http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/downloads/obesity_trend…

In this discussion board students will be asked to view a CDC PowerPoint.

Complete a 48-hour food/behavior/exercise journal. Complete a Webquest. A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web (http://webquest.org/index.php (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) This link just explains in detail how to search on the web, or "Web Quest." If students require additional assistance, please contact our library.Obesity is a complex issue that requires people to do more than define the problem. If you ask 100 people to tell you why our society is becoming more obese, every single one can list at least a dozen opinions as to the cause of the problem. Individuals "blame" fast food, portion sizes, television, video games, parenting, school lunches, lack of physical activity, and a hundred other specific causes for our epidemic in obesity. Everyone agrees that there are many, many causes. Students will be asked to review the information in the textbook and view a PowerPoint on the increasing rates of obesity from the CDC. After viewing this information students will be asked to evaluate their own eating, exercise, and health behaviors. Please remember that the most important thing about giving advice is to be able to honestly look at our own challenges first. It is easy to tell others how to change their behavior, much more difficult to master our own challenges. NO ADVICE WILL BE GIVEN ANY CREDIT. I do not want to read ANY student giving advice to others on the way they should be eating or exercising. All I want is people to focus on their own health behaviors. It is easy to give advice: it is much more challenging to identify and change our own behavior. In this assignment students will be asked to consider how their own behavior is an example to others. Complete steps 1 & 2:

1. Each student will be asked to monitor their own behavior for a minimum of 48 hours by keeping a food/behavior/exercise journal. All students will be asked to record their own behavior by writing down or using their phones to keep track of all of the items they eat, the amount of liquids they drink, and all of the walking or other activity they complete for a two-day period. The journals SHOULD NOT be shared with the class. My latest favorite free app is My Fitness Pal, but students may also choose to write it in a notebook. The food journal is meant to be private and free, so each person may choose their own method.

2. Based on their recordings students should then select 2 health behaviors they can improve in their own lives. The WebQuest will be based on students being able to use the internet to obtain QUALITY information that provides support or ideas in helping them modify THEIR OWN unhealthy behaviors. To earn full credit for their posts students must include:

• A short evaluation of how successful they were at recording food/behavior/exercise.
• 2 genuine nutrition/health/exercise behaviors they really want to change.
• 2 specific links to internet resources for each behavior and the specific information used. The resources should not just offer generic suggestions that can be found by any 6th grader with google. These sites need to be professional, effective, and offer a specific technique the person has NOT already read or tried. Remember that this is about changing a current problematic behavior, not sharing a past experience. NO ADVICE should be given and the focus is on how challenging it is to change behavior.

Examples of WebQuest responses:

Target behavior: Eating healthier fast food

Webquest Resources:

Website (MUST Include specific link) that evaluates calories in fast food menu choices. Website (MUST Include specific link) that includes samples of preplanned grocery shopping lists or semi prepared foods that can be bought in grocery stores.

Target Behavior: Smoking cessation WebQuest Resources:

Website (MUST Include specific link) for new research on artificial cigarettes.

Website (MUST Include specific link) on research that considers combining multiple smoking cessation techniques. Here are some samples of the sites included by former students:

http://nnlm.gov/bhic/2013/08/02/usda-nutrition-evidence-library/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/index.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.