Analysis and Reflection

This essay is designed to give you an opportunity to synthesize, analyze, and apply the information you’ve been reading about and to dig deeper into issues that are particularly important or interesting to you. Your essay should be roughly 8-10 pages in length (12 point font, double spaced, etc) and should include citations and a reference page; use APA style formatting.

Be sure to spend time organizing your essay. You’ll want to include a thesis statement and introductory and concluding sentences. Have someone from outside of class read your essay. They will review your essay for grammatical and mechanical errors. You don’t need to be on campus to do this.

Essay Parameters:

• Chapters 7, 8, and 9 in our McKenzie and Pinger text discuss a number of different health-related issues that can impact human beings at various stages of development (these readings cover the lifespan from prenatal to infancy, childhood and adolescence, to young adults and the elderly) including malnutrition, disease, obesity, eating disorders, etc.
• McKenzie, J., & Pinger, R. (2015). An Introduction to Community & Public Health –Eighth Edition. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN 13-9781284036596
• Choose a particular health problem and the corresponding life stage to research further.
  • Example: If you want to look at something like obesity, then choose a particular life stage, for example, childhood obesity to explore further.
• Select a variety of sources. At least five of your sources should be peer-reviewed journal articles from within the last 10 years. You may also use the information presented in the course textbook, though the text doesn’t count toward your five sources.

The Details:

• First, discuss the nature and nurture side of this health issue.
  • For example, is there a genetic predisposition that causes some people to be more likely than others to suffer from this particular health problem? Do lifestyle choices contribute to or alleviate the problem?
• Second, discuss the intersection of the health issue and a life stage.
  • Is this problem specific to a particular life stage? Is there a reason this problem is likely to strike people at a certain age range?
• Carefully review the rubric for this assignment for further specifications.

To find peer-reviewed journal articles, access the online Bryan College library web site. There is a filter you can turn on that allows you to only view peer-reviewed articles. If you’re having trouble finding peer-reviewed journal articles, check with the staff at the library (you can call or email them if you’re not on campus).

NOTE: Be cautious about the online sources you include! You want to be very suspicious of sites that you don’t know much about. Unfortunately, much of the information on the web is inaccurate or biased. For that reason, I strongly encourage you to get the bulk of your information from the journal articles you select.

Be sure to spend time organizing your paper. You’ll want to include a thesis statement and introductory and concluding sentences. Have someone from outside of class read your paper. They will review your paper for grammatical and mechanical errors. You don’t need to be on campus to do this.