Fast food Essay Example for Free

Fast food Essay 1 Departm ent of Clinical Biochem istry , Gentofte Hospital Univ ersity of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denm ark of Hum an Nutrition, Centre for Adv anced Food Studies, Faculty of Life Sciences, Univ ersity of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denm ark 2 Departm ent Correspondence: A Astrup, Departm ent of Hum an Nutrition, RVA Univ ersity , 1 9 58 Frederiksberg C, Denm ark. Em ail: ast @kvl. dk Abstract. Although nutrition experts might be able to navigate the menus of fast-food restaurant chains, and based on the nutritional information, compose apparently healthy meals, there are still many reasons why frequent fast-food consumption at most chains is unhealthy and contributes to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. Fast food generally has a high-energy density, which, together with large portion sizes, induces over consumption of calories. In addition, we have found it to be a myth that the typical fast-food meal is the same worldwide. Chemical analyses of 74 samples of fast-food menus consisting of French fries and fried chicken (nuggets/hot wings) bought in McDonalds and KFC outlets in 35 countries in 2005–2006 showed that the total fat content of the same menu varies from 41 to 65 g at McDonalds and from 42 to 74 g at KFC. In addition, fast food from major chains in most countries still contains unacceptably high levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (IP-TFA). IP-TFA have powerful biological effects and may contribute to increased weight gain, abdominal obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. The food quality and portion size need to be improved before it is safe to eat frequently at most fast-food chains. Key words: trans-fat t y acids, fast food, energy densit y Introduction In the documentary film Super Size Me, the character Mr Spurlock ate McDonalds food three times a day for 30 days and gained 11 kg. It is quite obvious that one can purposely overeat on almost any diet, but the film raises the question of whether fast food poses a special health risk. To what extent this behaviour is a realistic trait in the general population, and to what extent fast-food consumption contributes to obesity and other morbidities such as type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease, is still debatable. Before drawing any conclusion as to whether there are causal links between intake of fast foods and disease, ideally randomised trials should be conducted to provide robust evidence on this issue. However, it is highly unlikely that such trials comparing frequent and infrequent fast-food consumption will ever be carried out. We therefore have to rely on observational epidemiology and on mechanistic studies. www. nature. com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 1/5 1/3/14 International Journal of Obesity Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy Epidemiological studies A number of observational studies have assessed the association between frequent fast-food intake and weight gain. The American population study Cardia suggests that frequent fastfood consumption is positively associated with weight gain and risk of insulin resistance over 15 years. Individuals who had meals at fast-food restaurants more than two times a week gained 4. 5 kg more weight and had a 104% greater increase in insulin resistance, at both baseline and follow-up, than individuals who ate less than one fast-food meal per week. 1 This study was the first long-term project to find that people who frequently expose themselves to fast foods are at increased risk of weight gain over time and of developing type 2 diabetes. The study had several limitations such as the population size of only 3000 individuals and the fact that self-reported information about diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors has inherent measurement errors. These factors, however, would normally tend to underestimate the strength of the identified associations. Other observational studies have to some extent supported the existence of a causal link. However, observational studies cannot prove that the association between fast-food consumption and weight gain is causal. It remains possible that frequent fast-food consumption is simply a marker for a generally unhealthy lifestyle (e. g. , less restrained eating behaviour, fatty and sweet food preferences, and a sedentary lifestyle), factors which are the real culprits in weight gain and in the increased risk of diabetes. Although every effort is made to adjust for potential confounders, one cannot adjust for unmeasured or unmeasurable lifestyle factors. Mechanisms by which fast food can be obesogenic Portion size. Despite the above-mentioned limitations in epidemiological observational studies, most of us would accept that the link between intake of fast foods and weight gain is causal because there are several mechanisms whereby fast foods could produce weight gain. At least two important features of fast food could explain why fast food is fattening, namely, large portion sizes and high-energy density. It is well established that the bigger the portion size, the more we consume. 2 Portion sizes of burgers, fried potatoes, pizzas, and soft drinks at fast-food outlets have all increased 2–5-fold over the last 50 years. 3 Energy density In addition to large portion sizes, fast food is also characterised by high-energy density, that is high energy-content/food-weight ratio. The energy density of the entire menu at fast-food outlets is typically 1100 kJ/100 g. 4 This is 65% higher than the average British diet ( 670 kJ/100 g) and more than twice the energy density of recommended healthy diets ( 525 kJ/100 g). Humans have only a weak innate ability to recognise foods with high-energy density and to downregulate the bulk eaten to meet energy requirements appropriately. 4 Industrially produced trans fat. French fries and fried meat from fast-food outlets contain high amounts of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. Trans fats are fats in margarines, spreads, and frying oils, produced by industrial hardening of vegetable or marine oils, to make the product more stable and robust for handling and storage. The hardening results in the creation of a so-called trans double bonds in the fatty acids of the lipids, in contrast to the normally occurring cis double bonds. This increases the melting points of the fats, thereby increasing shelf-life. Trans-fatty www. nature.com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 2/5 1/3/14 International Journal of Obesity Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy acids are also found naturally in meat from ruminants and in dairy products, but not nearly to the same extent as in industrially produced trans fat (up to 5%, as compared to up to 60% in fats), and not of the same types as in IP-TFA. In a worldwide study of the content of IP-TFA in fast foods, biscuits, and snacks, we found contents of IP-TFA ranging up to 50% of the fat in the products, enabling consumers to ingest 36 g of IP-TFA in a single meal in the US. 5 A daily intake of 5 g trans fat, corresponding to 2 energy percent, is associated with an approximately 30% increase in CHD risk. 6 Observational studies have found that a high intake of IP-TFA is stronger associated to the risk of weight gain and gain in abdominal fatness than to the intake of other fat sources. 7 Although unaccounted residual confounding cannot be ruled out, other sources of research support that the relationship is causal. First, IP-TFA serves as ligands for the PPAR- system and can exert a biological effect that promotes abdominal obesity. 6 Second, a recently reported long-term randomised trial in monkeys delivers robust evidence that IP-TFA induces weight gain and abdominal obesity. Kavanagh et al. 8 reported their findings at the 66th ADA meeting in Washington, D. C. For over 6 years monkeys were fed two different isocaloric, western-style diets that contained either 8% of their calories from trans fat or the same amount of fat calories as cis-monounsaturated fat. After 6 years, the IP-TFA fed monkeys had gained 7. 2% in body weight, compared to a 1. 8% increase in body weight in monkeys fed with cis-monounsaturated fats. CT scans showed that the monkeys on the trans-fat diet had deposited 30% more abdominal fat than the monkeys on the cismonounsaturated fat diet. Taken together these studies suggest that IP-TFA is obesity promoting, and that they particularly facilitate the deposition of the harmful abdominal fat associated with CHD. These findings can contribute to explaining why high intakes of IP-TFA may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. 9 Fat content in fast-food menus To select more healthy choices at the fast-food restaurants, nutritional labelling must be both available and accurate. While most chains provide nutritional information about total calories, calories from macronutrients, and fibre content of their products, we do not think that the average consumer who eats at a fast-food chain has the time or ability to make a reasonable estimate of health consequences of such meals or their contribution to the days caloric intake. The results of our analyses of total fat and trans fat in 74 French fries and fried chicken (nuggets/hot wings) samples bought in McDonalds and KFC outlets in 35 countries during 2005–2006 are given in Figure 1. The figures represent the total fat and trans fat content in 160 g of chicken meat and 171 g of French fries, corresponding to a large serving at an American McDonalds outlet. In these meals the total fat content varies from 41 to 65 g at McDonalds and from 42 to 74 g at KFC; the trans fat content varies from 0. 3 to 10. 2 and 0. 3 to 24 g, respectively. The differences in total fat content can – at least in part – be due to local taste preferences, but this is not the case for trans fat, which does not add a special flavour to the food. The results show that the same product, by the same provider, can vary in fat calorie content by more than 40%, and in trans fat content by several orders of magnitude. This demonstrates that the same product, unknown to the consumer, can vary substantially in its compliance with recommendations for healthy food. Figure 1. The entire length of the bar (both colours included) indicates the am ounts of total fat in a large fast-food m eal consisting of 1 7 1 g French fries and 1 6 0 g chicken nuggets. The darker colour indicates the am ounts of industrially produced trans fat. The v alues in parenthesis are the am ounts of trans fat as a percentage of total fat. www. nature. com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 3/5 1/3/14 International Journal of Obesity Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy Full figure and legend (305K) Conclusions Fast-food restaurant chains may argue that the evidence linking their products to the supersizing of their customers is too weak. But should not the customer be given the benefit of the doubt? Appropriate actions would include reducing portions to normal sizes, eliminating industrially produced trans fat, and selling burgers of lean meat, whole grain bread/buns, fatreduced mayonnaise, more vegetables, lower-fat fried potatoes, reduced-sugar soft drinks, etc. Moreover, reliable nutritional information should be given by the chains, which requires better standardisation of the foods used. 10 Although these measures may raise prices, such changes in fast-food meals would have no adverse health effects but quite the opposite! References 1. Pereira MA, Kartashov AI, Ebbeling CB, Van Horn L, Slattery ML, Jacobs Jr DR et al. Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15-year prospective analysis. Lancet 2005; 365: 36–42. | Article | PubMed | ISI | 2. Diliberti N, Bordi PL, Conklin MT, Roe LS, Rolls BJ. Increased portion size leads to increased energy intake in a restaurant meal. Obes Res 2004; 12: 562– 568. | PubMed | 3. Young LR, Nestle M. Expanding portion sizes in the US marketplace: implications for nutrition counseling. J Am Diet Assoc 2003; 103: 231–234. | Article | PubMed | ISI | 4. Prentice AM, Jebb SA. Fast foods, energy density and obesity: a possible mechanistic link. Obes Rev 2003; 4: 187–194. | Article | PubMed | ChemPort | 5. Stender S, Dyerberg J, Bysted A, Leth T, Astrup A. A trans world journey. Atheroscl Suppl 2006; 7: 47–52. | Article | 6. Mozaffarian D, Katan MB, Ascherio A, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC. Trans fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med 2006; 354: 1601– 1613. | Article | PubMed | ChemPort | 7. Koh-Banerjee P, Chu NF, Spiegelman D, Rosner B, Colditz G, Willett W et al. Prospective study of the association of changes in dietary intake, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and smoking with 9-y gain in waist circumference among 16 587 US men. Am J Clin Nutr 2003; 78: 719–727. | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort | 8. Kavanagh K, Jones K, Sawyer J, Kelly K, Wagner JD, Rudel LL. Trans fat diet induces insulin resistance in monkeys. Diabetes Care 2006. Proceedings of 66th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association: Abstract 328-OR. www. nature. com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 4/5 1/3/14 International Journal of Obesity Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy 9. Salmeron J, Hu FB, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Rimm EB et al. Dietary fat intake and risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Am J Clin Nutr 2001; 73: 1019– 1026. | PubMed | ChemPort | 10. Astrup A. Super-sized and diabetic by frequent fast-food consumption? Lancet 2005; 365: 4–5. | Article | PubMed | Acknowledgements SS and JD declare no conflict of interest. AA is medical advisor for Weight Watchers, and is member of several advisory boards for food producers. The Department of Human Nutrition receives/has received research funding from over 50 Danish and international food companies. Otherwise, I declare no conflict of interest. International Journal of Obesity This journal is a m em ber of and subscribes to the principles of the Commit t ee on Publicat ion Et hics. ISSN 03 07 -056 5 EISSN 1 4 7 6 -54 9 7 About NPG Privacy policy Nat urejobs Cont act NPG Accessibilit y st at ement Use of cookies Legal not ice Nat ure Asia Nat ure Educat ion Help Terms RSS web feeds Search: go  © 2 0 1 4 Na t u r e Pu blish in g Gr ou p, a div ision of Ma cm illa n Pu blish er s Lim it ed. A ll Rig h t s Reser v ed. pa r t n er of A GORA , HINA RI, OA RE, INA SP, ORCID, Cr ossRef a n d COUNT ER www. nature. com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 5/5.

The Life of Norman Rockwell :: essays research papers

Norman Rockwell is best known for his depictions of dail life of a rural America. Rockwell’s goals in art revolved around his desire to create an ideal America. He said â€Å" I paint life as I would like it to be.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second child of Jarvis W. Rockwell and his wife Nancy, Norman Perceval Rockwell was born in the famous New York City. In his summers he enjoyed life on the countryside, which made a profound impact on his art.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rockwell remained in Manhattan until 1903, when they moved to Mamaroneck, New York. It was there he decided to pursue a career as an illustrator.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1908, He began attending the Chase School of Fine Art. At the age of fifteen he quit high school to enroll in classes at the National Academy of Design. He left the Academy a year after finding out that it was geared towards training of the fine artist rather than the illustrator. He then enrolled in the Art Students League studying inder George Bridgman and Thomas Fogarty. In addition to excelling in his skills in drawing and painting, Rockwell was introduced to the illustration of Howard Pyle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1911, Rockwell illustrated his first book, â€Å"Tell Me Why Stories†. Two Years later he contributed to â€Å"Boys Life†, He soon became art director of the magazine. Commissions for other children’s magazines, among them â€Å"St. Nicholas†, â€Å"Youths Companion† and â€Å"American Boys†, soon followed. In 1915, Rockwell moved to New Rochelle, New York, home to many of America’s finest Illustrators. He studied the work of older illustrators while painting crisply, painted renditions of fresh-faced kids and dogs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A turning point in Rockwell’s career occurred one year later when he sold five cover illustrations to George Lorimer, editor of the â€Å"Saturday Evening Post†. For the next four decades, Rockwell’s name would be synonymous with the â€Å"Post†. During that time he produced 322 covers for the magazine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By the 1920’s, Rockwell achieved considerable success.

Use Of Tobacco In Australia Health And Social Care Essay

Australia has been one of the taking counties that have a great path record of baccy control. In Australia, there are around 3 million people who smoke on a regular basis between the ages of 18 to 25. The addition in baccy control strategies that increased the monetary value of baccy merchandises have changed the manner people smoke. In a recent survey, economic experts valued the nest eggs associated with avoided deceases and related diminutions in unwellness and disablement due to cut down baccy usage in Australia over the last 30 old ages at $ 8.6b ( NTS 2004 ) . The aims of the National Tobacco Strategy are the undermentioned: To assist forestall smoking uptake To assist and promote as many tobacco users as possible to discontinue smoke every bit shortly as they are able. To take exposures to harmful tobacco fume among non-smokers. If able, cut downing the harmful effects of continued usage of baccy and nicotine. Tobacco control schemes such as these increases the monetary value of baccy merchandises which changes people ‘s attitudes towards smoking through ordinances and runs that cut down baccy usage. ( NTS 2004 ) Regulation of Tobacco Promotion of Quit and Smoke free messages Cessation services and intervention Community support and instruction Addressing societal, economic and cultural determiners of wellness Tailoring enterprises for deprived groups Research, rating and monitoring & A ; surveillanceRegulation of TobaccoThe purpose of the NTS is to extinguish all promotional merchandises of baccy by those in the baccy trade, and to seek to turn to to them of the injury caused by other positive portraitures of smoke in the media.Promotion of Quit and Smoke free messagesThe purpose of the NTS is to do the wellness hazards of smoking more personal and to increase people ‘s resoluteness in discontinuing and assist them be cognizant of many effectual therapies and contact inside informations for services.Cessation services and interventionThe purpose of the NTS is to guarantee that every Australian tobacco user who are in contact with the wellness attention system are identified and be advised to discontinue, and that tobacco users who are likely to hold jobs discontinuing from smoking have easy entree to many appropriate and effectual pharmacotherapy ‘s.Community support and instructionThe purpose of the NTS to lend attem pts to forestall kids from smoke, and to guarantee that the community is intelligent about smoke.Addressing societal, economic and cultural determiners of wellnessThe purpose of the NTS is to cut down societal disaffection, along with many other negative effects by smoking and to put in baccy control as a cardinal scheme for forestalling and cut downing societal disadvantage.Tailoring enterprises for deprived groupsThe purpose of the NTS is to guarantee easy entree to many intervention, information and services for people in extremely disadvantaged groups who suffer from many smoking related injury.Research, rating and monitoring & A ; surveillanceThe purpose of the NTS is to guarantee that research is conducted to measure the demands and place utile attacks and that appropriate systems are in topographic point to measure the cost-effectiveness of plans and policies and the extent to which these are being achieved. Harmonizing to the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotions, wellness publicity actions means Building Public wellness policies, Create supportive environments, Strengthen Community actions, develop personal accomplishments, Reorient Health service and traveling into the hereafter.Build Healthy Public PolicyHealth publicity policy combines attacks including financial steps, revenue enhancement statute law, and organisational alteration. Health publicity policy now requires the designation of obstructions to the acceptance of healthy public policies in non-health sectors, and ways of taking them. The purpose must be to do the healthier pick the easier pick for policy shapers every bit good ( Talbot and Verrinder, 2010, erectile dysfunction. 4, p.266 ) .Create Supportive EnvironmentsThe guiding rule for the universe, states, parts and communities likewise, is the demand to promote them to take attention of each other, our communities and our natural environment. The demand to conserve natu ral resources throughout the universe should turns into a planetary duty.Strengthen Community ActionsCommunity development needs bing stuff and human resources in the community to better societal support and to increase public engagement in wellness affairs. This will necessitate uninterrupted entree to more information and changeless support support.Develop Personal SkillsTeaching people to larn throughout their life, to fix them to manage populating with chronic unwellness and hurts is really of import. This has been maintained at place, school, work and in the community.Reorient Health ServicessHealth services will be required to encompass an expanded authorization which is really sensitive and respects cultural demands. This authorization will be required to back up the demands of different persons and communities for a more fitter life.Traveling into the FutureHealth is created by caring for oneself and others, by being able to take determinations and have control over one â₠¬Ëœs life fortunes, and by guaranting that the society one lives in creates conditions that allow the attainment of wellness by all its members ( Talbot and Verrinder, 2010, erectile dysfunction. 4, p.266 ) .Progress/ ImprovementsIn my sentiment, the National Tobacco Strategy 2004-2009 was a well designed plan but there are still countries in the plan that needs farther betterment. The effectivity of this plan is reflected on the consequences of the figure of baccy consumption in Australia since the plan started. The NTS 2004-2009, in relation to the Ottawa Charter for Health publicities has met the demands on what wellness publicity actions truly intend such as Building Healthy Public Policy and so on. The National Tobacco Strategy 2004-2009 has built on the accomplishments of the old National trust 1999 to 2003-04, Much has been achieved by the actions of the province and district authoritiess since the early 1980s and more than 30 old ages of candidacy by non-government bureaus b ut there is still the demand for farther betterments. It was merely until 15 old ages ago ; publicities of baccy merchandises were legion. Many immature people were invariably shown legion advertizements which portrayed smoke to be merriment and made you look sophisticated. Even though the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 ( CDHA 2003 ) has enormously reduced advertisement through the media, many makers still continue to advance their baccy merchandises through many popular locales such as dark nines. It was merely late that the act has been reviewed and many amendments have been proposed to greatly implement limitations on current and lifting signifiers of advertisement. Adding more financess on Quit Smoking runs would assist to promote more people to discontinue smoke. This will besides increase the gross revenues of many pharmaceutical companies by promoting people to utilize their merchandises that improve the rate of people who chose to discontinue smoke. Many behavioral support services such as the state quitline now operate in many province and district but will necessitate to hold increased support if it is to manage an increasing demand from referrals from wellness professionals ; it besides needs to increase publicity in the media. Even thought there are around 80,000 people who call the Quitline in 2003 ( Kriven S, 2003 ) , but this lone nowadays a little sum of Australian tobacco users but this would besides increase if it is promoted even more. Records of baccy excise responsibility payments suggest that baccy ingestion in Australia has fallen well over the past 30 old ages since the debut of baccy control policies Among big males, smoking prevalence dropped from 45 % in 1974 to around 27 % in the late ninetiess ; among females it fell from 30 % to 23 % ( Scollo, M VCTC ) . Smoking among secondary school pupils in Australia began to worsen in the late 1980s ; it increased once more in the early to mid-1990s and declined once more at the terminal of the last decennary. The smoke around non-smokers has besides dropped significantly, with more and more workplaces censoring smoke at work. Scollo M. Annual per capita ingestion in Australia, 1903 to 2001-02. VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, Melbourne, 2003. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.vctc.org.au/tcres/PublicConsumptionEstimatesAus1901to2002.xls. Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 Issues Paper. Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, 2003. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/strateg/drugs/tobacco/ consult/index.htm on August 2003. Th vitamin E Cancer Council Australia. Review of the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act: entry on behalf of Australian wellness administrations. 2003, Melbourne: VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control. Wakefi eld M, Freeman J, and Donovan R. Recall and response of tobacco users and recent quitters to the Australian National Tobacco Campaign. Tob Control. 2003 ; 12: ( Suppl 2 ) : II15-II22 Scollo M. Towards an Australian national policy for the intervention of dependance on tobacco-delivered nicotine. 2003, Melbourne: VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control. Kriven S. Estimate of calls to the Quitline, 2003, personal communicating. 2004, Tobacco Control Research and Evaluation: Adelaide.

Playing Violent Video Games Good or Bad - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1033 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/04/22 Category Entertainment Essay Level High school Topics: Video Games Essay Did you like this example? The Supreme Court is weighing arguments for and against a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. The dispute is over whether it is a violation of free speech to ban them. But the issue is really about public health the health of those who play and the health of everyone they encounter. Certainly it is good for children to play in fact, kids are not getting enough free play today, leading to high rates of ADHD and diminished social capacities. Kids learn many things through play, especially friendly rough-and-tumble play which helps the brain develop in multiple ways including building social competence. Some people argue that activities like videogame play that on face value seem to be bad for you are really good for you. Steven Johnson points out how much more complex popular culture is today than in the past, including the complexity of videogames (compare PacMan with Sims games). He argues that the increased complexity promotes intelligence . For example, when you play a videogame, it is often a frustrating learning experience that requires you to repeatedly problem solve to learn the game. In fact, James Paul Gee suggests that you even learn the scientific method through the necessary trial and error of figuring out how to meet goals in the game. According to these criteria, playing constructive and prosocial games like Sims can be good for you with at least one caveat as long as you have a balanced life with real-life face-to-face friendships and enjoyment in socializing. Why worry about the latter? Because playing videogames typically keeps active primitive parts of the brain that are not social nor cognitively sophisticated. So you need to balance videogame play time with experiences that use these parts of the brain. Or you can develop a game brain. Okay, so that was the good news. Now, the bad news. Playing violent video games is different from playing positive, constructive games. In fact, violent video games have an even more powerful influence than violent television and movies, whose detrimental effects have been documented for decades. While violent videogames may promote some complex problem solving and coordination skills as well, they have multiple negative effects. Here are three related to moral functioning. First, in violent video game play the player learns to associate violence with pleasure (rewards for hurting another character). This undermines moral sensitivity. Under normal conditions, human emotional wiring is designed to abhor violence and feel rewarded for helping others. Those who play violent video games build opposite intuitions that they take into the rest of life (I can see the effects in our society, can you?). Which intuitions would you rather your child have? Second, children practice over and over the actions available in a game. The player practices violent behavior hundreds if not thousands of times, much more practice than normal activities rec eive. Whatever a person practices repeatedly becomes an automatic response. Violent games teach children how to behave like a criminal and to intentionally hurt others (e.g., burning people alive in Postal2). Is this what you want your children to be practicing for hours on end? Third, video games can be addictive because they give immediate rewards for learning. Child and adolescent brains are typically susceptible to addictions as their brains are under development till the middle 20s. Recent brain research is suggesting that any addictive behavior (drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling, violence) can harm the final stages of brain development in young adults, leaving them with a less than mature decision making system and diminished empathy for others. Is this what we want to encourage? So, less empathy, pleasure in the pain of others, well practiced criminal behavior, decreased capacity for mature decision making. These are just a few of the potential side effects of viole nt videogame play. This kind of moral character is far from the character of our foraging ancestors who were presumably avoidant of violence, cooperative and intelligent. The evidence is conclusive for the negative effects of violent video games. Craig Anderson and colleagues have been studying violent media for decades. They and others have found short and long term negative effects of watching or playing violent media that include increased aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior, and decreased prosocial behavior. Neuroscientific studies show reduced cognitive brain functions in individuals exposed to violent media. The greater the experience with violent media, the lower was the activation of brain areas for thinking, learning, reasoning and emotional control. Talk about dumbing down the kids! In my view, violent media should be considered a health risk as great as tobacco use (actually, the effects are stronger for violent media). And society should have a say about the availability of violent media. It is unfair to put the policing of media products onto the backs of parents when there are so many human-caused toxic elements to monitor in a childs life today (food, air, water, soil, toys, personal products) and parents do not receive the information they need to help make decisions. Parents could spend 24/7 being body guards of their childrens every move because of the endless onslaught of harmful products and media. Instead, lets give parents some help and socially control the purveyance of violent media. This will not only protect minors but protect ourselves. The public health risks are too great to do otherwise. Id rather have neighbors who have empathy and full decision making capabilities, wouldnt you? ADDENDUM I must admit that I am biased towards virtue development and peaceful coexistence. Violent media do not typically lead to moral virtue or peacefulness because even just watching you are practicing through mirror neurons t he opposite. Violent media can have enormous effects on brain and psyche, including delayed longterm effects as Huesmann and Erons work has shown (link below in a reply to comment). They say that watching violent media is like smoking a cigarette. Each one alone is a small risk but over time they add up, increasing the probability of lung cancer or in the case of violent media, increasing the chance of antisocial behavior. The time taken up to practice violence is time taken away from being with others learning and practicing prosocial behavior. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Playing Violent Video Games Good or Bad" essay for you Create order