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One third of children in the U. S. is overweight or obese, and this number is continuing to rise. Children have fewer weight-related health and medical problems than adults. However, overweight children are at high risk of becoming overweight adolescents and adults, placing them at risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes later in life.

Obesity in children is often sad to see but it is becoming very prevalent in American society. In my opinion, a mixture of an extremely sedentary lifestyle as well as poor nutritional choices at school and at home contribute largely to this issue. Because children now have a multitude of indoor activities that don't necessarily get them on their feet and a lack of overall knowledge on what is a decent, balanced diet I'm not really surprised to see this issue skyrocketing.

Obesity is still rising especially because of the pandemic that we are going through which made families quarantine for a long time. It is very sad that the obesity rates only have increased.

Healthcare prices have always been too high. It should not cost as much as it does to treat yourself or get proper medical care. This article shows why healthcare is too high and ways we can combat this price during a pandemic.

This is very real in my life. I had to file bankruptcy after being hospitalized for a couple of weeks. It's absolutely traumatic financially to be ill, and that's not right.

This is a brief article that gives an overview how large the issue of sex trafficking of children is in the United States is. The United States accounts for near 50% of child pornography images sent from person to person.

I knew sex trafficking is pretty much everywhere to date, but I had no idea that the United States accounts for 50% of it. This article is so sad to read because of the reality of it. There definitely needs to be a solution to all of this, you would think that with today's technology and such that we could figure out how to stop this once and for all.

This is a topic that, despite its importance, remains unspoken, which is utterly tragic. It was shocking to read that the United States creates the majority of child pornography seeing as nothing is being done despite having so much power. Although this topic is difficult to discuss due to its ubiquitous and unsettling nature, it needs to be addressed and acted upon in order to be capable of abolishing it. As a country, the United States ought to openly discuss this topic and utilize its unity to end the exploitation of children.

This text covers how academic publishers sell highly expensive books without risking the chance of a weaker demand because these textbooks are mandatory. New additions are being released constantly to prevent students from buying used and cheaper books.

College courses require a text book and the suppliers have a hay day with it. They mark up the books because students have no choice but to buy them. It is a never ending income for them because they can update the info so often.

It is so bad, when the book is probably made for a few bucks and then turned around a marked up to 150 dollars. Good find.

Big pharma companies have taken advantage of everyday Americans in need of their daily support during the chaotic times we live in. Many of the drugs used each day to help patients fighting Covid-19 have drastically gone up in price since the first case appeared in america. With these prices changes many Americans may not be able to get the proper help needed to get better, and as such may extend the time needed for us to fight off the virus as a whole.

It is crazy to think that companies would prioritize profits over the help of the people. I understand the demand; however, it shouldn't be the only reason for the increase in price.

When I read this article I thought to myself wow this is insane but to actually think about it, why? why is it so important to profit from something everyone in this world needs

While the number of COVID 19 case continues to rise, Healthcare workers are succumbing to overwhelming pressure on their shoulders. Many hospitals, clinics, and labs are short-staffed with restricted resources at hand to properly treat patients who have the virus. Often times, this leads to non COVID 19 related issues to be pushed aside due to the conditions and priorities these facilities have enforced. They are experiencing stress, frustration, depression, loneliness, and many other concerns that could impact their performance on the front lines.

Im so grateful for these healthcare worker, I could not begin to imagine the stress they had to go though this past year.

It's amazing the obstacles these health care workers had to face because of the pandemic.

Hospital Billing procedures are so bizarre with their horrendous price variations. Identical procedure are being offered at a ridiculous price. Hospitals have raise their rates which is part of a negotiation with private health insurers and the government has been keeping it hushed.

A recent report released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation suggests that only about one-third of children in grade school meet expectations in cognitive ability by 3rd grade. Additionally, children from low-income families were much less likely to be on track in areas such as physical development, social/emotional growth, and school engagement. The report noted a distinct relation between family education and earnings. According to the data collected from families of children under the age of 8, half of the families who earned a higher income had a head of household with at least a 4-year college degree. In contrast, the head of household in the majority of low-income families had at best a high school diploma.

A recent report released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation suggests that only about one-third of children in grade school meet expectations in cognitive ability by 3rd grade. Additionally, children from low-income families were much less likely to be on track in areas such as physical development, social/emotional growth, and school engagement. The report noted a distinct relation between family education and earnings. According to the data collected from families of children under the age of 8, half of the families who earned a higher income had a head of household with at least a 4-year college degree. In contrast, the head of household in the majority of low-income families had at best a high school diploma.

This is such a shame, and I am sure this is very frustrating for both parents and teachers. I really enjoyed helping in my daughters' classes but did see firsthand students who were struggling. Funding for education is not where it should be so classes don't have aides and assistants to spend extra time working with kids who need additional help.

Many children are in foster care. There is a high volume of children who stay in foster care for a long period of time and sometimes "age out". Aging out is when the minor turns 18years of age and is still in foster care. The social justice issue is that these children have a higer chance of going to orison, human trafficking and pregnancy. We need to do something as a society to help these children achieve something in there life. There are so many children who still get abused in the foster system as well. What needs to be done to prevent this from happening? More home visits to foster homes, better screening, and maybe even just a all around better system.

Should kids be required to get vaccinations? This website talks about how there are now fewer kids getting vaccines because of a number of reasons. some of the reasons are that the parents are simply opting out because of fears or paranoia or just laziness. The article says that the reasons that parents use for kids to skip shots vary, some are related to religion. 

Hi all, I am a parent of three. All of my kids are current on all vaccines recommended by their PCP. I am a true believer. That being said I do think something could be changed for the vaccine requirements. I have spoken to many people about this in my area. I'm actually scared for the un-vaccinated kids so it always sparks curious conversations for me. The common denominator I found with everyone I have spoken to about not vaccinating their kids is, they don't want to vaccinate all at once, they want to spread it out. I feel it's a greater risk to wait or not get a child vaccinated period, but I'm wondering for those who are just not educated on the facts of vaccines or those who are afraid of all of them at once maybe they can have a different vaccine protocol. While it won't be what the CDC recommends initially, I feel that it would still be better than not vaccinating period.

I agree with my colleagues above, the ignorance about vaccines is becoming widespread. We are in an age of refined medical practices and innovation based on factual evidence and research. Parents in doubt should consider two words. (Herd Immunity) for those unfamiliar with its meaning I'll leave you with its definition - the resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination. "the level of vaccination needed to achieve herd immunity varies by disease but ranges from 83 to 94 percent" We all have a stake in this.

Abortions are generally accepted in Taiwan, where the procedure became legal in 1985. Women have had abortions for as long as they have had children. In fact, the oldest known medical text containing abortion techniques appeared in China over 4,700 years ago.

This article talks about how New York City's public middle schools and high schools are now required to take sex ed classes. This article talks about this new mandate and its implications and the effects that it might have. The article also provides reasons on why it was decided that sex ed should be a required class and its benefits. 

Sex ed should be a choice for kids to take in accordance to their parents, for myself when I was younger we had to have a signed paper from our parents giving us permission to take part in the sex ed class and for those parents who said no and wanted to teach there kid themselves went to another room. I see both sides to this article and its a very well informative piece.

I think a semester of sex ed would be great. When I was in school it was just a 55 minute lecture with a couple of videos. I understand why some people may be upset with this, however, those people must understand that not every child has an involved parent who are capable or willing to educate their children. I think safe sex is integral for our children to learn. I believe it could help lower the stats of sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancies.

Obesity has been seen as a behavioral disorder but new studies show the foods contents, such as high fat and sugar, are what cause a person to overeat. Researcher Paul Kenny uses brain analysis on mice to prove his theory.

This article is so interesting and eye-opening. This kind of makes you wonder even if we try to stop eating the junk food and we know it's bad for us, we have a hard time stopping.

This article discusses how corrupt the healthcare in America is compared to other countries. It shares why they make the healthcare expensive & who it ultimately benefiting from it, being the pharmaceutical industry & the rich. Also shares how even though your work may pay for you healthcare, you're still the one getting gyped.

America's healthcare is the most expensive amongst industrialized nations. But higher costs aren't leading to a healthier population or longer life expectancy. The high cost of healthcare negatively affects the American economy in many ways.

I found this article to be very fascinating indeed. I hope that one day we will have a health care system that is excess-able to all Americans. Hopefully a solution will be properly found during our life time.

This article talks about how Sex Ed in the United States continues to lag behind other industrialized nations. There's a lack of comprehensive sex education, with individual states picking and choosing what schools are allowed to teach and how teachers can respond to questions from students.

I couldn't agree more with the notion that our country's sex education is failing the youth of America. It has gotten better over the years due to the education through the internet. But in many southern states, there is still a huge impact on teen pregnancies.

It's really heartbreaking to me how true this is. I was disgusted but also grateful for my sexual education in school. It was graphic and hard to swallow, but important. I hope that we can be less immature as a society about this and rise up to protect and inform our youth.

This article talks about women's rights across the world. The article lists countries who rank the highest and countries who rank the lowest. The United States surprisingly falls lower than expected. No country is ranked a perfect 100% but there are countries who come close, USA not being one of them.

Such a shame from a country that widely considers itself advocates for equal rights. There are many of us that recognize this same concept, that being gender inequalities and pay gaps still exist, and advocate for that to be abolished. With the recent advances in how sensitive our society is regarding social issues, how long is this really going to take? One would think that we, as a culture of the U.S., would have already arrived to a point of true gender equality.

This is a very interesting article. I knew there is a significant pay gap within the U.S. and was honestly surprised to see it so high up. As someone else said, it certainly is a shame that we are so low yet consider the US to be one of the most progressive countries with social issues.

America is the land where all your hopes and dreams can come true. Anyone with a drive to learn more should have an equal and fair opportunity to attend college. We could only fantasize about free college education. Student debt is expected to rise from $35,000 to $45,000 in the next generation and will only continue to go up. A college degree is worth so much more than a college degree. A good education is valuable. Although the price may be high, you will be rewarded by help for the future. Joseph, M. (2013) It's too expensive to go to college anymore. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-joseph/its-too-expensive-to-go-t_b_3935231.html (Accessed: 12 September 2016). In-text citations: (Joseph, 2013)

Children with special needs or a disability have the right to an education and to go to school. In this article, it goes over that in New Orleans, families with children that have a disability are facing a huge problem. Schools are rejecting these students, which is discrimination. The schools that they are sending the children to aren't equipped to teach most of these children, either.

I know in Peoria, AZ a lot of high schools such as Liberty and Sunrise Mountain have special education classrooms for students with disabilities so that they are able to learn at their own pace while still taking in useful information and progressing throughout their years of schooling. I feel as if every school should have programs for these students. Just because they don't learn at the same pace as others, does not mean they should not be able to get an education.

This website gives lots of useful information regarding what a genetically modified organism is and why they are so bad. This site also has lists of high-risk GMO crops and what this means to our agriculture. I also found great ways to find non-gmo products and how to take action against GMOs.

Thirty years after San Antonio v. Rodriguez and 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, we still remain in the same position. Parents such as Tanya Mcdowell and Kelley Williams-Bolar want to send their children to a better school so they feel they need to break the law and lie about their kid's registration and they become convicted felons. Even though the matter of blacks v. whites is becoming better, the issue of rich v. poor has reached high levels.