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Every TV presentation must have a break with advertisements promoting different products and services
Presented by
Professor
Subject
Date
Food
Introduction
Every TV presentation must have a break with advertisements promoting different products and services. The ads on fast foods have occupied almost every TV station as different restaurants try to market their products. The fact is that majority of people who take fast foods have high chances of becoming obese. A peer-reviewed journal indicated a survey conducted by BMC Public Health suggested that the high number of advertisements promoting soft drinks and fast food have led to more are residents becoming overweight. Most of these foods contain high fat and cholesterol values that contribute to overweight and introduction of weight related diseases like obesity. In addition, excessive consumption of fast food is not only dangerous but, but also promotes a dangerous lifestyle and culture (Scherer 2-3). Generally, fast food ads could promote childhood obesity which is a significant health problem hence; the government needs to regulate the number and intensity of such ads.
Discussion
Statistics show that people today are too chubby to rely on fast food compared to past times. Daily consumption of fast food decreases the life span hence people today die younger than they should apart from living an obese life. America has termed fast food as one of the major public-interest health threat apart from substance abuse and smoking. Looking at the composition of fast foods one does not need to get into a physician to understand the dangers he or she has introduced in the body. The composition of fast food is meat carcinogens, which contains high levels of calories and saturated fat. These substances are the principal source of trans-fat that causes obesity. Doctors claim that obesity is a significant health problem and the public should be made aware of factors that lead to overeating of processed food (Rivero).
On the other hand, dangers of fast food consumption have forced the Federal Government to introduce policies regarding food advertising on television, outdoor ads, radios, and any other means of advertisement. Since marketing gets people to consume more, most organizations dealing with fast food take their advertisements to low-income earner and minority areas in order to give them low cost eating alternatives. A study was carried out at two densely populated locations in Los Angeles and New Orleans. The areas were selected due to high population of dwellers with each location having more than 2,000 people hence; more outdoor fast food ads were located all over the area. From the research a correlation between fast food ads and the rate of obesity was found to be positive. This was a clear evidence that the more the fast food ads the higher the chances of more people becoming obese.
The problem also affects kids since that are the most prone to eating unhealthy food. The effects are more for kids coming from rich families compared to those from poor backgrounds. A research conducted by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine concluded that even if children from poor families have poor access to health care services and eat unbalanced diets, there are healthier than their counterparts from rich backgrounds. This is because children from poor background eat fewer processed food that are healthier than fast food eaten by the rich people. The difference although does not last for long because as the time goes on, children from poor backgrounds acquire the unhealthy eating habits and join their counterparts in increasing weight and reducing their days on earth.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also has confirmed childhood obesity as the most serious challenge facing public health sectors worldwide. WHO 2010 statistics show that more than 42 million children under five years of age were overweight, and the figure has gone up as per today. In addition, eating of fast food during childhood could lead into many complications at adulthood. For instance, children who are obese have higher chances of growing into obese adults leading to development of chronic non-communicable diseases like diabetes. WHO accepts the challenge of eating fast food has affected even the policy makers because of high rate of marketing and advertising that has a lot of influence on people’s choices of food and consumption patterns. In order to avoid the challenge, WHO introduced a policy intervention aimed at promoting strategies encouraging healthy eating habits. Various organizations have also called upon the government to limit on marketing of fast food but, the government receives a lot of revenues from such ads making the claims baseless.
Advertising influences behavior by persuading and manipulating consumers or concentrating economic and cultural power at the hands of few individuals. As such, people are forced by circumstances to believe what an advertisement says even if it is harmful. In addition, advertising works to affect purchasing decision of a consumer and no any amount of warning could deter a person from going for the advertised product due to curiosity. Many findings carried out oversees indicate that most television ads target children. A study carried out by American Kaiser Family Foundation in 2007 claims that almost half of all commercial in children channels advertise food, and none of these ads promote eating of fruits and vegetables but concentrate on junk food (sweets, snacks and fast food) (159-162).
The Federal Government also plays a significant role in ensuring all food advertisement adheres to Nutrient Content Claims and key regulations. The regulations affect producers in two ways. Firstly, they govern nutrient claims hence the advertiser must include the correct nutrient composition of the product and the possible dangers t consumers. Secondly, the regulations affect health claims because the public health sector has its own policies that manufacturers and producers should adhere to. Despite all these regulations and policies, producers still place ads that do not comply. The high rate of corruption and ignorance of public health officers costs the nation a lot of cash in treatment of ailments that could be avoided. In addition, the high competition experienced in today’s firms especially the fast food business calls for more commercial ads to be introduced. This seems to be a continuous problem that can only be solved by individual avoiding unhealthy eating habit (Ippolito 7-8).
Conclusion
It is true that watching television is not a weight-loss strategy. The numerous ads for fast food that always act as a breath-taking strategy after an episode influences children’s eating habits, and contribute to childhood obesity. The discussion above shows that individuals also contribute to unhealthy eating habits despite many warnings from nutritionists. Moreover, the issue of marketing has become controversial as the producer wants to make big sales while the regulatory body wants to limit the number and intensity of the advertisements. Heavy fines should be introduced to people who do not adhere to the federal regulations in order to have a healthy nation in the years to come. Truly, fast food advertisements promote unhealthy eating habits.
Works cited
Gantz, W., Schwartz, N., Angelini, J. and Rideout, V. Food for thought: television food advertising to children in the United States, Kaiser Family Foundation, 2007. Available at:
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/7618.pdfHefferan, Elisabeth, and Marnita Gardner.Obesity why are we getting so fat?. Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Human Relations Media. 2006. Print.
Ippolito Pauline, M. Food Advertising and Labeling: Regulatory issues and Evidence. Washington: Bureau of Economics Federal Trade Commission. 2003.
Rivero, E. Outdoor fast food ads could promote obesity, study finds. 2013. Available at:
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/outdoor-fast-food-ads-could-promote-242881.aspxScherer, Lauri S.. Fast food. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
World Health Organization (WHO), Childhood overweight and obesity. 2010. Available at:http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/index.htmlWorld Health Organization. Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health: Childhood overweight and obesity. 2013. Available at:
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/childhood/en/
Discuss the role of parents and peers in childhood and adolescent development and compare the influence of each
Child Psychology
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Discuss the role of parents and peers in childhood and adolescent development and compare the influence of each.
Development of an individual from infancy, childhood, all through adolescence to adulthood is influenced by various factors. Some of these factors influence the individual’s behavior and shape his or her character. Parents and siblings nurture the child in the primary socialization category. School and the teachers are also involved at this stage. In the adolescence period, the individuals undergo secondary socialization. This is when new people start influencing his or her behaviors. Adolescents’ join peer groups and also pay more attention to the social media hence acquiring new behaviors. Other factors such as emotional developments also influence the way individuals’ grow and develop. This paper seeks to analyze the role of parents and peers in childhood and adolescent developCITATION Buk11 p 62 l 1033 (Bukatko & Daehler, 2011, p. 62). It also seeks to unveil their influences’ and compare them. Good parental care during childhood development also aids in brain development of the child.
Parents influence almost all the aspects of development in a child. Firstly, the parenting styles used to bring up a child influences its development. Decent parenting skills ensure wellbeing of a child and also its social mobility. Parents have a crucial role especially in the educational activities they offer to the children at the early stages of development. Parents ought to have a good home learning atmosphere so as to aid in childhood developments. Another vital role is the need for parents to have good relationships amongst themselves. This should also be extended toward their children and peers so as to nurture children in a good manner. Parents should also be fully involved in what the children do in the household. Parent involvement is very crucial as the child’s cognitive ability thrives. Parents also have a role in ensuring that the child is in good health. Here, obesity is mainly watched out and tackled at an early stage if it appears. The major factor that parents should observe is setting up a good example towards the children. Parents have a duty to strive and be good role models to their young ones. If a parent is a good role model, the child tries to emulate the goodness hence healthy m oral development. Peers also have a role in supporting children in childhood developmentCITATION Cam08 p 73 l 1033 (Campbell, 2008, p. 73). Their main duties are to set a healthy environment for child development and be good role models. Another demanding task for the parents in childhood development is interaction. Interaction ensures that a trusted relationship is established hence perfect development. Parents should also have good emotional identification. This helps the child realize the world and the things in it, the ones that are good and those that are bad and harmful. Family stories should also be narrated to children by both peers and parents. Positive stories helps raise a child’s esteem.
Peers also influence childhood development. A child is defined by the United Nations as any individual below the age of eight years. As every child develops, he or she tends to make friends and form social groups. These social groups are steered by elder children hence are peers to the younger children. Here, younger children tend to imitate the behaviors of the older ones hence their childhood development process is alteredCITATION Lad05 p 47 l 1033 (Ladd, 2005, p. 47). Peers aid the children in teaching them new vocabularies and socializing them into the larger society.
Another stage in the development of an individual is during adolescent period. At this period, the adolescent requires a new way of handling him or her and the parents’ aid too in the development. Parents have a duty of establishing a supportive relationship with family member and other friends. This gives the adolescent a sense of having a supportive family hence will in turn have a positive transition and development. Parents also, have a duty monitor the adolescents and ensure that they disclose what is in their minds. Monitoring ensures that the parents keeps track of the adolescent as disclosure aids in realizing daily activities and notice any deviationCITATION Ker08 p 34 l 1033 (Kerr, Stattin, & Engels, 2008, p. 34). Parents are also tasked with respecting the sense of autonomy in their adolescent children as well as ensuring that their information is well kept. Parents have a duty to realize begin of adolescence and expect change of behaviors. Conflicts are a common scenario during this stage and parents should know how to tackle them in most cases.
Peers also play a significant role in shaping an individual’s personality. At adolescence, peer groups are easily formed and shape the adolescents to face different life happenings. Peers and peer groups help adolescents in getting along with other people. This enables children to develop the necessary social skills and also realizing the dos and the don’ts. Peers also allow individuals to embrace moral values especially with parental guidance. Peers now have a chance to learn the required socio-cultural roles. They set their ambitions and life goals at this stage and a good peer group supported by parents works well to shape the adolescents. Peers facilitate better achievement of personal independence in various forms such as emotional support, social support, physical support and intellectual supportCITATION Lev07 p 23 l 1033 (Levesque, 2007, p. 23). The peers also set a good ground of for experimentation with different identities and varying experiences. Here, peers develop a sense and also maintain and practice many cognitive and communicative roles.
In the past, an assertion emerged that friends played the biggest part in the development of an individual than the parents. I tend to support this stand mainly because children interact with their peers more than they do with their parents. This is a classic example of peer and peer groups during adolescent where adolescents detach themselves from their parents. If an individual meets a peer group that is morally insane and joins it, the parents would do little to stop the individual. This does not wholly suggest that parents do not offer to their parent, it means that friends and peers influence the development of individuals more that parents.
In conclusion, development of an individual is a societal effort. If one is brought up in a drugs and gun totting society, it is very hard to escape the same fate. This suggests that parents and peers ought to cooperate with other society institutions in growth and development of an individual. Positive support will ensure that an individual grows cognitively, psychologically and morally.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Bukatko, D., & Daehler, M. (2011). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. Los Angeles: Cengage Learning. Print.
Campbell, O. (2008). The Role of Parental Involvement in Preparing Children Ages 4–6 to Enter School, Leaving No Child Behind. New York: ProQuest. Print.
Kerr, M., Stattin, H., & Engels, R. C. (2008). What Can Parents Do: New Insights into the Role of Parents in Adolescent Problem Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Print.
Ladd, G. W. (2005). Children’s Peer Relations and Social Competence: A Century of Progress. New York: Yale University Press. Print.
Levesque, R. J. (2007). Adolescents, Media, and the Law : What Developmental Science Reveals and Free Speech Requires: What Developmental Science Reveals and Free Speech Requires. London: Oxford University Press. Print.
Current Strategies In MDCM
Current Strategies In MDCM
MDCM is currently facing institutional problems and accordingly, the company has to change most if not all of its strategies. Entry of multinationals in the market proved a challenge to the company given that it could not match the globalization advantage of the new entrants. In order to counter the problem MDCM management sought to spread into new markets through the art of acquisitions. For that reason, the company acquired a score of many out of the country companies that according to its view were capable of offering products similar those of the corporation. Though the company became the largest medical devices organization as a result, it registered losses due to lack of good strategies to manage oversees companies. Currently, the organization’s strategy is harmonizing the operations oversees with those at the headquarters. Lack of proper information flow is costing the company a lot resources prompting urgent intervention by the information technology experts to better the condition.
In the light of this, the company made a new appointment to the post of Chief Information Officer. He has to develop IT strategies that are in line with the current organization strategy of achieving a competitive advantage against competitors and turning around the company’s fortunes from losses into profits. Studies indicate that the current contributor to the disaster that the company is facing is lack of proper information flow and weak financial systems. The new CIO has the mandate of ensuring that the current sophisticated system achieves its intended objective without compromising the quality of services and products offered by the company. Accordingly, IT department has to streamline the operations all the systems and avoid having numerous systems that negatively affect the operations within the company. Overall, the company’s current strategy majors on turning around the fortunes of the company into a profit-making venture. However, correct procedures need following if the organization is to achieve set objectives.
The competitive environment
Analyzing the competitive environment surrounding the company the most notable is the entry of new players into the industry. Initially, MCDM was not receiving considerable competition from players in the industry. However, multinationals entrance into the market became a new threat to the existence of the company. Before their entry, players from other companies could not match up to the competitive advantage enjoyed by the company. New entrants had a competitive advantage over the company given their globalization experience. In order to curb this problem, the company did seek entry into new markets but since starting from scratch is difficult, they resorted to acquisitions. Consequently, another issue emerged acquisitions came with new organizational cultures needing harmonization. As a result, though the company thought that acquisitions would give the organization a competitive advantage. Hence, competition is still persistent and the company has to harmonize the cultures of different companies from different countries.
Entrant of new players led to customers gaining pricing powers. Customer power of pricing is another way of defining competition in the environment that the company is operating. The result of entry of new players in the industry is that more options are available for the customers. An example is that when multinationals entered the industry the consequence was a loss of three of the key customers of the company. Due to increased choices, customers became sensitive to price changes introduced hence and time the company sought to increase prices it would end up being too expensive for the company. This is because customers would resort to other cheaper products from competitors. For the company to overcome this challenge the only remedy is to offer differentiated products to the customers in order to set apart their products from those of rival companies. However, improving technology in order to produce quality products at affordable prices is another way of ensuring the company remains competitive.
Finally, the third of the porter five threats is the suppliers. MDCM seems to have had thousands suppliers that were unnecessary. Consequently, the company did make pacts with the remaining suppliers, which might work to their advantages. The threat posed here is the likelihood of suppliers ceasing to supply products to the company over prices conflict or even more paying customer that are potential competitors. Previously, the company had the challenge coordinating the supplier since they were too many. Nevertheless, lately the company’s strategy of cutting down the number of suppliers might work to their advantage. Now, it is easy to monitor operations of the suppliers from the headquarters regardless of the location of the company they supply. Although the dangers posed by suppliers are difficult to predict, the presence of better mechanisms of monitoring them gives MDCM a competitive advantage over other players of the industry.
IT Objectives
IT is very essential in any company if systems in that company are to remain effective. Appointment of a new Chief Information Officer in the company is not sufficient solve the current predicament. In addition to the new CIO, the company requires more resources channeled towards the sector. Among the required resources in the company, include computing hardware and software, messaging system, a website, data warehouses, and networking facilitators. The need of having newer and up to date networking software is for ensuring that communication between the company and its subsidiaries flows effectively. Resulting from such an endeavor is that there will be value addition to the organization’s products. Good networking ensures that the organization caters for the changing customer preferences first hand since various branches are able to communicate in time. Accordingly, cost of operation will reduce drastically enabling the company to pass on the reduction to its customer.
MDCM Inc currently uses numerous systems across different branches. This condition is unfavorable to the cost effectiveness of IT technologies. Because of having different operating systems, the company incurs system support cost that is avoidable. Furthermore, various operating systems results into increased cost of maintenance as evident in company. According to the report, maintenance uses up to 80% of the funds allocated to the IT department. Hence, the company needs to standardize the operating system in order to have one functional operating system in all its departments. Investment towards software and hardware will also ensure that the company buys hardware that finds application in many areas. Having the appropriate hardware compatible with a number of operating system ensures cost effectiveness since some departments require sophisticated software for good results. Consequently, the company should purchase additional hardware to complement the existing hardware. Furthermore, adoption of a single operating system will ensure such as Microsoft Windows improve networking while at the same time reducing its cost.
Given any organization, data storage plays an effective role in decision-making and reflections of the past in any company. However, it is evident that MCDM way of storing data is manual leading to complain by the company’s COO. Manual mode of data storage is expensive and ineffective hence the need of a data warehouse within the organizations databases. Creation of a data warehouse will ensure that there is easy storage and retrieval of data. Moreover, there will be improvement in the customer service delivery through the increase of its efficiency. However, this alone cannot be useful without implementation of a new messaging system. Currently, the organization uses a number of messaging services without harmony the results of this is that communication with subsidiaries is poor. To improve communication and efficiency in the customer service delivery the company has to harmonize its messaging system. Using a standard system such as POP3 will curb the problem experienced by its subsidiaries because of outdated different systems.
The company currently lacks an appropriate website of transacting business successfully. Customers are not able to place orders online without necessarily having to visit its branches. Developing a website will add value to the company’s products since customers will find it faster and cost effective to transact business online. Those not aware about the company will get information of the organization from its website and evaluate the possibilities of engaging in business with the company. MCDM will as a result gain competitive advantage over all the other players in the industry, which is the desire of the company currently. The above name IT objectives of the company will need surveillance and to that effect there is need for a scorecard to monitor the progress each of the changes brings into the company. This will assist evaluate the effectiveness of the various projects undertaken by the organization.