Obesity+in+Generation+Y-+The+(Ir)Rationalities+of+Modern+Technology

Name: Hoong, Jian Ming Student Number: n7696353 Tutor: Abbey Diaz

“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.” (Apple Inc., 2011).
 * Artefact **

 These viral tributes, together with many more have surfaced online since the passing of Steve Jobs, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs, who died fighting pancreatic cancer (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2011), is showered with extraordinary posthumous encomiums for his contributions to technology and is labelled a genius and described as the ‘greatest of his times’ (Apple Inc., 2011). It is a manifestation of how technology have became such important part of our lives that the passing of a ‘technological genius’ have caused an outpouring of condolences from around the world.

**Public Health Issue **  Technological advancement promotes sedentary lifestyle and increases caloric intake, which consequently leads to overweight and obesity in Generation Y (Huffman & Rizov, 2007) . There is an increase in prevalence of obesity amongst Generation Y in Australia and this might have an impact on the allocation of healthcare resources in future and the national health budget (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2011). According to Access Economics’ report to Diabetes Australia (2008), the total cost of obesity in Australia in 2008 was estimated as $58.2 billion. In this article, I would like to emphasize how advancement of modern technologies, coupled with the characteristics of Generation Y influence the society we live in and becomes the major driving force of the increased obesity rates amongst Generation Y (Feudtner, 2011).

**Literature Review **  Figure 1 below compares the Body Mass Index (BMI) of Australians in the National Nutrition Survey 1995 and the National Health Survey 2007-08 (ABS, 2011). We can clearly see from the data above that the biggest change in BMI over the years among the age groups are the Y Generation, who are demographically defined as those born in the time period of 1980 to 1994 (Beard & McCrindle, 2010). It is clear that this generation is facing an obesity epidemic and there is a need to review the societal determinants that are causing this public health issue.

**Figure 1: Proportion of Overweight, by selected age cohort **  Overweight and Obesity is defined by the World Health Organisation (2011) as a person with BMI exceeding 25 and 30 or more respectively and they are main risk factors for certain chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Obesity is caused by overconsumption of energy and in simple terms, excess caloric intake coupled by low physical activity levels causes positive energy balance which results in obesity (Tremblay & Chaput, 2008). In the following paragraphs, I will conduct a literature review to look into how technology affects obesity rates, why is Generation Y in particular, is affected by it, review public health intervention programs aimed at reducing this obesity epidemic and strategies for moving forward to address this public health issue.  According to Tremblay and Chaput (2008) and Shortt (2004), a significant modality of human activity in a context of economic competitiveness and globalization is that physical work is increasingly being replaced by knowledge-based work and the using of computers is a manifestation of such trends. A study by the Tremblay and Chaput (2008) on university students in Canada suggest that this type of work have insignificant difference in energy expenditure when compared to resting state and conversely also resulted in increased energy intake by their subjects, leading to a positive energy balance. The study concludes that the increased use of computers directly increases energy balance.  Television screen time has also increase amongst Generation Y. There are several researches that associates increased television screen time to increased food consumption (Atherson & Mecalf, 2005; Cleland, Schmidst, Dwyer & Venn, 2008; Matheson, Killen, Wang, Vrady & Robinsons, 2004) and this is a risk factor for obesity (Kouris-Blazos, 2011). Adolescents now spent approximately 230 minutes per day in sedentary screen time (Olds, Maher, Ridley & Kittel, 2010) and with exposure to a plethora of advertisements; it is not difficult for food choices to be influenced by them. A review of journal articles by Coon and Tucker (2002) also revealed that there is overwhelming evidences that suggest television advertisements influence food choices and that as most of these advertisements are promoting unhealthy food, which consequently have adverse effects on the energy intake of viewers. These lifestyle factors seem to particularly affect Generation Y more than the previous generations and we will explore the reasons in the following paragraphs.  To establish the link between obesity in Generation Y and technological advancement, we also need to evaluate relevant researches that tell us more about the intrinsic psyche and philosophy of Generation Y and how do they differ from the previous generations. Generation Y are a socially constructed group of generation shaped by a particular span of time (events, trends and developments). Many researchers have mentioned that Generation Y grew up in a ubiquitous world of technology where they are exposed to advancing technologies their entire lives (Beard & McCrindle, 2010; Page & Mapstone, 2010; Prensky, 2001; and Speer, 2007). They live in an age of technological breakthrough and hence technology has become substantially more influential than before. Therefore, ‘Digital Natives’ aptly describes this group of people’s assumed deep exposure, experience, and immersion with digital technology. It is because of this characteristic that sets Generation Y and the other generation differently in behavioural and psychological terms (Page & Mapstone, 2010). Selwyn, Gorard, Furlong and Madden (2003) and Olson, O’Brien, Rogers and Charness (2011) cross-sectional researches on computer usage also found that usage is lower among older adults when compared to younger adults. The lack of knowledge and skills is the major reason for this trend and this can be attributed to the era that they grew up in (Selwyn et al., 2003). Therefore, there are fundamental differences in technological grasp amongst generations and suggests that technology leads to determinate outcomes.  Furthermore, Beard and McCrindle’s (2010) research also discusses the emotionalism of Generation Y; that is the characteristic that when making purchases, Generation Y tend to be led on by their feelings rather than only by rationalism. The authors give an example which is the Sprite advertisement featuring the tagline ‘Image is nothing – thirst is everything’. These advertisements are usually counterlogical and without objective standards, but they represent a postmodern type of advertisement that targets the emotionalism of Generation Y. The success of this advertisement is a testament to this characteristic that is so unique to Generation Y (Beard & McCrindle, 2010).  Despite the negativities of rising obesity rates associated with technological advancements, there are also several public health intervention programs introduced by the Australian government that take advantage of technology to promote healthy living and curb the obesity epidemic amongst Generation Y. A popular example will be the ‘Swap It’ campaign. It aims to encourage Australians to make small practical lifestyle changes to maintain health (Department of Health and Ageing [DHA], 2011). This campaign exploits the technological savvy characteristic of Generation Y to promote its message by screening it on television and even created an iPhone app that is both informative and interactive (DHA, 2011). Obviously, the Australian government is trying to reach out to these digital natives, evidently by their use of a relatively new form of digital media (the iPhone app) and I would suggest that this is the way forward to address the issue of obesity. Public health intervention programs need to espouse both advancement in technology and promoting healthy lifestyles. It is axiomatic that technological advancements have improved our lives, but the effects of technological advancement on obesity rates cannot be overlooked due to the potential ramifications (Huffman & Rizov, 2007). While we should not ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’ or intrinsically rejecting the essential along with the inessential, intervention programs designed to address the public health issue of obesity amongst Generation Y should focus on intersecting advancement in technology and behavioural changes towards a healthier lifestyle.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">McDonaldization of Society ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> A social theory that can explain this obesity phenomenon the society is facing is the theory of McDonaldization. According to Ritzer (2010), the McDonaldization of society is a study of the Weberian sociology that described the rationalization of contemporary society. It analyses the degree in which modern institutions are organized around rational principles such as efficiency and calculability and takes the fast-food restaurant as an exemplar of a rationalized organization. Ritzer (2010) further approached this notion by suggesting that McDonaldization is a master process, but it is periodically confounded or undermined by the “irrationalities of rationality”; and provides a myriad of examples of these irrationalities: among them include the negative effects on the environment, inefficiencies associated with traffic congestions, false friendliness, dehumanization and health problems. These irrationalities are not an alternative to rationalization; they are merely unintended consequences of the McDonaldization of society (Ritzer, 2010).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Advancement of technology fundamentally entails a search for universal solutions to particular problems and embraces objectivity and impartiality in the process (Barber, 2010). To add context to the artefact, I would illustrate using the following video on how technological advancement is intrinsically a rational process of society. media type="youtube" key="mpcvvHh98E8" height="251" width="448" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> According to the Weckler (2011), Apple gadgets have changed the world we live in and the way we looked at the world. The iPhones to the iPads that were invented serves to increase convenience in our lives, so much so that it is conceived by some as a revolutionary, if not utopian, development of the technological era. The phone have become an integrated device that interacts with us and even allows us to use our voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more (Apple Inc., 2011). The phone has become a personal assistance that increases man’s efficiency and automates many processes. In the health context, it even allows you to link your iPhone to a specialised device to measure your own blood pressure and ‘share’ it with a health professional for professional advice (iHealth, 2011). This saves time and effort as being efficient is a key principle of a rational process. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> Similarly, to apply it to our findings from the literature review, the invention of colour television, internet and faster computers were processes thought to be under the framework of rationalization, however, there are unintended consequences (or irrationalities) of these processes and it is this McDonaldization of technologies that can lead to obesity amongst Generation Y. The rationality of efficient entertainment and labour brings about an irrationality of increased caloric intake and lowered physical activity levels, which consequently leads to obesity amongst Generation Y; and this irrationality is catalysed by the technological dependence and emotionalism characteristics of Generation Y. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> Awareness of how technological advancement could result in increased obesity rates is important (Huffman & Rizov, 2007). Figure 2 below depicts the obesity rate of countries around the world (International Obesity Task Force [IOSA], 2011). We can see that there is a relationship between obesity rates and how technologically advanced a country is. The more advanced the country is, the higher the obesity rates. Although there might be some outliers, generally, the previous statement is true. Therefore, it is important that public health experts are aware of the paradigm and behavioural shift that comes together with technological advancement because eventually a developing country will progress and there is a need to be acquainted with the consequences of it (Huffman & Rizov, 2007). We can gradually notice this effect as there are also an increasing prevalence of obesity in transitional economies; which are economies that are expanding rapidly (Huffman & Rizov, 2007).

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Figure 2: Percentage of adults with obesity **

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Analysis of Artefact and Own Learning Reflections **

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> The passing of Steve Jobs signifies a milestone in the modern technological era as can be derived from the level of love and respect shown to him. While anyone is entitled to an obituary, what makes this man so great that he deserves such stupendous accolades from around the world? The answer might be simple: He might not have done what Einstein has done in science, or Plato has done in philosophy, but we recognize Steve for the fact that he revolutionized our mobile phone technology; his ingenuity and talent to integrate daily necessities into a phone. It simply shows that Generation Y is becoming slaves to technology. The rational being and unique characteristics in us, particularly Generation Y is always striving for transcendental technologies which may lead to irrational consequences. Therefore, these tributes clearly affirm our dependence and insatiable appetite for technological advancements and the public health issues underpinning these technological advancements. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> Upon reflection, this assessment allows me to see the connection between certain events happening in the world and the potential public health issues that underpin them. It highlighted the importance of identifying specific risk factors and address issues in its fundamental roots. In this instance of obesity amongst Generation Y, their technological natives’ and emotionalism characteristics act as a catalyst that allows advancement in technology to influence them to a great extent. While technological advancements and good lifestyle behaviours seem to be incompatible endeavours, it is impossible to reject any one of them. As public health experts, there is a need to embrace a warm politics of coalition and seek to balance both in order to achieve a favourable outcome in the population. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Finally, I would like to sign off with two cartoons that aptly describe our society’s interaction with technology:



**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">References ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Access Economics Pty Limited. (2008). //The growing cost of obesity in 2008: Three years on.// Retrieved from Diabetes Australia website http://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/PageFiles/7830/FULLREPORTGrowingCostOfObesity2008.pdf

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Apple Inc. (2011). iPhone. Retrieved 23 October, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/iphone/

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Apple Inc. (2011). Remembering Steve. Retrieved 23 October, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Apple Inc. (2011). Steve Jobs: 1955-2011. Retrieved 20 October, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Atherson, M.J., & Mecalf, J. (2005). Television watching and risk of obesity in american adolescents. //American Journal of Health Education, 36//(1), 2-7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/212710152/fulltextPDF/132A9E23B7B1074D39/1?accountid=13380

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2011). Visionary Steve Jobs succumbs to cancer. Retrieved 23 October, 2011 from http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3334178.htm

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). //Overweight and Obesity in Adults in Australia: A Snapshot, 2007–08.// Retrieved from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/73E036F555CE4C11CA25789C0023DAF8?opendocument

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing. (2011). //'Swap it Don't Stop it'.// Retrieved from Department of Health and Ageing website http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/mr-yr11-nr-nr042.htm

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing. (2011). //Swap it iPhone app.// Retrieved from Department of Health and Ageing website http://swapit.gov.au/start-swapping/swap-it-iphone-app

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Barber, B.R. (2010). Jihad vs. McWorld. In Ritzer, G. (Eds.), //McDonaldization: The Reader// (pp. 281-288). Thousands Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Beard, M., & McCrindle, M. (2010). Seriously cool: Marketing and communicating with diverse generations. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from http://www.mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/Marketing-Communicating-with-Diverse-Generations.pdf

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Cleland, V.J., Schmidst, M.D., Dwyer, T., & Venn, A.J. (2008). Television viewing and abdominal obesity in young adults: Is the association mediated by food and beverage consumption during viewing time or reduced leisure-time physical activity? //The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87//(5), 1148-1155. Retrieved from http://www.ajcn.org/content/87/5/1148.full.pdf+html

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Feudtner, C. (2011). Diabetes: the sweet irony of modern technology. //Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89//(2), 90-91. doi:10.2471/BLT.11.040211

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Huffman, S.K., & Rizov, M. (2007). Determinants of obesity in transition economies: The case of Russia. //Economics and Human Biology, 5//(3), 379-391. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2007.07.001

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">iHealthTM. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.ihealth99.com/ihealth/bp3.html

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">International Obesity Task Force. (2011). Obesity prevalence worldwide. Retrieved 23 October, 2011 from http://www.iaso.org/iotf/obesity/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Koon, K.A., & Tucker, K.L. (2002). Television and children's consumption patterns. A review of the literature. //Minerva Pediatr, 54//(5), 423-436. doi: 10.1542/peds.107.1.e7

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Kouris-Blazos, A. (2011). Overweight and obesity. In Wahlqvist, M.L. (Eds.), //Food & Nutrition: Food and Health System in Australia and New Zealand// (pp. 521). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Matheson, D.M., Killen, J.D., Wang, Y., Vrady, A., & Robinsons, T.N. (2004). Children’s food consumption during television viewing. //The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 79//(6), 1088-1094. Retrieved from http://www.ajcn.org/content/79/6/1088.full.pdf+html

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Olds, T.S., Maher, C.A., Ridley, K., & Kittel, D.M. (2010). Descriptive epidemiology of screen and non-screen sedentary time in adolescents: A cross sectional study. //International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7//(92), 1-9. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-7-92

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Olson, K.E., O’Brien, M.A., Rogers, W.A., & Charness, N. (2011). Diffusion of technology: Frequency of use for younger and older adults//. Ageing International, 36//(1), 123-145. doi: 10.1007/s12126-010-9077-9

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<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Ritzer,G. (2010). An introduction to McDonaldization. In Ritzer, G. (Eds.), //McDonaldization: The Reader// (pp. 3-24). Thousands Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

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//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reader //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">(pp. 26-31). Thousands Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Selwyn,N., Gorard, S., Furlong, J., & Madden, L. (2003). Older adults' use of information and communications technology in everyday life. //Ageing and Society, 5//(23), 561-582. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X03001302

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<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Speer, J. (2007). Serving the 'digital natives'. //Community College Journal, 77//(5), 50-54. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/207584398/fulltextPDF/132A67AB86B24D2EB9E/1?accountid=13380

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<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Tremblay, A., & Chaput, J. (2008). About unsuspected potential determinants of obesity. //Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism////, 33//(4), 791-796. doi:10.1139/H08-038

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Weckler, A. (2011, October 9). Nine Apple products that changed the world. //The Sunday Business Post.// Retrieved from http://www.sbpost.ie <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">World Health Organisation. (2011) Obesity. Retrieved 23 October, 2011 from http://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Learning Engagement and Reflection Task **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Page: Lost in Translation- Technological Takeover of Generation Y **

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Firstly, great artefact! It aptly describes Generation Y’s interaction with technology and reflects the paradigm shift from the previous generations and the intrinsic characteristics of Generation Y. You have mentioned how this increased dependence and drive for transcendental technologies have affected the physical and mental health of Generation Y and I could not have agreed more. I find your example of Reach Out and Beyond Blue very valid and appropriate in showing that the Australian government is trying out new ways to reach out to the technologically savvy Generation Y. In fact, another popular campaign- Swap It! even have an iPhone app to go along with it. However I disagree that older members are disadvantaged because there are still many other channels that public health officers have used and it could have impacted them in many ways. I thought that it is a positive move by the government in trying out these new ways and it manifested the contemporary and ever-changing characteristics of public health issues. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Page: Can Generation Y Keep Up With Ever-changing Technology? ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">I like how your artefact depicts an exponential growth of technology and the world. It is certainly a very informative and interesting video. I think you made a valid point in the fact that technology not only affects our physical health and behaviours, but it also misinform us and consequently affects of judgements, which will then lead to further issues. I feel that this video is an epitome of the public health issues that we are facing in society and that these issues are also changing with the times and we have to keep up to these growth when coming up with intervention programs. I thought that although you seem to feel that technology and life are incompatible endeavours, it is still important to find ways to balance both as technology can still be a useful tool in the health context.