Task 1
1.1 Formulating a research specification
Obesity is defined as state of a person of being bulky or overweight. The problem of childhood obesity is not new for the Colliers Wood. They have been facing this issue since a long time. Due to obesity the children are vulnerable to a number of diseases and other health issues like diabetes, hypertension and liver diseases. This research project report will present the effectiveness of diet and nutrition for children to prevent obesity. The research methodology will be quantitative which will give the number of children who are obese and also will try to know that what the kind of knowledge and awareness the children as well as parents have regarding the diet and nutrition which can prevent obesity among the children of Colliers Wood (Baskin et al, 2005).
For qualitative research, the data will be collected from various schools. The schools are the place where children spend most of their time and hence it is the best place to know about their eating habits. The other members who will take part in this research method are the staff members at the cafeteria, teachers etc. The other participants of the research will be the parents of children. It will be easier to know about the eating habits of children from these people.
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1.2 Formulating and recording research project outline specification
Aim and Objective of the study:
It was getting very important to conduct this kind of research as the number of obese children was increasing at an alarming rate (Bluford et al, 2007). It was observed that it increased and got tripled in the last three years. There are two important bodies which helped a lot during the time of research; the bodies are Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP). Both the bodies agreed upon the fact that the best screening tool to get the health-related issues among children is with the help of Body mass index (BMI).
Body mass Index is calculated with the help of the height and weight of a child. It is considered as one of the most consistent and trustworthy indicator of obesity among children. When the BMI is calculated it is being indicated at the CDC’s BMI for age growth chart which indicates the child’s BMI according to gender, age and height relative to other children in the world (Doak et al, 2006). The interpretation of the results from BMI is done differently for children and adults. BMI should not be misunderstood as the diagnostic tool for overweight problems instead it is just a calculation tool which helps in identifying the health problems and then assessing the possible solutions or the cure for that particular disease.
1.3 Factors that contribute to the process of research projects selection and a critical review of the literature.
Purpose of the study:
This research is very much needed as there are number of risk factors that are associated with obesity, and hence the pre and post study of this research will be helpful in understanding the effectiveness of the diet and nutrition for children to prevent obesity. Obesity can only be prevented with the help of proper food habits and some physical activities. Obesity can occur to anyone, but in Colliers Wood it is seen that it occurs mostly to children between the age group of 10-15 as they are very much attracted towards junk food (Kaphingst and French, 2006). If the obesity problem is not controlled at the right time, it can cause a lot of harm to the body and can alleviate the risk the obesity in adulthood too.
The main purpose of this research study is to understand the effectiveness of diet and nutrition to prevent obesity in Colliers Wood. Along with this, there will also be an effort to ensure that children understand the importance of healthy diet and active lifestyle. With the help of this study, children will be told about the risk factors that are being associated with the obesity which they hold. Until and unless children themselves understand the importance of a healthy diet, it would be very difficult to ensure that they do not consume any junk food outside (Kreb et al, 2007).
1.4 Research project specification, and appropriate plan and procedure about the agreed research specification.
Background of the study:
The most important factor which contributes towards obesity of young children is the diet which is high in calories and low in the nutrients. Mostly it is seen that obesity is due to the calorie unevenness among children’s diet. The physical activity is less among obese children and hence the amount calorie consumed is more than the amount of calories that are being shredded. This results in the conversion of calories into fat and hence results in obesity. To avoid obesity, the intake of calories should be in proportion to the physical activity and also the diet should contain more amounts of important and healthy nutrients and proteins. There must be a proper balance between all the required nutrients in the diet of a child (Lindsay et al, 2006). Only a balanced diet can lead to the healthy life with no obesity.
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There are lot of other issues and problems which are being faced by the obese children. They are being bullied by other children in schools and parks. Due to this they lose their self-esteem and self-confidence completely. Since their physical appearance is different from others, they feel rejected and depressed. This results in social isolation of the child. They avoid meeting other people and like to remain alone. Childhood obesity has got lot of bad effects on the status of the family as they spend lots of money to get rid of the diseases caused due to obesity in their child.
Parents are the role models for children thus it is very important that parents should follow a healthy eating habit and healthy life style. Children usually follow the things which they see and hence if they will see their parents following a healthy lifestyle they will also follow the same which will avoid the problem of obesity amongst them (Lindsay et al, 2006). With the help of this research report, children will become aware about the importance and effectiveness of a healthy and nutritional diet in order to prevent obesity. Awareness about the healthy diet and physical activities is the key to healthy life. The teachers and school authorities also have to do a lot in order to ensure that the message is reaches each and every student.
Task 2
The alarming increase in the rate of obesity amongst children calls for cure and treatment methods, so that the health condition of the country could be improved. The study of cause and risk factors is important to get some solutions to stop the increasing rate of obesity among children.
2.1 Matching resources to the research question or hypothesis
Effect of Diet and Nutrition on Obesity
It has been observed in the last few years that the quality of diet amongst children of the age 10-15 years has decreased a lot which in turn increases the rate of obesity. There were lot of tests and experiments done to study obesity. In the year of 2008, there was test done in order to check the efficiency of Michigan Model Nutrition Curriculum. This was done to check the awareness about the eating habits among the middle school children. The sample size for this experiment was around 738 and a pre and post-test pseudo-experiment was done. Initially a questionnaire was given to the children based on the diet and nutrition required to avoid obesity (Moreno and Rodríguez, 2007). Then for one week there were regular classes in which the effectiveness of diet and nutrition was taught to the children. Then the same test was repeated. It is was seen that the children after getting the knowledge were ready to accept the healthy eating styles and were more keen in getting a healthy life.
From various studies it is seen that the most important meal of the day is the breakfast and hence it should contain the maximum nutritional value. The trend among school going children is to skip breakfast as they get late for school. Then in school they go to cafeteria and order all the unhealthy food. It is very important that a child must finish the breakfast before leaving the house. In order to check the effectiveness of the healthy breakfast an experiment was done at a school. The class was divided into two groups, one set of children were given a healthy and nutritional food whereas the other set was provided with junk food for breakfast (Moreno and Rodríguez, 2007). This routine continued for about 1 month, there was a tremendous difference noticed among them in just 1 month. The students with good food very more attentive and fit in class whereas the other group with junk food diet were lethargic and dull in the class. This experiment proved that there is lot of effect of diet and nutrition for children in order to prevent obesity.
2.2 Proposed research investigation in accordance with the agreed specification and procedures in an action plan.
There are many schools which provide lunch and breakfast to their students. The quality varies from public to private schools. During the research it was observed that the chances of obesity were more among the children at public schools in comparison to the private schools. This is because in public schools the teachers and the physical fitness departments were not much coordinated whereas in the private schools there was a good coordination between the two (Ogden et al, 2006). In order to ensure a healthy development of a child, it is very important that the good nutrition must be supported with lots of good exercises and other physical actives. In this experiment many of the schools were involved and hence the sample size was big, it was around 2000-3000. In order to get the results, multiple linear regression method was used.
The other important factor in the diet is overeating. Many children have a tendency to over eat as they like eating. This trend must be stopped and they should be told about the harmful effects of overeating. The next point is about having water immediately after food. They should be educated about the fact that they must not drink lot of water immediately after food as it hinders the digestion process.
2.3 Recording and collection of relevant data
Methodology of the research
As seen before obesity has many severe health issues on the body of a child. The purpose of this research and experiment was to understand the effectiveness of the diet and nutrition in order to prevent obesity. This experiment is going to make everyone understand that how the daily intake of food is going to have a direct impact on health. (Ogden et al, 2012). There are various types of food materials available in market; one should choose them very judiciously. Also, in the research there will be experiments and research in order to understand the relation between diet, nutritional food and the physical activities and importance of awareness among the children.
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Data Collection Process:
In the methodology used in the experiment, the sample size is chosen as per the requirement and all the results are being analysed with the best possible method. The proper procedure was followed in conducting the research. Since the experiments were done in the schools, all the required permissions were taken from the school authorities in order to conduct the experiments. An initial meeting was conducted with all the important members like principal of the school, superintendent of the school, physical activity trainer, cafeteria staff etc.
The sample was randomized and it included all the students between the ages of 10-15 years from different classes (Sallis and Glanz, 2006). The teachers were told about the process of experiment and hence they ensured that there will be full cooperation from their as well as students side. The students were taught about the methods, so that they could answer the questionnaire in the best possible manner. Since, there was involvement of the students also; a permission letter was signed from the parents too. This was to ensure that the parents are supporting the research so that the problem can be eradicated.
As mentioned, the research was divided into two parts, the first one was the one in which students needed to answer the questionnaire in which their awareness about the effectiveness of the diet and nutrition was judged. The questionnaire was of Likert style which consisted of questions related to all the fields related to obesity like the risk factors, physical activities, awareness and the diet and nutrition (Schwartz and Brownell, 2007). The other one was the one in which the students were made to go through a practical experiment so that they can understand the effect of diet on their health. For both the experiments students were divided randomly and also the sample size varied as the number of present students varied every day. To get the final result an average of all the number of students was taken.
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Data Analysis:
The most important step of the research is data analysis. The data collected was analysed with the help of excel software. A null hypothesis and research hypothesis was taken into consideration while the analysis. To check whether the students actually understood the motive behind the experiment a small personal interview session was kept. In this session the children were accompanied with their parents and were asked about their views on the effectiveness of diet and nutrition to prevent obesity (Sallis and Glanz, 2006). The analysis of the data is presented in the graph below:
Task 3
3.1 Summary finding for final research meeting and the use of appropriate research evaluation techniques.
After the completion of the experiments in the research, there was a meeting in order to get the results and outcomes. From the various data collected and the practical experiments it was clear that the diet and nutrition plays a big role in prevention of obesity. In order to prevent obesity among children the most important factor is that their diet should be up to the mark. They should avoid taking food which is more in calories and less in nutritional value. There must be a balanced diet to avoid obesity. The other finding of the research was that even children do not like to look fat and bulky; it is just that they need a proper guidance. If a proper guidance is given to them on what to eat and what not to eat, they will definitely follow it to be healthy and avoid obesity (Summerbell et al, 2005).
In the experiment all the data and the facts are kept confidential. No information is leaked to any unauthorized person. The confidentiality of students and parents was maintained so that no one is emotionally hurt. All the answer sheets given by the students were sealed in the envelope in front of them and then send to the lab for the analysis. Even the notes which were made during the personal interview session were sealed and kept at the safe place so that no unauthorized person can have a look at them.
3.2 Interpretation and analysis of results in terms of the original research specifications
A proper care was taken and hence there was no physical harm caused to any of the participating student in the experiment. The students who were asked to skip breakfast also were kept under doctor’s invigilation so that there is no harm caused to them (Veugelers and Fitzgerald, 2005). Childhood obesity was a serious issue and hence there was full support to the experiments and research. Even the parents, children and teachers understood the importance of the experiment and hence provided all the necessary help during the experiment.
It is very important that children understand the effectiveness of diet and nutrition to prevent obesity, so that they can follow a healthy lifestyle from the very beginning and avoid becoming an obese adult (Waters et al, 2011). From the experiment, it became very easy to make them understand the same as they were involved in the research and hence they can observe the difference on their own.
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3.3 Recommendations and justification of areas for further considerations
The main motive of this experiment was to understand the effectiveness of the diet and nutrition to prevent obesity among children. The success of the research can be judged with the help of various factors which are involved within the research like obesity awareness, physical activities, diet awareness etc. All the topics had a questions related to them in the questionnaire which were answered by the students. Looking at the post experiment answers it can be concluded that the students were more aware about the factors related to obesity and now they better understand the role of diet and nutrition in the prevention of obesity (WHO, 2011).After this experiment, even the parents are familiar with the facts and figures related to the diet and nutrition.
There was a huge difference in the answers in pre and post experiment. This means that the experiment which was conducted was really helpful for the students to understand the effectiveness of the healthy diet to avoid obesity. Students are now aware about the harm effects of the skipping breakfast, having junk food and overeating. Now they are known about the harmful effects of overeating and having lot of water immediately after food.
The limitation in the research was that there was nothing mentioned regarding the other medical issues due to which a child can face obesity. A child can be obese if he has got a thyroid problem. In such case even if he used to have healthy diet, he can be an obese.
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References
Baskin, M. L., Ard, J., Franklin, F., & Allison, D. B. (2005) Prevalence of obesity in the United States Obesity Reviews, 6(1), 5-7 Bluford, D. A., Sherry, B., & Scanlon, K. S. (2007). Interventions to prevent or treat obesity in preschool children: a review of evaluated programs. Obesity, 15(6), 1356-1372 Doak, C. M., Visscher, T. L. S., Renders, C. M., & Seidell, J. C. (2006) the prevention of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: a review of interventions and programmes. Obesity reviews, 7(1), 111-136 Kaphingst, K. M., & French, S. (2006). The role of schools in obesity prevention The Future of Children, 16(1), 109-142 Krebs, N. F., Himes, J. H., Jacobson, D., Nicklas, T. A., Guilday, P., & Styne, D. (2007) Assessment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity. Pediatrics, 120(Supplement 4), S193-S228 Lindsay, A. C., Sussner, K. M., Kim, J., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2006) the role of parents in preventing childhood obesity. The Future of children, 16(1), 169-186For more ABI College Research Project assignment help click on order now.
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