Common Core State Standard L.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: Video of a current news event is presented for discussion to encourage student participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the video. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.
10/09/2017
40 percent of new cancer cases linked to obesity
A new study links being obese or overweight with an increased risk for cancers that make up about 2 in 5 cancer diagnoses in the U.S. Research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a correlation between obesity and 13 types of cancers, including in the brain, stomach and liver. Those 13 types accounted for 40 percent of new cancer cases in 2014. That could mean there's a connection between some cancers and obesity, but the study didn't nail down a cause.
■Class discussion: What other life-threatening diseases are linked to obesity? There are now more obese people in the world than there are undernourished people. How does that compare with most of human history? What is the rate of obesity in the U.S.? Why is obesity now considered a form of malnutrition? How is the rate of obesity impacted by wealth, education an ethnicity? Which states have the highest and lowest rates of obesity? How does your state compare? What can government to reduce obesity rates?