Friday, October 5, 2007

Cultural influences on fitness

How has the introduction and proliferation of:
health/fitness clubs, recreation centers, beauty salons, tanning businesses, etc.
as well as
television, video games, internet, etc. impacted our activity levels over the last 50 years? Explain your answer...

What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to spend in front of some type of screen (tv and/or computer) in a week?
(How many hours per week?)

DUE 10/12

15 comments:

mel said...

i think that media and culture have greatly impacted our societies aditude towards health and fitness. tho i do not think that peoples major reason for exercising is to live longer and be healthier but i think it is more to be atractive in the eyes of our culture. tho because of the culture pressure i think that more people eat healthier and exercise more often


i think that an acceptable amount of time infront of a screen would be like ...10 hrs maybe more. tho i know that when im allowed to use my comp im on longer then that.

Janette said...

All that stuff has impacted our culture in good and bad ways. We are definitely less active than the people 50 years ago. We tend be pulled into the electronics more so now because there is more of them. Than other people are concerned about how they look not how healthy they are.
I think it is ok to spend time in front of the tv every day as long as you also do allot of exercise during the day. I would say 14 hours.

Chris Maloney said...

Over the last fifty years almost everything we do has chaged. In a scene fifty years ago people would most likely be viewed in a living room by a fire talking or eating in their dining room every night. Now instead of the fire its the television. Is this bad? I don't think so as long as a it is balanced with other daily activities and used in proper moderation. As far as our activity level I don't think it has impacted a regular person too much because when people now go online or watch tv the people back then were probably playing chess or sitting on the deck talking with neighbors. Although there are more people who have become obsessed with the internet and tv and focus their lives around a television show instead of something profitable. I think between the internet and television there should not be more than three hours of combined use per day (which is 15 hours a business week). Of course there are exceptions like the baseball playoffs and football and school research project where i think this rule can definately be bended. ;)

Chris Maloney said...

oh and i forgot to say that fitness clubs solely made for staying healthy are very good. They make working out easily accessible and make staying healthy a little bit easier. tanning salons are really bad because people know they will get skin cancer faster yet they go bakc every time just to get a little darker for a week. ;)

Ivy.Jung said...

50 Years ago, people were more active because they had to work outside rather than inside, sitting down everyday. These days, we can buy food, clothes and other stuff on the internet and this would be impossible about 50 years ago. We are definitely less active these days.

I think 10 hours of watching Tv would be acceptable.

Nate said...

People use the beauty salons, health/ fitness clubs, reaction centers and gyms to stay fit. Which is what they are made for and I think that is a good resource to use to stay fit. The media has a good sized impact on the idea of fitness, the fact that people see other people on tv and in movies and think if I could be the muscluar or that skinny then they would be happy.

Adrienne said...

I think that the start of beauty salons and the media have definitely made people want to excercise... but not because they want to be healthy. It's about looking good.

I think now with the mass amount of kids (and adults) playing video games and watching tv, that people are not using their imaginations and using exercise to have fun. It's almost like a chore. A lot of people now don't find exercising fun...they do it because they don't want to be overweight.

I think an acceptable amount is not necessarily a set amount everyday. It should a fun thing to do once in a while. Like watching a movie with your friends or family. I think most people, when they're bored, go straight to the tv or computer. Try something creative or new. Bake something ethnic; read a book! Garden! Try discovering something new to enjoy! You never know what you're going to love if you don't try it!

Nate said...

Ithink that you should spend no more then 5 hours a day on any screen no matter what. Because if you spend to much time at one screen then you become attached to it and cant help but keep be at the screen.

Nate said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
yOos said...

i think that the health and fitness clubs make it easier to work out for some people. I also think that for the younger generations computer and video games have had a huge impact on today's fitness. Kids are spending more time watching tv and playing video games then they were 50 years ago. Also many young people are overweight nowadays.

I think you should watch tv no more then 5 hours a day. You could be using that time to excersise or do something healthier

cory said...

i think that the way that the times have changed has made the way we go to different places to look better alot different because now that its the thing to do more and more people want to do it and they go to those places more.

i think that people should not be able to sit in front of a screen for more than 10 hours a week i dont and if i can make it through that then any one can.

tee tee said...

You can see it everyday, how its impacted our culture. More than 50% of america is over weight. I read somewhere that by 2020 75% of americans will suffer from obesity.
People would much rather sit in front of a screen all day instead of working out.

In a week i think that 9-11 hours is an acceptable amount a week. Maximum.

minjae.roh said...

there are many different culture and each one of them has different excercise way. we get information aboput other culture's activities from TV,radio,computer,and newspaper etc.

Michelle said...

I think that as Americans we have let the media dictate how we exercise.I think people don't exercise now for the benefits of exercising they just do it to look good.
I think that a hour and a half a day is plenty TV, unless you're watching a really good movie or something.

James said...

I think media has had a pretty negative effect on our culture. Kids sit around watching tv and playing video games and they never go outside and play. And parents are constantly trying to make themselves look like super models because the media tells them that that's the only way they'll be accepted. Health and fitness clubs can be great ways of staying fit, but unfortunately it seems like most people care about looks, not health.

I think two hours in front of the tv or computer per week is acceptable, unless you have homework to be done on the computer.