CONTENTS
AUGUST 2012
Essay: Not an easy road to improve eating habit
References in Dutch
References in English
About the structure
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PHOTOGRAPHY, PRODUCTION, TEXT, TRANSLATION AND EDITING NORIKO ISHIBASHI
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ow, I went through some information. The thing which is common to most of the data I found is that Dutch people have on average become heavier this past decade, and this applies to children and toddlers as well. The people with overweight have relatively higher risks of developing gallstones, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease (CAD), sleep apnea, cerebral stroke, and many more, and they are consequently likely to become short-lived. Then what could be done for it?
Behandelcentrum Heideheuvel in Hilversum is the only treatment centre for children with obesity in the Netherlands. At this centre, not only children but also their parents are given instructions in how to eat and to improve their lifestyle. Children stay here during the weekdays and live together. They learn many things regarding health issues. During the weekends, they go back to their parents’ place and spend some time together with their family. Apart from the children who are obese due to the genetic reasons, most of the children with overweight are losing health because of the everyday habit with their lifestyle. And in many of the cases, the eating habit of the parents is directly responsible for that of the children’s. Therefore, it is equally important that parents also consider their own way of eating and their lifestyle.
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| A Dutch dish called Zuurkoolschotel |
There are magazines talking about diet and salubrious food. There are TV programmes introducing light healthy dishes. We can nowadays get lords of information from everywhere. Then, why are there still so many people struggling with diet? The causes of non-genetic overweight could well be coming from stress, the eating habit from the childhood, and insufficient exercise. Now, I want to look at each of these causes one by one.
Stress could be induced from working environment, problems with family, health issues, relationships, and/or bullying at school. When your brain detects a stress signal it secretes neurotransmitters, accordingly adrenocorticotrophic hormones (ACTH) is released from the anterior pituitary gland. These trigger a cascade of subsequent hormone secretions. As a result the blood-sugar level is increased, hence the brain and the muscles become alert. And also, the heart starts beating faster, so the blood pressure rises. These responses are simply for the body to make reactions against the stress.
Adrenocorticotrophic hormones are also known for its effect of weakening the activity of lymphocytes and other cells, and this reduces the immunity level. Inadequate immune strength can be a cause of a number of disease and health related problems. Occurrence of cancer cells, allergy, tumours, illnesses of gums, hay fever, mouth ulcers, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, leukaemia by dysfunction of lymphocytes, and delay of healing from injuries and bone fracture are some of the possibilities caused by the weakened immunity. Thus, stress can be a cause of not only overweight but also of grave damage to health.
The relation between ‘stress and overeating’, ‘stress and immunity’, and ‘stress and psychology’ are studies still with many things not yet uncovered, and the research is underway. At any rate, the most important thing here is to control the stress and to seek your own happiness in the everyday life. To be objective and observant to find out the root of the problem which is giving you the stress, to work on the issue, and to seek a niche where you can be happily yourself are possibly more important than to merely keep buying low-fat products. And this way, I believe, leads to a fundamental treatment of overweight.
The eating habit and whether you like doing sports are basically determined by the life style you had in your childhood. A person who is not keen on exercise may begin working on it since it is thought to be necessary. However, most of the people cannot succeed and instead give up on it in the middle. Would a Dutch person who has been enjoying gravy- or butter-rich dishes ever since he/she was little be able to halve the number of dinner with those dishes and be able to replace them by something lighter?
If you are not interested in doing exercise, to my opinion, it is perfectly fine. If you like gravy- or butter-rich dishes, that is just the way you are. You do not have to do the things you finds difficult to continue. On the contrary, you shall eat as much as you want. However, there is one thing I like to point out. That is to eat not with care about losing weight but to eat with joy.
Mexican, Indian, Thai, Italian, Vietnamese, Moroccan ...…there must be a number of dishes you may find, ”Wow, this is delicious”. In order to find those favourites of yours, go ahead and taste them. You can try them at your holiday destination or in a restaurant in your local area. Discard the stereotyped image you may have about the new sorts of food. Just have a go at and explore the unknown tastes of world cuisine and they may fascinate you. Among those dishes you will find that in fact many of them are simple, light, easy to prepare, and nutrient-rich. Moreover, you will learn that most of the ingredients for them can in fact be found in local supermarkets in the Netherlands, and they are reasonably cheap. Even when you cannot find the ingredients, you will be amazed to know how many of those dishes can actually be prepared with local products as replacements. When you discover more of such dishes, it may happen that your daily eating style may be transformed unnoticeably to a lighter and healthier one from that of heavy meals.
Photography, Production, Text, Translation and Editing Noriko Ishibashi
References in Dutch
- Centrum voor Obesitas Nederland: mcl kliniek voor gezond gewicht, Tel:058 286 6969 Bezoekadres: Henri Dunantweg 2, 8934 AD Leeuwarden
- RNN Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, ‘Obesitas is een zwaar probleem’, 27 oktober 2009, http://www.rnw.nl/nederlands/video/obesitas-een-zwaar-probleem
- Behandelcentrum Heideheuvel. Treatment Heideheuvel, Soestdijkerstraatweg 129, 1213 VX Hilversum. Telf. 035-6881 411
- Obesitas en overgewicht: oorzaken, gevolgen en behandeling. Geschreven door Pierre M J Zelissen. Uitgever: Spreekuur Thuis
- Rijksoverheid, Rijksbegroting, Nota Overgewicht http://www.rijksbegroting.nl/algemeen/gerefereerd/1/2/9/kst129160.html
- ‘Dikke baby’s zijn niet schattig’, Gepubliceerd op 25 januari 2012 in Leeuwarder Courant, www.lc.nl
- 6,5 miljoen Nederlanders te zwaar, Gepubliceerd op 03 juli 2012 in Leeuwarder Courant, www.lc.nl
- ‘Tsunami van obesitas overspoelt wereld’ Gepubliceerd op 04 februari 2011 in Leeuwarder Courant, www.lc.nl
- WebMD Better information Better health. Weight loss & diet plans. Obesity – Health Risks of Obesity. http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-health-risks-of-obesity
- Stress and Immune-Based Diseases, An Issue of Immunology and Allergy Clinics, Written by Gailen Marshall, Published in December-2010, ISBN 13: 978-1-4557-0460-6
- Stress Affects the Balance of Bacteria in the Gut and Immune Response, Published on 21 March 2011 in journal, Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity
The articles are written in Japanese, Dutch, and English. The English and Dutch articles are translations of selected passages from the Japanese article, and they are abridged and not translated word by word.
