Applying Background and Methodology of the Research Process

Childhood Obesity
Samantha Pernett
June 15, 2015
HCS/465
Professor Ann Impens

Childhood obesity is one of the nation’s number one health problem and can lead to many different health issues in later into adulthood. Such as Diabetes, High blood Pressure, Heart Attacks, High Cholesterol, and much more. There has to be changes in our youth to help to fix this problem. The article and study done by multiple people “Understanding childhood obesity in America: Linkages between household income, community resources, and children's behaviors” was done to help understand what is causing this problem and give some insight on things that could be done to help lower the percentage of overweight children. This study was done to distinguish the root cause of childhood obesity and to learn the connection between income, community, and family life to obesity in children. This study that is being conducted is very important because it is said that being overweight as an adult has a lot to do with how weight was in your childhood. Also childhood obesity has been on the rise and is causing individuals to grow up and develop major health risks. The study is supposed to give us an idea if what is causing childhood obesity and who and what needs to be changed to help to fight this growing problem. As stated in the article/study the question that needed to be answered was to identify and compare environmental influences at the community level, between median household income and childhood obesity rates, and how these financial influences relate to nutrition and recreational activity of middle school students. Also stated in the article the hypothesis was that children residing in communities of lower socioeconomic status would have poorer self-reported health behaviors than those residing in communities with more resources. Also that children in lower income communities are more overweight then those that live in communities that had a higher income. Other points that were in the study was if some students had single parents or not. This study did not have any results based off of gender or sex of the children. This study was conducted using two groups of children. One group was children in the state of Massachusetts in the grades of 1, 4, 7, and 10. The other was a group of students in 6th grade but in Michigan and were part of a project called Project Healthy Schools which is a program that teaches children 5 primary goals. Those goals are to encourage students to eat more fruits and vegetables, make better beverage choices, exercise at least 150 minutes a week, eat fewer fast and fatty foods, and spend less time in front of a TV or a computer screen. The study used a software that compared self-reported behaviors among students in the 4 different school systems using z a Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis. It analyzed the self-reported answers of the students. How was consumed of these foods, of meat, French fries, fried foods, fruits, vegetables, and milk. For activity, they assessed previous week's participation in vigorous exercise, moderate exercise, physical education classes, and hours per day spent in front of a TV/video, computer, and/or video games. They also used a standardized questionnaire that asked students to gather information for the study. In these study’s it included 109,634 students in Massachusetts and 999 6th grade students in Michigan with in 4 different towns of Ann Arbor, Corunna, Ypsilanti, and Detroit. This study was conducted in 2009 but some of the information was not evaluated until 2012. After completing the study the conclusion that is stated in the study (2015) “The prevalence of overweight/obese children rises in communities with lower household income. Children residing in lower income communities exhibit poorer dietary and physical activity behaviors, which affect obesity” (pg1). After the study was complete it was known that many of the children that were overweight where in low income communities or households. This could be because the communities have easier access to fast food and less access to food stores. Also that healthier food seems to cost a lot more then prepackage high fat foods. Also that parents and other adults have to be involved in the process of change. They have to limit activities and increase certain foods. In the study there is a reference to a program that one school taught that I believe would be a good starting ground. It is called the 5-2-1-0 concept. This helps teach children what should be done to stay healthy. It is 5 fruits/vegetables, less than 1 hour of screen time, 1 hour of exercise, and no sugar drinks. This study was very helpful and defiantly had a good outcome to help give people the knowledge on how bad childhood obesity is becoming and what we as a nation need to change it.

Reference

Eagle, T. F., Sheetz, A., Gurm, R., Woodward, A. C., Kline-Rogers, E., Leibowitz, R., . . . Eagle,
K. A. (2012). Understanding childhood obesity in america: Linkages between household income, community resources, and children's behaviors. The American Heart Journal, 163(5), 836-843. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2012.02.025