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Has Television Made Us Fat?
What is the most popular activity on the face of the Earth, no holds barred? Why, it's TV of course!
No other activity even comes close to the popularity of TV. We watch it, talk about it, pattern our behavior after it, laugh and cry because of it, and have it in nearly every household in America.
When TV was introduced in the late l940s, marketing executives looked into the future and predicted that television would become commonplace in every household. And here we are fifty years later, with no less than 98 percent of American households welcoming television into their homes. For once, I guess the executives knew what they were talking about!
Ponder a few of the following facts about TV and you will begin to understand the enormous impact it has had in our lives:
Did you know that families spend more time watching TV than they do anything else except for working and sleeping? Even so, very few people stop to examine when TV crosses the line from companion to intruder!
Television sets are left "on" an average of seven hours, 40 minutes each day, according to Nielsen reports.
The average TV viewer will see an estimated 20,000 commercials every year. That's about 55 commercials each day. All the while we watch TV our perceptions about self-image, a healthy lifestyle and human behavior are being slowly and systematically changed, and in some cases, distorted.
American children ages 2-17 spend an average of 19 hours, 40 minutes watching TV each week.
American youth watch an average of 1,023 hours of TV yearly, while they only spend about 900 hours in school.
Research by The Annenberg Public Policy Center shows 21 percent of self-professed "educational" programming has little or no educational value.
In year 2000, a National Assessment of Educational Progress report found that students who watch TV the most also suffer the most academically. Students who watched TV for six or more hours a day earned the lowest scores, on average, and those who watched an hour or less earned the highest.
According to a year 2000 National Institute on the Media and the Family report, a child can develop brand loyalty by age 2. This seems incredibly disturbing.
A 1999 Senate Judiciary Committee Staff Report found that by age 18, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 16,000 murders.
Since so much of our time growing up is spent watching TV, and so many parents use TV to entertain and "baby-sit," much of our earliest learning and world perspectives are formed while sitting in front of a TV screen.
Much of television advertising targets children because promoters know they are less discerning and more easily influenced than adults. And not surprising, children often insist that their parents purchase what they see advertised on TV. James McNeal, a kids marketing expert, estimates that children under the age of twelve now influence at least $500 billion of family purchases.
The overwhelming evidence for the association between TV advertising and behavior is simply a matter of common sense. The food industry alone spends billions of dollars on TV advertising because they know it produces results. When we see and hear the advertisements often enough, we eventually buy the products.
Apart from the influence that TV advertising has had on our lives, there is another important consideration relative to our eating habits...
Most of us will acknowledge that TV is a sedentary form of entertainment. But, couple this with our tendency to munch on non-nutritious snacks while watching, and we deliver a knockout punch to our best efforts for losing weight.
Even dinnertime, the traditional family catchup period, has been transformed by TV, with many families opting to dine on fast food and take-out, rather than home cooked meals.
Day after day, week after week, year after year, we are pounded by commercials promoting the trendiest fashions, technology or soft drinks until we finally succumb to their relentless attack on our connection to reality.
Let me ask you, "Wouldn't you rather read a book or pursue some other interesting activity rather than allow your mind to get tainted by channels that hype useless products, promote overindulgence and distort your perception of reality?"
There is nothing substantial about a medium that upholds unattainable images for the masses and presents a generally unrealistic and distorted reflection of ourselves and the world.
I am not saying everything about television is detrimental, but it seems to do more harm than good. It seems only to serve as a mind-numbing alternative to reality that drains knowledge, lulls many into a false sense of security and content and urges us to think of nothing.
Life beyond the filtered screen seems much more educational, interesting and entertaining.
If you have been brought-up on a diet of fast food and television chances are you're still doing the same thing today. Habits and beliefs are very difficult to change when they've been ingrained since early childhood. The good news is, that any environmental or behavioral influence (including TV) on a persons habits can be changed, but it takes determination and work.
Just for fun, see if any of the following apply to YOU!
We fall asleep doing it.
We do it first thing in the mourning.
We are challenged by it.
We are isolated by it.
We eat while doing it.
We eat because of it.
We ignore other people while we are doing it.
We laugh at it.
We cry at it.
We get angry at it.
We are bored by it.
We are entertained by it.
We pay to do it.
We must have the latest technical equipment to do it.
We use it to relax.
We use it as a babysitter.
We consciously pattern our behavior after it.
We are subconsciously influenced by it.
We do it whenever, wherever, and however we want.
We bring sex and violence into our homes while we do it.
We use it to keep us company when we are alone.
We are misled by it.
We are lead by it.
We envy other people we see while doing it.
We argue about it.
We do other things while we listen to it in the background.
We do it to educate ourselves.
We do it to introduce ourselves to far away places.
We do it to stay informed.
We brag about doing it.
We complain about doing it.
We gossip about it.
We talk about it everywhere.
We become addicted to it.
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More couples are staging weddings at vacation destinations
Every wedding is special, automatically unique like the couple itself. Even the most traditional wedding has something that sets it apart from others that seem identical on the surface.
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Couples can get married under a canopy at Moon Place Golf & Spa Resort in Cancun, Mexico.
But each year, more and more couples are finding another way to set themselves apart. They don't want to get married in the same small town they dreamed of escaping as a kid. They don't want to walk the same route to their big city ceremony that they trudge with dread each day on the way to work. They don't want their guests to simply fit in their wedding between a day of work and a Sunday running errands, making it just another obligatory event on the packed calendar.
For the couple, the wedding day is, as the cliché goes, the first day of the rest of their lives. The ceremony and reception set the tone for their future together. These couples want something particularly special. They want a backdrop as jaw-dropping as the bride herself. They want to separate themselves and their guests from daily life. They want a destination wedding. And their destination event becomes as much a mental trip as a physical one.
Destinations
"Because you're moving everyone away from a place they're familiar with, it really sets the tone for this party atmosphere," says Amy Eisenger of zoodress.com. "You're really on vacation. This is really a special thing. It really creates that atmosphere. … Strapless Dresses Strapless Dresses; It really kind of sets you apart."
Once they know they want to go away, women summer dresses women summer dresses couples must decide where. The options are overwhelming. There's a whole world out there.
"When people generally are talking about destination [weddings], they're always thinking Caribbean or European," says wedding planner Toni DeLisi of Memorable Events in Ramsey. "But a destination is any place that you bring all of your guests. The Jersey Shore is a destination. The Catskills is a destination. Pittsburgh is a destination."
It is possible Pittsburgh may eventually have its day, but for now, the shores of the Three Rivers aren't packed with brides and bouquets. The usual suspects remain the top sites, according to the Destination Weddings and Honeymoons magazine 2011 reader survey.
Internationally, the Caribbean with its blue skies and even bluer water is still at the top of the list homecoming 2011 , with Mexico a close second. Florida is the domestic hot spot for destination weddings. But as the popularity of destination weddings increases, the destinations themselves are slowly getting more diverse. That next invitation might require packing hiking boots instead of flip-flops.
No. 1 for a reason
The Caribbean is the most popular international destination wedding location for a reason. Jamaica, Aruba, St. Lucia and the other Caribbean locales offer warm weather, beautiful beaches, an array of activities, a relaxed atmosphere and resorts with staffs experienced and capable of putting on the perfect event for couples and their guests.
Each has its own unique attributes and ethnicities, so even when the decision is made to go to the Caribbean, choosing the specific island requires more research.
Aruba and Barbados boast locations outside of the hurricane belt, which is an important consideration for couples looking to schedule their big day during the June 1 to Nov. 30 Atlantic hurricane season. Despite the year-round warmth in many of these typical locations, most destination weddings happen during the U.S. wedding season from late spring to late fall.
Couples who choose a Caribbean island for their wedding usually get exactly the sunset and pastel-filled photographs they imagine while planning.
Rising popularity of Central America
While the shores of the Caribbean and Mexico are understandably still the most popular destinations, there is a growing trend for destination wedding couples looking for something more unique or adventurous.
Central America cheap summer dresses , which didn't appear on the Destination Weddings and Honeymoons 2009 reader survey, took the third spot in international locations with six percent of the weddings. Costa Rica and Belize have become more popular as vacation sites.
And while these places could host the ceremony in the sand, they also offer more exotic and interesting locales that go with another destination wedding trend.
"People are moving away from the beach," says Rebecca Kinnear, associate editor at Destination Weddings and Honeymoons.
Guatemala is one Central American country trying to lure some of those couples. The country markets itself on its diverse options — a cosmopolitan atmosphere of Guatemala City, some Mayan ruins, coasts of volcanic sand or Lake Atitlan, which is surrounded by three volcanoes.

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Other countries offer tropical forests, mountains, parks and natural reserves.
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No passport necessary
If couples want to stay in the United States, the usual vacation locations apply. Florida has numerous resorts ready to put together a memorable day/weekend/week for a couple and their guests. And heading into the Keys brings the island flavor some couples may seek without wanting to fly to the Caribbean.
Leaving the continental U.S., Hawaii offers all of its beauty, culture, great weather and more exotic appeal.
Keeping it to a car trip
Out of the ordinary doesn't always require a passport or plane. If a couple wants to feel like they have gotten away yet not travel too far from home, there are plenty of manageable road trips that can transport the bridal party and guests without requiring a passport or a week of vacation.
Places like Cape Cod or Bar Harbor, Maine, hold unique possibilities. To stay even closer to home, think upstate New York, the Catskills, the Poconos, the Jersey Shore or the east end of Long Island.

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Fast facts prom dress
Percentage of 2011 U.S. couples’ weddings expected to be destination weddings: 24
Top international destinations: Caribbean (37 percent), Mexico (32)
Top domestic destinations: Florida (27 percent), Hawaii (13)
Average traditional wedding budget : $24,066
Average destination wedding budget : $21,800
Average age of traditional bride: 27
Average age of destination bride: 32
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Average number of guests at traditional wedding: 140
Average number of guests at destination wedding: 40
Average spending per guest for a traditional wedding: $170
Average spending per guest for destination wedding: $598
Source: 2011 "Destination Weddings & Honeymoons" reader survey and zoodress.com
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