What I learned from my project

I learned a lot about our community through my muckraking project, more than I thought I would. I was able to gather information through different people and get a better understanding about a topic that was ultimately important to me. 

My project was about obesity in our area and something that is surprising to me is that the obesity levels are relatively low in Mountain View and Los Altos, compared to the rest of the US. That isn't saying much though because the US is 7th out of all countries in having the most obesity.

What might be a reason for this? According to some research, I did it has to do with the ‘American Environment’ which includes an ‘in-the-car, behind-the-desk society’ meaning that not many people get an adamant amount of exercise. When we are in the car, there are billboards telling us about fast food and when we are at our desk ads pop up on the computer trying to convince us to purchase the unhealthy product. Buying food is easier than ever now because you can buy it from a gas station, which are conveniently placed near highways. Lastly, the ‘American Environment’ has created a new phenomenon called ‘portion distortion’ which is simply increasing the portion sizes to larger amounts, making becoming obese even more tangible (Nation HLB Institute).

My partner and I also found that most people who are obese are low income families, due to availability of fodd.