Obesity in Adolescents from Low Income Communities

Introduction Obesity is a nutritional disease that results from accumulation of fats in the body to a level such that it becomes harmful to an individual. Modern lifestyle is the major cause of obesity. In adults and adolescents body mass index is used to measure obesity; it relates to both height and weight that one has at one particular point. Then there are agreed units of measure that define a healthy person, one who is underweight, and who is obese.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Obesity in Adolescents from Low Income Communities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When children reach adolescent, their body goes through many changes some physical and others psychological. It is at this stage that children tend to eat a lot and they prefer the fatty foods such as potato fries, kebabs, pizzas among others. It even becomes worse if the adolescent is from a low income family because these foods constitute a big percentage of their daily meals. Some have to feed on carbohydrates as their major meal which they take in large quantities because of their enlarged body size. These are adolescents who crave for things like ice creams and other junk foods which increase their body mass index. This paper will look at the relationship between poverty and obesity, the major causes of obesity, and how obesity in adolescents can be reduced by increasing daily intakes of organic foods, fruits, and vegetables. It will also look at some of the measures that the government needs to take in increasing intake of organic foods and how daily intake of fruits and vegetables can be promoted. It will conclude by looking at the importance of healthy eating not only to the adolescents but to everyone. Poverty and Obesity Poverty is one of the major world’s concerns especially when it comes to developing economies; it is an issue that many poor people encounter face to face and the price that they pay is unbelievably very high. It is estimated that every year, a large number of children are admitted into schools while still encountering many challenges arising from poverty such as lack of proper food which the teachers are not able take care of as needs. Even so, the definite meaning of poverty has never been agreed upon.Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Some scholars have defined poverty in terms of monetary ability while others have viewed poverty as the lack of capacity to meet the basic needs of life. The significance of poverty has attracted the attention of many governments and multinational corporations. These governments and organizations have always set targets for reducing poverty, particularly in ensuring that most children do not suffer out of poverty (Wolfendale, 2000). A number of research findings have also indicated that the well being of every person is intricately linked to the functioning of the family in which he or she is being brought up in relation to socio-economic resources which are limited; these findings also indicate that the daily socio-economic challenges can negatively affect the health of both parents and children. The negative effects as demonstrated in the parents, in turn, are reflected in the problems and challenges in the children’s own adjustments spanning various facets of social-emotional development. One of these negative effects is poor nutrition that often leads to obesity in children as they grow up (Wolfendale, 2000). These families are not able to afford a balanced diet and the children eat only what is available; most of their diet is composed of large quantities of carbohydrates which leads to the accumulation of fats in the body thereby causing obesity. Causes of Obesity Poor nutrition leads to obesity which in turn causes illness or even death. According to American Medical Association ( AMA), the increase in health related diseases and illnesses have been caused by the increase in obesity and overweight rates. Some of these diseases include: diabetes, cancer, insomnia, heart diseases, and cardicascular disease. An individual’s body weight can be measured using body mass index (BMI). Research has found that, about 20% of adults suffer from obesity having a BMI of 30 or more. More than 30% are overweight with a BMI of 25 to 29.9. There is therefore a strong call for involvement to perk up diet and health in order to curb the illnesses associated with poor nutrition. Nutritionists have argued that, water, fruits, and vegetables can be used to counteract this problem (Sturm, 2005). There are many factors that have been thought to have lead to obesity in adolescents. They include;Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Obesity in Adolescents from Low Income Communities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page L earn More Genetic and hormonal Family and nutrition Psychological and physiological factors. Genetic and hormonal These are factors that are as result of biological factors. Generally there are basis that accumulate mire fat than others. Research has shown that in families whose one or both parents are obese, there are high chances that children born in the family will be obese. This cause is the hardest to control since the body seem to accumulate fats at a faster rate. What a parent can do in such a case is to act very cautious towards the foods that they give their children. The foods should contain as minimal fats as possible. Family and nutrition Fats accumulate in our bodies from the food that we eat; when children are not fed in the right way, they are likely to suffer from obesity as they grow. The kind of food and the lifestyle that a family adopts, the kind of foods that is consumed in the family will either have large fat contents or not. On the other hand if children are fed on junk foods, they are likely to develop obesity in their adolescent stage. If parents do not engage their children in daily chores and avail food at all times, then the tendency is that the children will end up eating junk foods without â€Å"burning the fats taken, the resultant is obesity. Bad eating habit is another factor that can lead to obesity. Socialization develops attributes to a person and children are affected more; the kind of environment that children are brought about in will influence the kind of lifestyle they will live in the future. If parents are careless of what they eat, then their children are likely to follow suit and suffer from obesity (Sturm, 2005). Psychological and physiological factors In a child’s development (especially when he reaches adolescent), he may develop a liking to certain categories of foods. He/she may be willing to take junk or sweet foods and this because his main meal. And because the family may not be in a position t o provide better food to supplement the adolescent meal the adolescent becomes obese because of poor eating. This is an irresponsible behavior that parents should cut out at the earliest time possible. This blame lies on the parent since he is mandated to ensure that has he teaches his children on the need to eat the right food. Eating healthily does not mean spending a lot of money on meals because there are some fruits and vegetables which are readily available and do not cost much.Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Medics are of the opinion that human beings should eat heavily in the morning but at night they should reduce the potion of food. On the other hand they are of the opinion that at least half of the plate should be made of vegetables. This is what parents should teach their children as they grow. Solutions to Obesity Organic foods Consumers’ choices are complex and multifaceted. If consumers were concerned only about getting food at the lowest possible price, alternative agriculture would have a hard time taking hold, because industrial-style farming produces food cheaply (Liebman, et al. 2001). Consumers require the source of food that will be of most benefits to their bodies. Organic food is the only type of food that can satisfy a wide range of consumers need and reduce the rate at which adolescent become obese. However, the prices of these foods are relatively higher than processed and it’s upon the government to intervene in lowering the prices. Like consumers, far mers not only produce for profit but also to get satisfaction out of their produce. They feel happy when their produce is highly demanded and this encourages them to produce more. What the Government Should do to Ensure that Organic Foods are Available to Customers The government has a duty to ensure that both the farmers and consumers are satisfied in the production and consumption of organic foods. This can be through increased subsidies, incentives, reduced taxes, efficient infrastructure, and marketing strategies. All these strategies are aimed at lowering prices in order to increase consumption. Peterson (2010) observed that people preferred processed foods to organic foods because of their low prices. He found out that, there is a strong imbalance between government subsidies to processed foods and that of organic foods. He observes that, in United States, organic farmers received a sum of 825 million dollars in 2009. On the other hand, commodity crops farmers received an amaz ing 15.4 billion dollars. If only these subsidies were reduced on commodity farmers (such as corn and soybeans) and increased on fruits and vegetables farmers, then the prices of fruits and vegetables would go down and become affordable to a bigger percentage of people. However, these findings have some shortcoming in that, it may take a long time before the government implements the strategy. Just like Peterson, White (2010) recommended the government to increase their subsidies to organic food farmers in order to lower their prices to customers, thereby boasting healthy eating. She also noted that, by buying goods in large quantities, consumers would be able to save a lot of money. However this is not an easy move because the government has to intervene again in the provision of storage facilities such as fridges in order to preserve these fruits. This might be an expensive strategy not only to the government but also to the small scale farmer who may not be able to produce foods in bulk due to lack of efficient technologies. The size of land set aside for organic farming is very small compared to consumers’ needs. This has resulted in increased demand consequently raising the prices. A strategic move by the government would be to increase the size of land used for organic farming. This will ensure that, organic farmers enjoy economies of scale and offer their products at reduced costs. For example, Sweden had promised to increase its farmland by 10% in the year 2000. However the government has to intervene in the provision of necessarily amenities required by farmers. This will ensure increased production resulting in reduced prices to consumers. Exports will also increase and the farmers might even be able to lower their produce further thereby encouraging their consumption. This can be achieved through: Focusing on the undeveloped sectors such as the rural areas and assisting them to identify an action plan. Through Provision of production inputs a nd incentives, trade and infrastructure for marketing that would help to boast the production and consumption of fruits and vegetables. And involving many stake holders in the production, quality control, processing and marketing of fruits and vegetables (National Institute of Health 2010) Fruits and vegetables Most government health agencies and departments such as World Health Organization (WHO) have been fighting with the growing problem of obesity and unhealthy eating. They have been advocating for a modification in the health program to include more fruits and vegetable. Research has proved that, diets with a bigger portion of fruits and vegetables can lower or even prevent some illnesses such as cancer and heart diseases. Fruits and vegetables contain an implausible number of minerals and vitamins that are essential for our bodies (Johnson, et al 2003). Most of them contain a large portion of water essential for the skin for example watermelons which contains approximately 94 percent water. Seeds contain fiber which assists the body in getting rid of waste substances and bowel movements. Fruits and vegetables come in different colors and contain different nutrients. It is advisable to take different varieties in order to obtain a wide range of benefits. Dark green vegetables such as spinach and cabbage are rich in carotenoids, vitamin E, and C that help in preventing heart diseases and cancer (WHO 2004). Promotion Of Fruits and Vegetable Consumption Cultural and socioeconomic differences between countries affect the promotion and intake of fruits and vegetables; nutritionists are advised to take this into account while promoting their intakes. The promotion of fruits and vegetables has been an on going initiative in most of the developed nations such as United States, Australia, Britain and others although not much have been done in the developing nations. A wide range of programs and interventions that promotes the intake of fruits and vegetables in adu lts and children has been introduced by WHO (Johnson, et al 2003). Out of all the studies that have been done, none has demonstrated a disadvantageous effect of the intrusions on the consumption of fruits and vegetables. However, the projects to promote fruit and vegetable intake should be based on scientific evidence for them to be successful. They should be evaluated to ascertain what works best and what does not work. This helps in reducing the amount of money used that would other wise be wasted in doing things that do not work. Messages that are specific of country and culture have to be integrated into guidelines together with other diet messages (WHO 2004). This challenge can be addressed by taking the following into consideration: Production and intake of fruits and vegetables Roles of fruits and vegetables production in income generation and creation of employment opportunities Focus on the undeveloped sectors such as the rural areas and assisting them to identify an actio n plan Provision of production inputs and incentives, trade and infrastructure for marketing that would help to boast the production and consumption of fruits and vegetables. Involving many stake holders in the production, quality control, processing and marketing of fruits and vegetables consumer awareness of the positive effects of increasing their daily intake of fruits and vegetable enhancing fruit and vegetable production through diversification understanding of consumers’ tastes and expectations Importance of Healthy Eating Wellness is achieved from healthy eating and through taking physical exercises. Wellness occurs in seven dimensions. Healthy eating is a preventative approach which, if adopted, can help in reducing illnesses and increasing wellness. Through taking fruits and vegetables, the skin becomes lighter which in turn improves the general appearance of an individual. They give one a healthy skin that is free from pimples or lashes. Scientific research has fo und that, increased intake of organic foods and fruits and vegetables can help in reducing stress and boasting self-esteem. This ensures an improvement in the emotional aspects of an individual’s wellness. Healthy eating helps one to participate more in social interaction and relationships because of the reduced rate of illness (Health Promotion 2010). The benefits achieved from healthy eating enable one to spread awareness to other members of the community thus encouraging socialization Through increased production and consumption of fruits and vegetables, the earth and its resources are protected which ensures a healthy leaving. Global warming is reduced because people tend to concentrate more on the naturally growing food other than the processed ones. Intellectual awareness is the ability to improve ones intellectual capacity and creativity. This can be through; taking workshops, reading inspirational materials, or taking up a hobby. With the increase in nutrition awarene ss, many people have found it interesting to read materials that contain details of healthy eating thus increasing their intellectual awareness. Others involve themselves in nutrition workshops where there get ideas from other people as well as insights on how to improve their health. Occupational wellness involves making use of skills and talents in a career that is not only enjoyable but also rewarding. Healthy eating as a preventive approach has come along with exciting careers that are yet to be exploited. Individuals now have a wide variety of careers to choose from. Spiritual wellness is increased by being curious and inquisitive, listening to the heart and following ones principles and allowing oneself the freedom of being unique (Health Promotion 2010). It is a personal decision to chose what to do in case one falls ill; some people may chose to take medicine, go to the hospital while others may chose to use the preventative approach of healthy eating. Conclusion Children ex perience poverty as the part of environment that interferes with there mental, spiritual, emotional and physical development. Moreover, the experience of children with regards to poverty is also through their hands, hearts and minds. For instance, when they begin a day without a nutritious meal the children’s emotional capacity and also their bodily growth are greatly hindered by poverty. Children from low income families are not able to access a healthy meal which interferes their body functioning. They are likely to become obese as they grew up due to high intake of starchy food. Their bodies become weak and are likely to develop illnesses that result from unhealthy eating. Heath takes the form of psychological health, physical health and mental health. Maintain a good health is one of the sole objectives of good governance. When a country is health then its productivity is more likely to be high than a sick country. Most of the diseases that people are suffering today are as a result of their eating habits. Obesity is a disease which can be prevented and cured if proper eating habits are adopted by parents to their children. Food that children take should be examined to ensure that it has nutritional benefit to the child. Fatty food should be avoided. Prevention of obesity should take centre stage than curing it. The right and surest way that obesity can be cured is through eating healthily. The kind of food eaten should be looked into to ensure that it is healthy. Healthy food contains adequate nutrients that one need for survival. Parents should go ahead and teach their children at tender age the need to eat health at all times. Daily intake of fruits and vegetables do not only give us a perfect skin but also helps in fighting illnesses. Research has shown that, fruit and vegetable intake can help to cure obesity, heart disease and other chronic diseases. Diets rich in vegetables and fruits contain less cholesterol as compared to those rich in carb ohydrates or proteins. Obese and overweight people are advised to increase their daily intake of fruits and vegetables as this will help them to maintain an incredible figure. Reference List Health Promotion (2010). Definition of wellness. Retrieved from http://healthpromotionadvocates.org/resources/definitions.htm Johnson, D.B. et al. (2003). Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Homebound Elders: The Seattle Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Pilot Program. Public Health Research, practice, and policy. Retrieved from, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC544526/ Liebman, M. et al. (2001). Ecological management of agricultural weeds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press National Institute of Health. (2010). DINE Healthy: Diet improvement software. November 3, 2010 from http://rtips.cancer.gov/rtips/programDetails.do?programId=286002 Peterson, T. (2010). Eating healthy still out of reach for many: Government subsidized profits. Retrieved from, http://voicesweb.org/ea ting-healthy-still-out-reach-many Sturm, R. (2005). Childhood obesity- what we can learn from existing data on societal trends, part 1. Public health research, practice, and policy. Retrieved from, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1323315 White, A. (2010). Why organic Food costs so much. Retrieved from, http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/organic-food-07082010/ World Health Organization. (WTO). (2004). Fruit and vegetable for health, Report of a joint FAO/WHO workshop, Kobe, Japan. Retrieved from, http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/fruit_vegetables_report.pdf Wolfendale, S. (2000). Special needs in the early years: snapshots of practice. New York: Routledge. This research paper on Obesity in Adolescents from Low Income Communities was written and submitted by user Harvey Cole to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Mea Culpa

Mea Culpa Mea Culpa Mea Culpa By Maeve Maddox The Latin expression mea culpa is used as an interjection and as a noun. mea culpa interjection: an exclamation acknowledging one’s guilt or responsibility for an error. For example: MOTHER: The garbage is overflowing! SON: Mea culpa! I’ll take it out right now. As a noun, a mea culpa is the acknowledgement of ones guilt or responsibility for an error and is often used as a synonym for apology. Here are examples of this use: Just before Guillen began his 45-minute mea culpathe Marlins announced he had been suspended for five  games. Anthony Weiners emotional mea culpa: Will it be enough? Does McCain owe mea culpa to POWs MIAs? Hydro owes us a mea culpa. An apology is â€Å"an acknowledgement of an offense with expression of regret for it, by way of reparation.† Mea culpa as a synonym for apology derives from its use in a Latin prayer called â€Å"The Confiteor.† The Latin word confiteor means, â€Å"I confess† or â€Å"I acknowledge.† In praying, the supplicant repeats the phrase mea culpa, â€Å"through my own fault,† numerous times during the recitation of the prayer. An error with mea culpa occurs when a writer doesn’t understand its English meaning. Here are examples of misuse: Annie gritted her teeth and lifted her hands briefly from the wheel in  a mea culpa apology  to the indignant driver of the cleaners van.- Novel published by Random House. Rather than from John Paul Culotta, The Progressive, a mea culpa apology is due from the cretins who faithfully followed our torturer in chief to financial and human disaster.- News item, The Wave (Rockaway, New York). Alpha Chi Omega President Megan Koelln issued a mea culpa apology.- LA Weekly. In each example, the word apology is redundant. The only reason to follow mea culpa with the word apology would be in the context of talking about different kinds of apology. Note: More often than not, the statement being described in the news as a mea culpa is not an apology at all, but an excuse. excuse noun [eks-KYUS] : anything that justifies or extenuates a fault or defect. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a US Business LetterLatin Words and Expressions: All You Need to Know5 Examples of Misplaced Modifiers

GEOL Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

GEOL - Assignment Example The more dense plate goes below the less dense one. The other two are the oceanic-continental and the continental-continental. They also occur when both plates strike each other (Tarbuck, Lutgens, & Tasa, 2014). 4.) The feature labeled "C" is a 3000-foot tall mountain with a slope angle of about 30 degrees. What type of volcano would this likely be, and what sorts of volcanic hazards might you expect to be exposed to if you lived near it? The air eruptions present a significant hazard to pilots. The reason is once the explosion occurs, the high temperatures can melt the particles and as they change the shape of the turbine blades, they disrupt the operations of the turbine. Thus, it distracts pilots of airplanes or jet and can cause major crashes. The distraction in 1989 in Indonesia raised such an alarm. In case of an explosion, it could result in deaths or injuries. The erupted solid can travel faster than the humans escape, or it could be that the fluid covered the whole area. A similar occurrence is the one in Zaire at

Why might firms with exposure to foreign markets use foreign currency Coursework

Why might firms with exposure to foreign markets use foreign currency derivatives - Coursework Example A derivative is defined as ‘an instrument whose price is derived from, or depends on, the price of another asset’ (Hull 2009:779). When a company receives foreign currency against supply of services or goods to a foreign based importer, it acknowledges some kind of foreign exchange risk, since there is a possibility of fluctuation between currencies of both exporter and importer from the time of entering into the contract and receipt of funds from the foreign importer. Thus, in case of companies with substantial export earnings, it should assess the quantum of its forex exposure, create a road map for how to minimise that risk, to employ hedging strategies to minimise any substantial loss that may be encountered due to future forex fluctuations in the currencies where it is likely to receive from its foreign importers. (Bragg 2010: 207). For instance, if a company has quoted its export values in US$ and during the interval period where a foreign importer is under obligat ion to pay the exporter, if the dollar appreciates against the exporter’s currency, then the importer might be paying with a decreased –value currency, which creates the company to account for a foreign exchange loss at the time of receipt of funds. (Bragg 2010: 208). As per Froot, Scharstein and Stein (1993), if the level of capital investment of a company is high, the chance for employing forex derivatives in its risk management policy is always on the increase. (Froot, Scharstein and Stein 1993:1631). ... ers of the international companies opt these derivatives so as to take the positions in the anticipation of revenues (speculation) or employment of these instruments to minimise the risk inherent with day to day management of their company’s cashflow hedging).( Aswathappa 2010 :543). The probable advantages from employing forex derivatives are reliant on the anticipated exchange rate movements. Thus, it is essential to comprehend why the exchange rate moves over time before employing the forex derivatives for risk coverage. Different Kinds of Forex Derivatives Forex Forwards: Forward is comprised of spot transactions that have been retained for less than 180 days but held over 48 hours when they due for payment and paid at the current prevailing spot price. If you minus the bid price with that of ask price, then you can arrive at the transaction cost. Forex swaps are financial transactions associated with the swapping of two currency amounts on a particular date and a reverse exchange of the analogues' amount at an afterward date. The main objective is to administer currency risks and liquidity by executing forex transactions at the most apt time. In fact, the underlying currency is borrowed and lent concurrently in both currencies, for instance, by selling Euro for US$ for spot value and consenting to reverse the deal at an afterdate. (Brickford& Brickford 2007:7) Forex Futures: A future can be illustrated as a standardised contract to sell or buy a particular asset at a price previously consented to and at a fixed future date. Forex futures are standardised financial instruments that are negotiated in organised markets. Forex futures have many probable benefits but also have many probable risks. Forex futures markets are not only heavily regulated but also

Lab Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Lab Report - Essay Example Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that, together, laid the foundation for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between a body and the forces acting upon it, and its motion in response to those forces. This report stresses that Newtons laws find many applications in the life experiences for example, rocket and jet propulsion in which the third law is widely applied, garden sprinklers, firing guns, dynamic lift and balances of forces in helicopter among many applications. The major limitations of Newtons laws in motion is that they cannot be applied in objects travelling at the speed of light. Additionally newtons laws fail when they are applied to very small objects such as atomic and subatomic particles in which they fail in the concepts of quantum mechanics. This paper makes a conclusion that the free body diagrams enable one to set the problem properly and solve for the unknown forces that act on a body in real life situations. The diagrams learnt in this Lab are useful in understanding what is likely to happen to a body before applying the equations of motion. The distance time graphs are very useful in approximating various quantities such as the possible time one can take to travel from one place to another, the critical velocities and acceleration necessary to avoid accidents and crashes. Additionally, one is able to understand the conditions feelt when one uses an elevator system and the manufacturers of the elevators apply the knowledge while making and installing elevators.

Impact of Occupational Health and Safety in Construction

Impact of Occupational Health and Safety in Construction Abstract The main aim of the research is to study the impact of occupational health and safety in construction industry. It will also aim at identifying the attitude of construction organisations as well as employees towards occupational health and safety in India. To support the research, survey questionnaire and a telephone interview was conducted. It helped it achieving objectives of the research. The construction industry is a very dangerous industry. The performance of the industry in occupational health and safety is very poor. The standard of occupational health and safety is even worse in developing countries. In Indian construction industry OHS has never been given prime importance. Even though in India construction industry is significantly booming, there are no proper initiatives undertaken by the government to implement OHS rules and regulations. There are several initiatives taken by Government of India but they are still in their initial stages and need to be enforced. The employers are concerned about completion of project rather than focussing on improving OHS of their employees. The industry has larger number of small and medium size firms and very few numbers of larger firms. Smaller firms lack resources to comply with proper OHS procedures. The workers are not provided with proper training and information about occupational health and safety hazards. Lack of awareness on OHS, sub-contracting system, use of traditional methods in construction, lack of proper personal protective equipments, low wages and labour-driven industry are some of the important factors that have their impact on occupational health and safety in Indian construction. The construction industry in developing as well as developed countries is one of the most significant industries in relation to the contribution to the GDP (Rantanen et al., 2004). Also it is having a significant impact on the health and safety of the people working in it. According to Haupt as cited in Rowlinson (2004), the construction industry has a poor record in relation to the health and safety of its worker. It is a known fact that workplace accidents are linked basically with unsafe behaviour. There is a positive correlation between safety climate on construction sites and workers safe behaviour. The attitudes of workers on construction sites toward health and safety are widely influenced by their perception towards risk, health and safety rules and procedures; management (Mohamed and Ali, 2005). According to Larcher and Sohail (1999), occupational health and safety is a highly important area of concern in developing countries where Acts related to safety rarely exist with we ak regulatory authorities that finds it difficult to implement it effectively. Also awareness towards occupational hazards is not at all or rarely perceived. The other factors that affect occupational health and safety in developing countries are lack of statutory regulations and legislations to protect workers in construction sector, standards maintained in corporate and government systems are low, inadequate infrastructure and high labour intensity (Mohamed and Ali, 2005). Every year hundreds of accidents take place on construction sites resulting in severe injuries or even deaths. It is matter of concern that the same type of work related deaths, injuries and illnesses occur in the construction industries all over the world. The working life of construction workers is curtailed by several years due to the exposure to occupational health and safety hazards. The process of construction involves many hazardous activities such as working at height, manual handling, exposure to hazardous materials, frame erection, lifting operations, scaffolding, demolition works and groundworks. Falls and manual handlings are the important risks associated with injuries and long term disability in the construction industry (Gillen et al.1997). 1.1 Background study According to study conducted by Holmes et al., (1999), that the occupational health and safety risks are mainly related to the nature of work, low standard of individual work practices, lack of knowledge, work pressure due to cost and time constraints. Rechenthin (2004) stated that, for a construction company to be consistently profitable, all its project must complete on time and within budget. But at the same time due to the nature of the high risk works undertaken by the construction companies results in high accident rates. Eakins (1992) stated that international research confirms that as compared to larger construction firms, smaller firms are poor in the implementation of occupational health and safety programmes. Henceforth, the rate of occupational injury is inversely proportional with the size of the organisation, i.e. smaller firm having higher injury frequency rates (McVitte et al. 1997). As per Lingard and Rowlinson (2005), the construction industry consists of several SMEs and small amount of large firms. These small and medium size firms lack professional occupational health and safety advisors in staff. They also lack knowledge and resources required to implement occupational health and safety management activities for example: training, performing risk assessments, routine inspections and audits. Moreover the expense due to involvement of expensive occupational health and safety advice and services may be considered as unnecessary. Due to high competitive construction industry with cost cutting pressures, the priorities related to occupational health and safety is likely to be low with small size construction firms. According to Rantanen et al., (2004), nearly 2.4 billion people in the developing countries have to bear employment conditions, that dont even meet the basic occupational health and safety standards. Furthermore due to lack of work safety, excessive amount of work pressures, exposure to occupational physical, biological and chemical environment results to occupational diseases and injuries to an extent of 1.2 million fatalities per year. 1.2 Rationale for Research This research studies the attitude of organisations in India, a developing country towards occupational health and safety. As per report of The Economic Times as cited in (Shenoy et al., 2000), size of the Indian construction industry is more than USD 25 billion. Due to large investment made in roads, railways, nuclear and other infrastructure areas, the construction sector of India is witnessing a high growth. After agriculture sector, construction sector is the largest employer in India, with more than 18 million people employed in it. In spite of all these advancement, the construction sector is still dependant largely on labour intensive operations as they are easily available at low cost. Also occupational health and safety of people working in construction are not given due attention by the organisations (Shenoy et al., 2005). According to a report published by Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) India (2010), safety in the construction industry is a matter of conc ern all over the world. With an unorganised workforce, issues related to construction safety become the most vulnerable segment in India. With 18 million people employed in the construction sector within India, the issues related to safety are considerably important. The industry is highly labour intensive with a large amount of workers exposed to the risks of occupational health and workplace safety problems. In construction industry the fatal accidents rate is comparatively four to five times higher than the manufacturing sector. In India 165 per 1,000 workers get injured while working on construction sites. Further the report states that the workers are exposed to several hazardous substances having the potential to cause serious occupational health diseases such as asbestosis, silicosis, poisoning etc. According to International Labour Organisation (2005), the rate of accident among industrial workers is highest with 4 per 1000 and the major contributor for this is the construction industry. International Labour Organisation (2005) report also estimated the number of deaths in India due to accidents at work as 40,000 in 2001 and 2,62,000 dying from work related diseases. Thus if construction is held responsible for one sixth of the total, then the death of the Indian construction workers can be estimated up to 60,000 each year. According to Damodaran (2006) safety in construction is in the bottom of list of priorities of builders, contractors and engineers. While the monetary loss heads the list, loss of man-hours and material progress are equally irreparable when scaffolding fails, a roof collapses or a fatal accident takes place at site of work, the human life is irreplaceable. The construction companies in India have experienced that when a worker loses his life due to an accident on the site, there is a sudden downturn in the morale of the working force. It affects the spirit of working and the progress of work. It is only after some accidents takes place, the company begins to take safeguards. As labour is very cheap and unorganised, having little or no knowledge of their rights, the companies find it convenient as well as profitable using manpower rather than machineries. Though getting a job in the construction industry helps poor labours to get out of poverty, due to presence of high occupational he alth and safety risk it can drive them back into insolvency. 1.3 Research aim and objectives 1.3.1 Aim of the research The aim of this research is to study the impact of occupational health and safety in construction industry, whilst exploring the attitude of organisations and employees toward occupational health and safety in Indian construction industry. 1.3.2 Objectives The above mentioned aim will be achieved with the help of the following objectives: 1. To explore the issues impacting health and safety with the focus on occupational health and safety in the construction industry. 2. To investigate occupational health and safety hazards and its impact in construction industry 3. To investigate the implementation of occupational health and safety in the Indian construction industry whilst; Exploring the attitude of employees and construction organisations toward occupational health and safety in India. Investigating the impact of existing occupational health and safety rules and regulations on the Indian construction industry. 1.4 Research methodology The adopted research methodology will be divided into primary and secondary research. In primary research, questionnaires survey and a telephone will be conducted. This will help in understanding and identifying the perception of the management and the employees toward occupational health and safety in Indian construction industry. In secondary research, literature review will be carried out in order to understand the factors affecting occupational health and safety such organisational culture, climate and government policies. It will also help in identifying different occupational health and safety hazards and its effect on construction projects. 1.4.1 Primary research Primary research such as questionnaires survey and telephone interview will help in achieving the main objectives of the research. Data will be collected from clients, contractors, managers, site engineers and supervisors who play an important role in the construction industry. The data collected through the telephone interview will help in supporting the findings from survey questionnaire. 1.4.2 Secondary research Secondary research will be carried out through literature review. The data will be collected through electronic databases, journals, websites, magazines, books and conference papers. These data will help in identifying the issues and factors influencing occupational health and safety in the construction industry. 1.5 Limitations of the research The most significant limitation to this research is the time constraint. Due to limited availability of time, the research cannot be conducted in depth. Provided more time, it could be possible to visit India and collect more data available on occupational health and safety in the Indian construction industry. As the research is carried out from United Kingdom, the collection of secondary data is limited to the information available on websites. Limited research has been carried out in India related to occupational health and safety in the construction industry. As such, there is less availability of data to support this research. The other constraints can be that some companies may not be reluctant in providing the right information. During telephone interview there may be possibilities that the interviewee give diplomatic or misleading answers. Also the size of the company can influence the answers of the interviewee. Also the answers provided by the respondents may be influenced by the size and location of the company. 1.6 Structure of dissertation The dissertation will be divided into various chapters. Chapter 2, 3 and 4 will be part of literature review. An overview of the chapters included in this research thesis is as shown below. Chapter 1 Background study and rationale for research This chapter will provide an overall of overview of the research. It will consist of background study, aim and objectives and also the rationale for the research. It will also give an overview of the research methodology to be conducted in order achieve the desired aim and objectives. Chapter 2 Factors affecting health and safety on construction sites This chapter narrates the factors influencing health and safety on construction such as sub-contracting systems, organisations structure, size, location, personnel and incentive factors. Chapter 3 Introduction to OHS and detail description of OHS hazards This chapter will provide detail description of occupational health and safety including safety culture, human behaviours and different OHS hazards. Chapter 4 OHS in the Indian construction industry This chapter will investigate the current scenario of OHS in the Indian construction industry. It will also explore the government rules and regulations related to OHS and their influence on the construction industry. Chapter 5 Research methodology This chapter will provide a brief outline of the different research methods available and the adopted research methodology. Chapter 6 Analysis and interpretation of the survey This chapter will include analysis of data collected through questionnaires survey and the telephone interview with help of charts, figures and tables. Chapter 7 Conclusion and recommendations This chapter will include the summary of the research findings as well as recommendations related to the research.

Graduation Speech: Our Journey -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Addr

Roughly eighteen years ago, the twelve of us seniors were born in different places, under different circumstances and in different families, far from knowing each other and crossing each other's paths. Yet, God has already taken each of us under His tender care to work in us according to His plan. Our journey under the supervision of God has already started back then, each of us at a different starting point. After raising and nurturing each individual in a very personal way, it was in God's perfect plan for all of us to finally bring the twelve of us together at Johnson Academy and to make it part of our journeys to cross our paths with one another. If it were not for this school, many of us probably would not have known each other. We are living evidences that God has been at work in us all along from the beginning, because just the fact that people we don't know, know the same God, are living for the same God and love the same God is proof of God's existence and His universal work. We can only reach and impact so many and when we see that God has reached far beyond what we can reach and has everything under control. We fall on our knees and worship Him, because we know we are so small, worthless and ineffective compared to the mighty work God is doing. The twelve of us were brought together for the purpose of praising God for the work He has done in each of us, for we wouldn't have kno wn, let alone impacted each other, unless God had chosen to work in us and to draw us together in this time of our lives. Every change, every incident and every circumstance regardless of how small they may seem, are God's conscious provision and will that is actively taking place every day. Nothing is a coincidence, or luck. Throughou... ...rney the twelve of us took together and His plan to lead each of us into different directions, yet for the same purpose, to manifest His glory. Let me close with some verses from my favorite psalm, number 139. "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You." Thank you.