research

Research

The Growing Epidemic of Childhood Obesity in the United States

Section I:

The United States has recently seen a huge increase in overweight and obese Americans. The problem stems from the inactive, lazy lifestyles with which many Americans have become accustomed. Obese parents are not teaching their children proper eating and exercise patterns to stay fit even when they are young. Child obesity usually gets worse as children get older.
Schools are not helping with the obesity problem, either. Although schools used to focus on healthy lifestyles for their students, these programs are diminishing. Some schools do not even provide recess or physical education programs.
I am interested in getting to the root of the childhood obesity problem. I think parenting and schooling have the most vital impact on children and their habits, so I would like to find how parents and schools are influencing children in terms of health, diet and exercise.

1. I would like to find statistical information and demographics on overweight children in the U.S. to see if there are certain factors predisposing particular groups to obesity.
2. I would like to find information on parenting styles and their effects on youth lifestyles.
3. I would like to find out more about diseases and health concerns related to childhood obesity.
4. I would like to find information on the physical activity levels of the average American youth.

My intended audience for this research is parents of young and adolescent age children. This information and data could help parents understand the impact they can have on their kids by exposing them to healthy lifestyles. I also would like parents to eb informed on the detrimental effects of childhood obesity. I will use this information and research to produce an incentive program, promoting the increase of exercise in children.

Section I-b:

UNC Library Catalog:
“obesity” AND “children”
“overweight” AND “children” NOT “adults”

Lexis-Nexis Academic Guided Searches:
Medical News
Medical & Health News
“Children” (full text)
AND “obese” (full text)
AND NOT “adults” (in headline, lead paragraph, terms)
Previous 2 years

General News
Magazines & Journals
“obes!” (full text)
AND “youth” (full text)
Previous 2 years

Search Engine on Web: <http://www.google.com>
“overweight” AND “children”
“children” AND “physical activity”

Section II:

Print Sources:

American Psychological Association. Body Image, eating disorders,
and obesity in youth : assessment, prevention, and treatmen,/1st ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001. Call Number: WS 130 B668 2001

Parizkova, Jana, Childhood Obesity : prevention and treatment. Boca Raton: CRC Press,
2001. Call Number: WD 210 P234c 2001

Non-Paper Source: Video

Childhood Obesity: II, prevention and community intervention. Videorecording,
60 min. Network for Continuing Medical Education, Secaucus, NJ, 2002.
Call Number: NCME #794

Section III:

Birch, LL & KK Davison. “Family environmental factors influencing the developing
behavioral controls of food intake & child overweight.” In Pediatric Clinics of North America, August 2001, 48(4): 893-907. Database on-line. Available from Medline <http://www.uncle/skrt/uncle/eid/ovidOnline.pl?D=mesz>. [24 January 2003].

Jain, A., S.N. Sherman, C.L. Chamberlin, Y. Carter, S.W. Powers, & R.C. Whitaker.
“Why don’t low-income mothers worry about their preschoolers being overweight?” Pediatrics, May 2001, 107(5):1138-46. Database on-line. Available from Medline <http://www.uncle/skrt/uncle/eid/ovidOnline.pl?D=mesz>. [24 January 2003].

Kimm, Sue Y.S. & Eva Obarzanek. “Childhood obesity: a new pandemic of the new
millennium.” Pediatrics, November 2002, v110, p1003. Database on-line. Available from Infotrac, Gale Group <http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com>. [25 January 2003].

Northern, Stephanie. “The Issue: Children’s Fitness.” The Times Educational
Supplement, 4 October 2002, Features & Arts, 15. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>. [25 January 2003].

“OBESITY: New data on obesity in kids sheds light on growing problem.” Obesity,
Fitness, & Wellness Week, 24 January 2003, Expanded Reporting, 20. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>. [25 January 2003].

“OBESITY: Research shows less income, education not always top factors in child obesity.” Obesity, Fitness, & Wellness Week, 24 January 2003, Expanded Reporting, 21. Database on-line. Available from Lexis-Nexis <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>. [25 January 2003].

Section IV:

Title of Web Page: Physical Fitness
Web Address: http://www.healthierus.gov/exercise.html
Brief Description: This web site, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services is part of the governmental attempt to get Americans into healthier lifestyles. This specific web page contains 10 links on obesity and numerous other links to physical fitness and nutrition sites.
Source: Department of Health and Human Services

Title of Web Page: Overweight in Children and Adolescents
Web Address: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_adolescents.htm
Brief Description: This web site is posted by the Surgeon General, informing citizens of statistics and risk factors involved in obesity. The obesity page for children and adolescents is a link from the Office of the Surgeon General home page. The site provides specific measure that can be taken in terms of weight loss, eating habits and physical activity.
Source: Surgeon General

Title of Web Page: Obesity in Children and Teens
Web Address: http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/79.htm
Brief Description: This web site is sponsored by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and it provides very useful information about obesity. Not only does the web site contain the same information as the other web sites, it gives tips on managing the problem. The AACAP offers a number of wonderful fact sheets on all types of disorders so it’s a useful web site for many other searches as well.
Source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Title of Web page: Children’s Virtual Hospital: A Digital Library of Pediatric Library
Web Address: http://www.vh.org/pediatric/provider/pediatrics/obesity/
Brief Description: This “Children’s Virtual Hospital” web site contains lots of helpful information about youth obesity and the risks involved. The website is run by Michael Tansey, M.D., who is a professor as well as a doctor. His website also provides parents with many great links to find more specific information on a plethora of topics related to children, as well as more links to information about childhood obesity.
Source: University of Iowa

Title of Web Page: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Web Address: www.cdc.gov
Brief Description: In my JOMC 173 class, my group’s client is the CDC. Our job is to develop a campaign aiding the CDC’s combat against the growing obesity problem in American children. Over the past few weeks, I have become very familiar with this CDC web site, and it offers information on any topic you would want to research. It is not only a good source for my obesity research, but for data on health topics in every realm.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Section V.

The infiltration of the Internet into society has now gone a step farther. In lieu of the growing obesity epidemic, there are now ways for those with Internet access to diet on-line. It sounds crazy, but the popularity and success of eDiets.com can speak for itself. eDiets.com is the most popular of all the on-line dieting programs, although Weight Watchers and others have also started online dieting options.

eDiets.com, Inc., with its corporate headquarters in Deerfield Beach, Florida, was founded in 1996. Since then, the program has gained a huge number of members, totaling about 1 million subscribers at the end of 2002 (1).

The success of eDiets.com stems from its combination of “convenience, personalization and privacy for an online alternative to traditional weight loss programs” (1). Users can sit at their personal computer and have privacy in their dieting. eDiets.com employs both licensed dieticians and psychologists for assistance and guidance in the weight loss program (1).

The preliminary steps to beginning an on-line diet include entering your gender, height, weight and age into the web site. Then the eDiets.com provides each user with a personalized meal plan and recipes. Members of the program can find helpful nutrition information on the web site, as well as speak with other users through support boards and chat rooms. The web site maintains that the average eDiets.com member loses about 2 pounds per week (1).

According to writer Kevin O’Connor, mixed reviews are going around about eDiets.com. First, specific prices are hard to find on the web site, although $35 was quoted on the web site for three months. It is hard to say what the $35 includes, possibly just the membership fee. Some have called the program a waste of money, although it is up to the individual to make the weight loss happen on their own. O’Connor said that there is a free, and possibly superior, online diet program at www.fitday.com (2).

Another web site where Lynn Grieger, R.D., C.D.E., rates eDiets.com gives the program average scores for health and ease and minimal scores in terms of hunger and expense (3). I see both advantages and disadvantages in the on-line dieting programs, but I guess time will tell if they are effective through trials and memberships.

NOTES:
(1) eDiets.com.: Virtual Health Center. 2000. eDiets.com. [web site]. Forbes
Magazine. Accessed: 31 January 2003. Available from: www.ediets.com.
Internet.
(2) Kevin O'Connor. 21 December 2002. Reviews mixed for eDiets.com. In
Lexis-Nexis [database online]. CanWest Interactive, The Leader-Post.
[Accessed: 31 January 2003]
(3) R.D. Grieger, Lynn C.D.E. diets a-to-z: eDiets.com. [web site]. iVillage.
Accessed: 31 January 2003. Available from:
http://www.ivillage.com/diet/features/. Internet.
Three other web sites to find more information about Internet dieting:

Title of Web Page: FitDay
Web Address: http://www.fitday.com/
Brief Description: The FitDay web site is extremely similar to the eDiets.com web site except for the fact that membership is free. It has similar nutritional and dieting information.
Source of Web Site: FitDay.com

Title of Web Page: iVillage
Web Address: http://www.ivillage.co.uk/
Brief Description: iVillage is another diet and fitness web site. It offers nutritional information, a Body Mass Index calculator, and links to related articles and web sites.
Source of Web Site: iVillage, Inc.

Title of Web Page: Calories Count
Web Address: http://www.caloriescount.com/research.html
Brief Description: This web site offers the same tools as the other weight loss sites, but also provides research findings about online dieting.
Source of Web Site: CaloriesCount