1980s: Household Income in the United States and Americans

Perhaps the most damaging health habit kids today have is their complete and total lack of exercise. Children today are more inclined to a sedentary behavior. Movies, television, the Internet, etc. are all magnets for kids, and while these mediums of entertainment aren’t altogether “evil” they can breed docile attitudes. If too much time is spent watching

Poverty during 2000’s: The official poverty rate is 12.7%, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 estimates. That year an estimated 43.1 million Americans were living in poverty.

The lowest level of poverty was recorded in 1973 with only 11.1 percent of America living at or below the poverty line. In America at that time there were twenty-three million people falling into this category. Today there are still about thirty-six million people considered poor. This is almost fourteen percent of the population. The big cities saw a bigger decline also.

    The 1980’s was a time of prosperity throughout America. From the Calendar that went from January 1st to December 31st to the increase of jobs. This decade was full of good changes socially, economically, and politically.

Life in America began to undergo great economic and social changes during the 1980s under the Reagan Administration. During this period of time, stagflation began to distress the US economy, leaving millions of Americans to fall victim to homelessness and poverty. The unemployment rate had reached its highest peak since the Great Depression, creating a major crisis for low-income families and other individuals concerning living conditions. The introduction of Reaganism into society primarily focused on reducing the growth of government spending through the modulation of federal income tax and reduction of government regulation to diminish inflation. Despite all attempts for economic recovery, the US struggled to bounce back from the 1970s recession and in time led to the significant rise in urban poverty. Uniquely, an American film director from the 1980s by the name of John Carpenter produced a science-fiction film, They Live, that served as a powerful and eye-opening depiction of his own personal views of Reaganism (Reaganomics). He essentially depicts our world to be controlled by powerful elites who have created a repressive society that we are unwilling brought to live and build in. He also clarifies how the majority of Americans during the 1980s were focused primarily on materialism and how an individual’s “success” was measured by the amount of money they possessed. Carpenter’s major criticisms of 1980s America included the impact of consumerism in America as well as

Poverty affects millions of people living in the united states, poverty is measured by the amount of money needed to support the basic needs of a house hold. Poverty is measured by the SSA low-cost food budget assuming 1/3 of the budget is spent on food. The people with the highest percentage of poverty is shown to be Hispanic female households with no spouse present. The vast majority of people in poverty are women and children but in recent years the numbers of women considered poor have raised. Percentage rate is the percentage of poor in different counties. Looking at graph that maps Americas diversity shows that the highest poverty rate is in the South the Midwest has the least. I would assume that has to do with the weather, warmer weather

1. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2012, there were 46.5 million Americans in living poverty and the official U.S. poverty rate was 15.0 percent. (U.S. Census Bureau)

As of the 2016 census, approximately 323.1 million people reside in the United States of America. 14.5% of those Americans living in poverty, meaning that 45.3 million Americans are affected by poverty, an immense increase from 8 million in 2008. 97.3 million people who occupy the U.S are considered low income and 41 million people struggle with hunger in the United States. 1 in every 2 people are considered poor or receive low income. Poverty is not equal among various demographics, for instance, in 2015, 12% of men lived in poverty in the USA, and 14.8% of women lived in poverty and among non-citizens the poverty rate is 22.8%.

* Television watching also promotes lack of creativity and enhances passivity. The child shies away from mental and physical workout.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 46.7 million Americans live in poverty equivalent to 14.8 percent of the population.

America during the 1980’s experienced a time of immense progression and prosperity. The 1980’s saw a boom in economic success because of the newly Reaganomics. MTV and music videos sparked a new wave pop culture for the youth and the many new TV stations opened up a whole new world for all generations. The leadership of the country saw positive steps forward from the past mistrust and failures of the presidents of old and this better leadership carried to country forward through the decade.

In the precedent few years, Type 2 diabetes has risen radically among children and adolescents. Experts consider this increase is due to the high rate of overweight and obesity (Cutting TM, Fisher JO, Grimm-Thomas K, Birch LL1999). One of the core reasons of children obesity is watching television. Technology is a vast accessory that millions of people use commonly in daily life. Television could be the most-used technological product of all. Millions of people now have as a minimum one television in their home. Though television seems like an immense thing to have, it has its disadvantages. Television can pessimistically influence people, mainly kids. A number of observational studies have originated an association between television watching and child and adolescent obesity. Moreover, it is recognized that American children spend more time watching television and playing video games than doing something else apart from sleeping. Researchers conducted a randomized, controlled test to assess the effects of reducing television, videotape, and video game use on changes in adiposity, physical activity, and dietary intake (Fisher JO, Birch LL. 1995). “The previous twenty five years have caused such a spectacular increase in childhood obesity. Technology, overeating and lack of physical activity can all contribute to obesity”. Birch LL, Fisher JO. Development of eating behaviors among children and adolescents. Pediatr

Another environmental cause of childhood obesity is the lack of physical activity. The problem is that physical activity has been replaced by video games, television, social networking and other technology. (Child Obesity Statistics) “It’s proven that children who watch the most hours of television have the highest incidence of obesity.” (Hosten) The American Heart Association they recommend “all children age 2 and older should participate in at least 60 minutes of enjoyable, moderate-intensity physical activities every day.” They also recommend “if your child or children don't have a full 60-minute activity break each day, try to provide at

This has been met, however, with a corresponding rise in non-educational and other, marketing-orientated, programmes. This greater range has led to many fears over children spending too much time in front of the television and not engaging in other, more physical activities.

In today’s world television has become one of the most popular and frequently used pastimes. With the increase of technology available today people can now watch television on their phones, laptops, and tablets wherever they go. Something else that has increased in the past years are the number of obese people in the United States. In the last couple decades it was estimated that the number of obese children age 2-5 has more than doubled (5.0% to 12.4%) and for ages 6-11 it has also more than doubled (6.5% to 17.0%). In adolescents aged 12-19 the number has more than tripled (5.0% to 17.0%) and as for adults it is estimated that 70% of Americans are overweight and out of that percentage 50% are obese (Boulos, Vikre, Oppenheimer, Chang, & Kanarek, 2012). It is no coincidence that as the number of prolonged television use has risen so has the number of obese people in America. Television has a negative impact on children that in the long run can lead to obesity.