THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH Good Day Miss Hunter and panel of judges. Nutrition is not the availability of food; rather ,it is the intricate mixture food, health, and care that an individual receives. Fast/Junk food is food that does not form part of a well-balanced diet, especially highly processed, high-fat snack items eaten in place of or in addition to regular meals. In Jamaica there is a growing problem of youth developing lifestyle diseases .This is in the wake of a dietary change from more traditional foods to fast food. As such, it forms the basis of my topic: From Fast food to the pharmacy; is there a direct link between fast food consumption and lifestyle diseases among Jamaica’s youth? My topic choice stems from the fact that I am a part of Jamaica’s youth population and as an aspiring Nutritionist I am interested in remedying the situation among the nation’s youth. To capture the full essence of this topic I got first hand reports from three sources. The first source was Dr.Heather Little-White, who upon contact agreed to meet with me for interview. My second source was a questionnaire geared towards the vendors of the St.Ann’s Bay market. My third and final source was an article from the Jamaica Daily Gleaner. The interview with Dr.Heather Little-White was face to face and took place in her office. The arranged time for the interview was four o’clock and I had arrived early at ten minutes to the hour. In reality, it was quite some time before I had my audience with Dr. Little-White. At fifteen minutes past five I was beckoned in. As I had already conducted a preliminary background check, my questions skipped biographic details. I had nine predefined questions, all of which were open ended. The predefined questions were grouped under two simple headings, problem definition and possible solutions. Deciding if there was indeed a link between fast food consumption and the rise in lifestyle diseases among the nation’s youth and giving ideas about both long and short term methods of rectifying the situation. The questions were grouped like this in order to ensure smooth communication and lower the risks of leaving out an important aspect. However, as the interview progressed, other questions were thrown into the mix, including a few close-ended questions. The questionnaire was geared towards the food vendors in the St.Ann’s Bay market. The questionnaire was issued on a Monday afternoon as the atmosphere would have been more subdued than on the general market day, Saturday. The questionnaire was conducted face to face Amanda Davis 12B
Ms.Hunter
THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH and consisted of 2 close ended and 5 open-ended questions, seven in total. Questions one and two was biographic in nature.Questions three to six dealt with their customers and sales. The final question targeted their own views on why Jamaica’s youth are getting “old peoples” diseases more frequently. The third and final source was an article entitled “The new face of lifestyle diseases”, by Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, in the Flair section of the Daily Gleaner. The purpose for the article being published was to enlighten the public on the fact that in the past, diabetes, one of the many lifestyle diseases, was considered an old person's disease, but in recent times, this label has changed and more young people are being diagnosed with the disease.
Finding information relative to the specifics of my research proved most challenging. Attempts at garnering statistical data from the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) proved futile as they had no data on my topic. This brought me to consider issuing a questionnaire to the vendor’s of St.Ann’s Bay market. Formulating questions for this questionnaire was thought provoking, as I had to write questions bearing in mind the varying levels of formal education people in this profession may have had, and the amount of time they may have to complete the questionnaire as their job can be very demanding. It was relatively easy to contact Dr.Heather Little-White and the archive webpage on the Jamaica Gleaner website made it easier to find an article pertaining to my topic.
In a summary of the interview with Dr. Heather Little-White, the following information was gained.Dr.Little-White agreed with my definition of fast food. She noted that there has been a change in diet from ground foods to a more westernized diet. The nutritionist thought that there was not only a direct link between fast food and the increase in lifestyle diseases among the nation’s youth but it was a major contributing factor. How can the problem be remedied? Dr.Little-White thinks the government should play a more active role in nutrition education Also, she suggested that people once again ate what they grew, and make healthy and more exciting dishes to appeal to the youth. A summarized version of the information gathered from the market questionnaire is as follows. The majority of the participants, 70% were over 45, 25% were between the ages 36-45 and the remaining 5% were between the ages 25-35.The entire sample recalled that in their Amanda Davis 12B
Ms.Hunter
THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH childhood years they ate mostly ground provisions and on Sundays rice and peas and chicken/pork/fish.Ninety percent of them continued to eat this way as the years progressed. In years gone by, all the vendors agreed that they had more customers frequenting their stall. Since the new KFC and Burger King outlets have opened 98% of the vendors say that there has been a decrease in customers. The remaining 2% say that they came after those establishments’ had been set up and so could not compare. The final question asked, in their opinion, why was the nation’s youth increasingly being diagnosed with lifestyle diseases. The responses were one of two main ideas, stress or poor eating habits/too much junk food. In summary, the article dealt with informing the public that youth developing diabetes was on the rise. It gives the story of a girl who found out that she had diabetes when she was only 18 years of age. The article goes on to give statistics, from the Diabetes Association of Jamaica (D.A.J), of how many people 15 and over had been diagnosed and the view of a professional on the matter. The article clearly states that junk food played a large role in the development of the disease. Dr. Heather Little-White is a recognised nutritionist, and managing director of her own food and nutrition consultancy, Heather Little-White & Associates. She was also the recipient of the Order of Distinction for her outstanding work in the area of Nutrition in August 2001.Her achievements and professional status make her a reliable source. During her interview, the information provided was backed up by examples she gave from recent newscasts on local stations TVJ and CVM, both of which have proved their reliability over years of giving the news. All other statements were made in her professional expertise and so are valid in that sense. Given the time that the interview eventually took place, the amount of time Dr. Little-White was able to spend with me was limited and this may have affected how much information she imparted. However this would not have affected the validity of the information received. The questionnaire was aimed at the food vendors of the St.Ann’s Bay market. These people would be the first to notice any fluctuations in how people shop and what people buy as their job requires they observe their potential customers. However, while they may be able to provide some information regarding food purchasing patterns in their own stalls they cannot say for sure what the customers are buying instead. The vendors are also not professionally qualified to give definitive information on the causes for the rise in lifestyle diseases. Looking at the instrument of data collection itself, questionnaire administered face to face allowed for me to address any issue the participant had with any question but it may have also introduced some amount of bias as I would have been present while they were filling out the paper. Due to my lack of experience in formulating questionnaire I may have left out what could have been key questions or simply not have worded a question in the best way hence jeopardizing the quality of information I collected.
Amanda Davis 12B
Ms.Hunter
THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH The article was written by a staff reporter of the Daily Gleaner Company. Although there are no particular titles or list of achievements given to the author of the piece, the Gleaner has a reputation of providing factual news and so as a member of the entity she is also afforded the same thought. The author also uses statistics from reliable sources such as the DAJ and from professionals in the field .Since the author uses these facts, the information given are assumed to be accurate. I have concluded based on information acquired, that fast food consumption plays a major role in the increase lifestyle diseases among the nation’s youth. The use of interviews with trained professionals provided the most factual information albeit the most time consuming process .The sources gave justifiable statements and if such research were to be conducted again using identical methods I am confident that it will give similar results. With that said I would recommend the government conduct a high scale research on this topic and use the results to make decisions for adjusting the national policies regarding nutrition and in raising awareness levels through the implementation of more education programs on this topic.
Amanda Davis 12B
Ms.Hunter
