Friday Ted Talks XIV

Becky Blanton gives a good but disturbing talk on how easy it was to become homeless, both in her mind and *almost* every one else's. The discussion under the video is almost just as interesting as people debate what is homelessness, why don't people think that she was homeless, and ultimately other people's mindset.
Right now, there is a large homeless population in Canada that are invisible. Except when they get on the news because the government is closing "the Tent City". What are effective measures that the Canadian and provincial governments could use to stop the problem?

The scary thing was she was employed and she decided to do this. What happens to people forced into this position without help from friends and family?

I Can't Get No BMI Satisfaction

from my seedling, but I try. Oh how I try...

First of all my disclaimer… I am not in the public health field, and nor will I ever be. However, I do (as most people should) have an interest in certain findings especially if they relate to me and my family. I have a “pre-teen” girl, so these findings are interesting as I am already aware that she is conscious of her body image. Sometimes she likes it and at other times she doesn’t. I just want to know if I’ll be paying for her therapy for years to come.

The study (soon to be) published regarding overweight children and their "happiness" regarding their self-image has interesting results. What was most surprising is that normal weight boys overall had a more negative image of themselves than girls did. However, girls’ satisfaction with themselves was reduced when their BMI increased.

Girls - Poor body satisfaction
Normal 5.7%
Overweight 10.4%
Obese 13.1 %

Boys - Poor body satisfaction
Normal 7.6%
Overweight 8.4%
Obese 8.1%

Now the reason why this is so interesting is that there have been previous studies that claim that poor body satisfaction can be indicative of their future health (namely eating disorders). The authors also claim that the satisfaction of body image can change over time. Are the children at risk for eating disorders always unhappy with their bodies or just sometimes? I can see that I have to read many more papers to see if someone answered that question. Also, these numbers seem relatively low. Only ~13% of obese girls feel that they have poor body satisfaction?! That is not a lot. Less than 10% of all of the boys in each of the 3 different groups felt they had poor body satisfaction. I am surprised because I expected that over 50% of the obese children would feel that they don't like their bodies from the girls and the boys. Very surprising. (And they took a relatively large sample size; over 2000 girls and boys each were analyzed).

Oh well... I will keep my little seedling active (with hockey, soccer, and dance) and save up some money for her therapy ('cause you know its gonna happen; if not this she will have to go because I kept her too active as a child and she missed lounging around and that ruined her for life). But she will keep questioning her image. I know I still do (and I’m relatively happy with my body… all the parts are in the right places, lol, oh my! how expectation lowers as you get older!)

And Open Access:

Austin, B.S., Haines, J., Veugelers, P.J. (2009). Body satisfaction and body weight: gender differences and sociodemographic determinants. BCM Public Health. (In Press) Accessed (August 28, 2009): http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/313/abstract

BioMed Central (2009, August 28). 10- And 11-year-olds Feel Pressure To Have A Perfect Body. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/08/090826191843.htm

Friday TED Talks XI

Snob, me???!!!

Listen/Watch/Read this fantastic TED Talk by Alain de Botton. Great speaker & very funny.

Also, what is true success by John Wooden.

Mistakes were made....

And dammit, they were made by me!

I just finished the book "Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts" by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson.

The book was a dissection of the reasons why and how people self-justify their actions (as the subtitle clearly states). I found the book very interesting, as well as thought provoking. But the whole time I was reading it, I'm thinking about large and small mistakes I have made and wondering if I have owned up to them....

A very telling point for me was how people would internalize good actions "I did that as I am (smart/good/nice, ect)", while rationalizing bad actions by externalizing the behavior "I did that because (they made me/they started it/they were bad)". And therefore, anyone (not just the evil people) could be made to do horrible things to another person. It is yet another exercise in critical thinking as I continue to make mistakes and justify bad things that I do (mmmm.... really I try not to, but it seems I am one of those people with a lead foot. I will try to change :) *promise!)

Tavris and Aronson also looked at instances in marriage, war, politics, and the american justice system for both self-justification of mistakes and admission of mistakes. Clarity and accountability are not the only things we should be looking for in politicians, but from every person we know.

And the next time you make a mistake remember:

1. apologise sincerely because you DID do it, and

2. don't excuse yourself... we all have choices and you made yours.