25 years point to obesity as a cause of approximately 14% of cancer deaths in men and up to 20% of cancer deaths in women. Overweight and obesity have increased from 15% in 1980 to 35% in 2005. The researchers, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), studied and tested the rates of obesity in the majority of the common cancers. Researchers concluded that that obesity was a cause of 11% of colon cancer cases, 9% of postmenopausal breast cancer cases, 39% of endometrial cancer cases, 25% of kidney cancer cases, and 37% of esophageal cancer cases. Since the 2002 IARC report, new evidence has supported a cause-and-effect relation between overweight and obesity and the start of these cancers, increasing the responsibility of cancer resulting from obesity. The estimation is that overweight and obesity cause approximately 20% of all cancer cases. Coming behind tobacco, overweight/obesity is the second highest cause of cancer cases. Obesity is one of the top leading causes of cancer. 

2. How cancer affects men and women differently | Edward-Elmhurst Health (eehealth.org)

How cancer affects men and women differently. (n.d.). http://Www.eehealth.org. https://www.eehealth.org/blog/2017/11/how-cancer-affects-men-and-women-differently/

After observing this article, men are more likely to get cancer while women are more likely to survive it. Men are 6% more likely to die from any type of cancer than women. Men are 12% more likely to die from a certain type of cancer than a woman with the same type of cancer. “A recent study suggests that the differences between the sexes may in part be due to carcinogenic exposures and lifestyle factors like cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol and eating fattier foods — all of which are more prevalent among men.” Men are less likely to get cancer scans than women. They attend to avoid medical attention. Developing cancers can be traced back to the hormones contributing to differences in men’s and women’s “immune systems, metabolism, and general susceptibility to cancer, as well as genetic differences.” Sex is an important factor in the diagnosis and prognosis of many diseases. The risk of cancer is much higher in males, relative to females, for a majority of cancers at most ages, exposure factors implicated in these sex disparities include hormones, body mass index (kg/m2), viral infections, carcinogenic susceptibility, and health care access and utilization. Gender plays a role in different cancers. 

3. Energy intake, physical activity, energy balance, and cancer: epidemiologic evidence – PubMed (nih.gov)

Pan, S. Y., & DesMeules, M. (2009). Energy intake, physical activity, energy balance, and cancer: epidemiologic evidence. Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.), 472, 191–215. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-492-0_8

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Physical activity, body size, and metabolic efficiency are related to total energy intake. It is difficult to assess the independent effect of energy intake on cancer risk. There are sufficient pieces of evidence to support the role of physical activity in preventing cancers of the colon and breast. The association is stronger in men than in women for colon cancer and in postmenopausal than in premenopausal women for breast cancer.  Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined populations. Epidemiologic evidence indicates that obesity is probably related to cancers of the pancreas, liver, and gallbladder, and aggressive prostate cancer. It is known that obesity does not have a role in lung cancer. People who are obese can have lung cancer, but it is not a factor of lung cancer. Obesity in other cancer risks is unclear. The body mass index can determine whether you are obsese or not. Body mass index is a value derived from the mass and height of a person. The body mass index is used as a screening tool for overweight and obesity. Being overweight and obese can cause changes in the body that help lead to cancer. Some of these changes are long-lasting inflammation and higher than normal levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor, and sex hormones. The risk of cancer increases with the more excess weight a person gains and the longer a person is overweight.

4. Cardiovascular and other competing causes of death among patients with cancer from 2006 to 2015: An Australian population‐based study – Ye – 2019 – Cancer – Wiley Online Library

Ye, Y., Otahal, P., Marwick, T. H., Wills, K. E., Neil, A. L., & Venn, A. J. (2018). Cardiovascular and other competing causes of death among patients with cancer from 2006 to 2015: An Australian population‐based study. Cancer, 125(3), 442–452. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.31806

Studies have shown that with improved cancer survivorship, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other noncancer events compete with cancer as the underlying cause of death, but the risks of mortality in competing-risk settings have not been well characterized. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of conditions that involve the heart and blood vessels. Common complications include heart attack, chest pain (angina), or stroke. The number of individuals living with a history of cancer has continued to increase. CVD deaths are varied by first cancer site, indicating increased risks after the first diagnosis of lung cancer, hematologic malignancy, and urinary tract cancer. For individuals with all cancers combined, CVD was the leading cause of competing mortality in both male and female patients with cancer. CVD can be caused by obesity. Men are more likely to be more active than women. Heart disease and weight loss are closely linked because your risk for heart disease is associated with your weight. If you are overweight or obese, you may be at higher risk for the condition. Medical experts consider obesity and being overweight to be major risk factors for both coronary heart disease and heart attack.

5. Overweight and obesity predict better overall survival rates in cancer patients with distant metastases – Tsang – 2016 – Cancer Medicine – Wiley Online Library

Tsang, N. M., Pai, P. C., Chuang, C. C., Chuang, W. C., Tseng, C. K., Chang, K. P., Yen, T. C., Lin, J. D., & Chang, J. T. C. (2016). Overweight and obesity predict better overall survival rates in cancer patients with distant metastases. Cancer Medicine, 5(4), 665–675. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.634

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Cancer remains a leading cause of death and a major public health concern worldwide. “According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, approximately 12.7 million cancer cases are newly diagnosed and 7.6 million cancer deaths occur each year globally.” The current retrospective study is designed to investigate the potential association between BMI and overall survival in patients with distant metastases and favorable performance status. Multiple recent studies studied patients with chronic diseases and have reported an inverse association between body mass index. The World Health Organization’s BMI classification system, which includes the following categories: underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2), normal-weight (BMI: 18.5–24.99 kg/m2), overweight (BMI: 25–29.99 kg/m2), and obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Another point of consideration of the merits when dealing with the prognostic significance of BMI in cancer patients is the time of its determination. Due to lean body mass, reductions in adipose tissue may become more pronounced in advanced disease stages. “Tumors of high malignant potential are supposed to require higher levels of energy for growth. The findings indicate that overweight and obesity are independent predictors of better overall survival rates in cancer patients with distant measures and good performance status.‌”

• Topics for Smaller Papers

Definition Argument: The term “obesity” is misrepresented by someone who is overweight. What isn’t recognized is the health problems that follow obesity. Obesity can cause heart problems and can lead to cancer. Throughout society, obesity is judgemental but it can be solved with the use of activity rather than judgments.

Cause/Effect Argument: Not being able to stay active and being under the body mass index can cause cancer. The differences between the sexes may in part be due to carcinogenic exposures and lifestyle factors like cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, and eating fattier foods — all of which are more prevalent among men. Heart disease and weight loss are closely linked because your risk for heart disease is associated with your weight. If you are overweight or obese, you may be at higher risk for the condition.

Rebuttal argument: Obesity is the second most common cause of causing cancer, tobacco is the leading cause. Not everyone who is obese will get cancer. Being overweight and obese can cause changes in the body that help lead to cancer. Previous studies suggest that noncancer events are playing an important role as the cause of death among individuals with specific cancers.  In our previous study, we identified an increased risk of death from non-cancer events among patients with cancer who had longer survival, but data on specific noncancer events were limited. 

• Current State of the Research

As I began doing my research, I found out that there are not many articles on my exact topic. I had to search each part of my hypothesis separately and bring them all together to make sense and get academic information on it. I also realized that most of the articles on google scholar for my hypothesis are charts rather than written information. I had to read graphs to grasp how important the information was such as the BMI chart. Most articles did not give me direct information, I had to combine all the articles for my information.

The legal drinking age doesn’t keep kids from drinking because that is not what it is intended to do.

The legal drinking age was put in place to decrease the amount of fatalities from motor vehicle accidents due to teens drinking and driving, not to protect their growing brains from the negative effects of alcohol.

Source 1. Lovenheim, M. F., & Slemrod, J. (2010). The fatal toll of driving to drink: The effect of minimum legal drinking age evasion on traffic fatalities. Journal of Health Economics, 29(1), 62–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2009.10.001

https://bit.ly/3BAlbPG (The fatal toll of driving to drink)

“we find that in counties within 25 miles of a lower-MLDA jurisdiction, a legal restriction on drinking does not reduce youth involvement in fatal accidents”, states Elsevier.

Beer taxes are put in place to decrease the amount of motor vehicle accidents, not to discourage teen drinking.

https://bit.ly/Beertaxes

“Since the mid-1970s, the federal government of the United States and various state and local governments have been involved in a campaign to reduce deaths from motor vehicle accidents by discouraging alcohol abuse.” states De Gruyter. The attempts to discourage the use of alcohol isn’t with the intent of discouraging illegal and underage drinking due to the various health risks, but due to the apparent threat of motor vehicle fatalities.

https://bit.ly/underagedrinkingandage

Arguments that state that the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 give the stipulation that coursework and exams should coincide with the decision to allow teenagers to legally drink with the proper education. This leads us to believe that the concern surrounds teenagers poor decisions regarding operating vehicles while under the influence of alcohol and not the damage that could occur from consuming alcohol with a brain that is not fully developed.

https://bit.ly/crashinvolvement

“The lower levels of use persisted into the early 20s, even after all respondents were of legal age; and lowered involvement in alcohol-related fatal crashes among drivers under 21 appeared due to lower alcohol consumption rates–in particular, less drinking in bars or taverns.”

A majority of motor vehicle fatalities that are caused by drunk driving are by young drivers. Lowering the drinking age makes it more difficult to obtain alcohol. A lower alcohol consumption rate and less drinking in bars or taverns that need to be driven to decreases the risk of teens causing accidents due to drunk driving. Teens will continue to drink their illegally obtained alcohol in the confines of their own homes, but there is less of a chance that they will be driving.

https://bit.ly/causeandeffectmortalityrates

The above study summarizes that a beer tax would decrease highway mortality rates by 27 percent with just over a dollar increase in price. The goal is to decrease fatalities in all of these situations which is not what many people believe its intentions are. From all of these sources it can be concluded that since the main goal is to decrease drunk driving and deaths caused by this, there are other ways to achieve it rather than having a legal drinking age. There should in fact be a legal drinking age since the use of alcohol on developing brains having devastating impacts is of course a concern, there is proof that it can successfully be lowered since its main goal is to save lives. It cannot be lowered without compensation in other areas to prohibit drunk driving, however.

1. Working Hypothesis

The misinformed and self righteous educators, who have no formal training in the field of nutrition, have indoctrinated a generation of youth with the idea that calories are evil, and it is healthy to adopt a restrictive diet—low in calories, fats, sugars, and carbohydrates—resulting in nothing more than a population of eating disorder ridden children.

2. Academic Sources

1. “Preventing Eating and Body Image Problems in Children and Adolescents Using the Health Promoting Schools Framework” 

This study examines the effectiveness of a framework developed by the World Health Organization that can be used in schools to prevent eating disorders among adolescents—proper nutrition education within the school curriculum, creating a positive school environment, and building a relationship between the school and the community. When implemented properly, they can successfully prevent fad dieting, various eating disorders, and low self esteem related to body image. However, the study emphasizes the fact that many school programs cause more harm than good by labeling foods to be “good,” “bad,” or “junk.” Indoctrinating students with this attitude leads to an unhealthy relationship with food. Additionally, educators commonly and subconsciously project their personal prejudices toward food and body image onto the students, further aggravating the issue. The framework encourages a cross-curricular education that not only encourages diet prevention and positive self esteem, but educates students to the dangers of propaganda techniques used by the diet industry. Furthermore, the framework addresses the need for an overall healthy school climate and support from the community at large. Without effectively implementing a framework of this nature, excessive damage continues to be made by teachers who lack proper education and awareness to what they are actually preaching.

O’Dea, J., & Maloney, D. (2000). Preventing Eating and Body Image Problems in Children and Adolescents Using the Health Promoting Schools Framework. Journal of School Health, 70(1), 18. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A59971370/AONE?u=rowan&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=f9bd8bdc

2. “Adolescent decision making: an overview”   

Adolescents are undergoing changes of great magnitude as they develop cognitively, physically, and emotionally. Their abilities to make sound decisions is underdeveloped and can result in impulsive and dangerous behaviors. Rather than following a fully developed decision making framework, there are various psychosocial and emotional factors during adolescence that impact their ability to fully process information and make informed choices. Furthermore, adolescents are extremely impressionable and base many of their decisions on social norms or how they desire to be perceived by others. Another contributing factor to an adolescents poor decision making is a false sense of invincibility, as they weigh the possible consequences of their actions. The prefrontal cortex of the brain, responsible for impulse control and executive functions needed for decision making, is greatly reduced during adolescent years. 

It is abundantly clear that adolescents are often incapable of making sound decisions when they are properly informed, much less when toxic and inaccurate information is being disseminated to them in a classroom where they are surrounded by their highly influential peers.

Halpern-Felsher, B. (2009). Adolescent decision making: an overview. The Prevention Researcher, 16(2), 3+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A198715069/AONE?u=rowan&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=647cccdb

3. “Sugar substitutes linked to obesity” 

Zero calorie sugar substitutes are a prime example of low calorie not directly equating to good health. This study examines the unnatural changes that occur in the gut microbiome as a result of consuming artificial sweeteners. However, no official action, such as label warnings to the public, have been implemented. 

When young people are encouraged to limit their caloric intake, it is easy to resort to foods and beverages containing artificial sweeteners. These sugar replacements falsely advertise themselves as healthier alternatives to foods and drinks containing real sugar, and thus higher calories. In an attempt to follow healthy eating advice learned in a classroom, adolescents could inadvertently be creating other health issues.

  Abbott, A. (2014). Sugar substitutes linked to obesity. Nature (London), 513(7518), 290–290. https://doi.org/10.1038/513290a

4. “Confusion on All Sides of the Calorie Equation: Lessons Learned, Future Directions”    

The obsession our country has with combating obesity has created a hyperfixation on calories. This has created confusion and has skewed our perception of what is an appropriate amount of calories to consume daily. This article discusses the importance of calorie balance—the relationship between how many calories are consumed each day and how many are expended through basic body functions. Each individual has different caloric needs that are dependent on factors such as their physical activity level and their basal metabolic rate. Consumers have been slowly driven away from understanding the idea that calories are fuel for the body, a concept that must be instilled back into society.

As teachers continue to preach the benefits of a low calorie diet, they are perpetuating this false and dangerous belief. It is not the goal of every individual to lose weight. In fact, some individuals struggle to consume enough calories to maintain or gain necessary weight. A low calorie diet certainly should not be promoted to this demographic. A “one size fits all” mindset regarding caloric intake is simply irresponsible teaching.

Kapsak, W. R., DiMarco-Crook, C., Hill, J. O., Toner, C. D., & Edge, M. S. (2013). Confusion on All Sides of the Calorie Equation: Lessons Learned, Future Directions. Nutrition Today (Annapolis), 48(5), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1097/NT.0b013e3182a68476

5.  Why Calories Count : From Science to Politics

The consequences of restricting calories to an insufficient rate is extremely hazardous and in some cases lethal. Due to the even greater importance of children consuming an appropriate amount of calories each day to fuel their developing bodies, the effects of this unhealthy practice are even more serious among youth. The human body is designed to send uncomfortable hunger pains to act as a request for calories. When these hunger cues are forcibly and repeatedly ignored, the body begins to go into a state of starvation. There are countless negative effects that the body suffers during a period of malnutrition, both physically and mentally. The body resorts to breaking down important carbohydrates stored in the liver as well as protein stored in various muscles in an attempt to find another energy source in the absence of much needed calories. As the body continues to break down important proteins, muscles and enzymes begin to deteriorate, as a vast amount of the body’s systems decline in function. The result is an incredibly lethargic, dizzy, disoriented, and zombie-like individual who is incapable of functioning and unable to perform daily tasks. Eventually, extreme starvation may lead to the complete shutdown of all the body’s major systems, resulting in a coma or death. 

In our country’s ongoing battle against childhood obesity, public school health education programs have become an advocate for limiting and restricting caloric intake. Promoting a low calorie diet is not healthy and necessary for all children. The dietary needs of growing children cannot be generalized as “low calorie equals a healthy diet.” It is presumptuous to assume that all children are in a situation in which they need to limit their calories. Health educators are not medically trained individuals capable of providing health care advice. 

Nestle, M., & Nesheim, M. (2012). Why calories count : From science to politics. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

3) Topics for Smaller Papers

1. Definition Argument

The term “calorie” is misrepresented by the negative connotation that it has developed over time. Calories are the necessary fuel for the human body and must be recognized as such. Through the use of media and the ever growing diet food industry, society’s gross misconception continues to grow and cause a plethora of maladies among individuals.  

2. Cause/Effect Argument

Adolescents’ ability to make sound decisions independently is greatly compromised by their lack of executive functioning skills. This inability is directly related to the underdeveloped prefrontal cortex in their brain. Due to this lack of brain maturity, they are incapable of following the typical decision making process, which includes reviewing one’s options and the possible consequences. The immature adolescent feels a false sense of invincibility, which in turn creates an inaccurate assessment of their likely outcomes. As a result, poor decision making takes place. This disadvantage is further exacerbated by their vulnerability as an impressionable student; they have a preconceived notion that their educator will provide them with completely accurate information, which unfortunately is not necessarily the case. 

3. Rebuttal Argument

Proponents of the belief that a public health education should prioritize the war against obesity, which undeniably continues to plague our youth, are sorely mistaken. In recent years another health issue has emerged to epidemic proportions—eating disorders. In order to teach “healthy” dietary habits to children, it first must be acknowledged that diets must be individualized to meet the specific needs of each consumer. Advocating for a low calorie diet to battle obesity will certainly have a negative, and possibly deadly, impact on those struggling in the opposite direction. It must become sound teaching practice to teach children that all foods fit, including high calorie sweets in moderation.

4) Current State of Research Paper

As I have begun the research process, I am surprised to find that there are not many academic sources that blatantly agree with my hypothesis. The majority of my academic sources are studies or scientific evidence that happen to support my claim, without directly relating to the subject. In fact, many of the articles that do directly address my topic are still preaching about the dire need to combat obesity in the United States. Although this makes it slightly more challenging to collect sources, it is satisfying to make a bold claim that contradicts many of the sources out there. I remain loyal and confident in my claim and will continue to gather evidence to support it.