Adolescents’ Attitudes About Obesity and What They Want in Obesity Prevention Programs

Adolescents’ Attitudes about Obesity and What They

Want In Obesity Prevention Programs

1. What is the research question?  

The research question would be what are the adolescents’ perception about obesity and

which obesity prevention programs would they prefer?  Wilson (2007) pointed out that American adolescents are overweight and obese (as cited in Freedman & Stern, 2004). Without intervention programs, these trends would continue to raise in an alarming rate (Wilson, 2007). What research question would assist the middle school students in determining their awareness about obesity and the best prevention program that will best work for their level?

2. What is the research design? (Otherwise known as, Study approach, Chapter 7 in textbook)

The research design used for this research study is quantitative and cross-sectional sample (Wilson, 2007) under tertiary (Jacobsen, 2017). The quantitative design is based its’ descriptor, the number of enrolled students, and the number of the actual responders. The percentage is quantitatively used in comparing based on gender and grade levels which are grades five, six, and seven. The goal of the cross-sectional study is to define the population’s disease and exposure (Jacobsen, 2017). In this research, the behaviors of middle school students about obesity, how they perceive it, and their preferred prevention programs were used to qualify and quantify using their responses on the questionnaires given to them (Wilson, 2017).

3. How are the key variables measured? (Example age, income, alcohol levels, history of chicken pox, Chapter 27 in textbook)

The demographic key variables were based on the school enrollment, number of respondents, gender, and the grade levels which are grades 6, 7, and 8. They were assessed based on their opinion about the weight and health issues among their group level (Wilson, 2007). It also includes strategies on how to keep a healthy weight, the effects their family involvement, preferred programs to stay healthy, and the approaches that they feel that work best for their age group (Wilson, 2007).

4. How did they collect the data? (Discuss the data collection process)

The primary study for this research was collected by using a questionnaire designed for grade 4.8 level. Before the actual collection of the data, the questionnaire was evaluated by a middle school health and education teachers and a school nurse from another school (Wilson, 2007). It was pilot tested to two middle school assistant students and another two middle school students with learning disabilities. Few updates were made to the questionnaire updated after reviewed and pilot tested (Wilson, 2007).

The researcher utilized the existing data as her secondary data such as the data on prevalence, causes, adverse results, school’s health promotion, strategies, and prevention programs (Wilson, 2007). She examined and analyzed the information based from the different sources and its correlation. The researcher discussed the limitations of the study. She suggested that the school nurses play important role in preventing obesity and promoting health strategies since most of the adolescents are in the school most of the day (Wilson, 2007).

5. Who is the sample? (Describe in detail the group)

The samples were all middle school students in grade 6, 7, and 8 who were present on the day of the data collection (Wilson, 2007). They were categorized in accordance of their gender which either male or female. Students who are cognitively impaired and those who were not allowed by their parents to participate were excluded (Wilson, 2007).

6. How was the sample selected? (Describe the protocols in group selection)

Only the middle school students who were present during the data collection were asked to answer the questionnaire. The students who were excluded were the mentally disabled and those students whose parents didn’t want their children to participate (Wilson, 2007). The male responders were made of forty-nine percent and the females were fifty-one percent. The eight grade responders were thirty six percent. The seventh grade responders were close to twenty-seven percent. The six grade responders were thirty seven percent (Wilson, 2007).  

The questionnaires that were not administered on the designated date were not included (Wilson, 2007). Other reasons for exclusion of questionnaires were not following the protocol, inappropriate responses, incomplete information, and absolute blank forms (Wilson, 2007).

7. What are the results? (Describe the results of the study)

The results showed that the middle school students are aware of the obesity issues. Eighty three percent responders know that being overweight is not healthy (Wilson, 2007). Sixty nine percent responded that people who are overweight should do something to lose weight. Two hundred seven students responded that is it hard to keep healthy weight while two hundred one students responded that it is easy to keep at healthy weight (Wilson, 2007). The difference of these two opinions is only two percent.

Most of the responders agree that it is easier for them to maintain healthy weight if the family supports them. They also prefer a group program that will show them how to eat healthy and exercise more (Wilson, 2007). Fifty one percent of the responders prefer the programs that are conducted during school hours within the school perimeters. The three main strategies that the middle school students think that would best for them are getting more exercise, eat more fruits and vegetables, and drink more water (Wilson, 2007).