Sleep Deprivation the effects it has on adolescent obesity - Research Paper Example

? Sleep Deprivation the Effects it has on Adolescent Obesity Introduction Obesity is a condition that is sometimes mistaken as a disease. In reality, obesity is a medical condition that may be caused by several factors. It is a medical condition that is characterized by the accumulation of excess body fat and it may have accumulated to the extent that the excess fat may have adverse effects on the body. It might influence the wellbeing of a person and lead to a reduced life span. It may also lead to various life diseases and other life threatening conditions. The various diseases that can be associated with obesity include heart disease, diabetes, and in particular the type 2 diabetes and also there is the likelihood of cancer. Looking at obesity, it can be characterized by the food intake that individuals who have obesity consume (Biggs, 2007). The amount of energy foods that one takes is proportional to the body structure. It is also caused by a lack of exercise and another cause can also be genetics. If there are genes in the family that make individuals in that specific family to become obese, then the family members have a high chance of also becoming obese. Obesity has been related to the sleep duration that an individual gets in their lifetime. Though consumption of large quantities of food and also the lack of physical exercise contribute to obesity, sleep duration also counts as a factor when considering the chances that one will become obese (AI-Hafian, 2008). The aim of the research is to focus on adolescent obesity, and how the lack of adequate sleep brings about the condition. According to studies and research done, overweight adolescents are over 30% of the total population. Such statistics beg to make a statement that people, and in particular adolescents, need to diet and physically exercise more. The research done was in order to explain the relationship between adolescent obesity and the sleep a person gets. iModel Research Proposal Outline The objective of this research is to show how obesity has been a major problem and particularly among the young adults. This, according to statistics, is a leading cause of heart-related diseases and the inabilities for adolescents who are supposed to be young, vibrant and healthy are seemingly unhealthy and have problems with their overall living. What many people assume about the condition is that it is mainly caused by excessive eating, lack of exercise and also the influence of genetics. What most people assume is that there is also the possibility of people becoming obese due to lack of proper sleep (Kiess, 2004).  This is a factor that is common among scientists and also among researchers but is unknown to the general public. It is important that individuals come to know the importance of sleep in maintaining their health and also ensuring that they remain healthy at all times. The specific aims of this research is to bring closure and make people understand that it is imperative to get abundance of sleep since it causes a condition which many view and mistake as a disease. The general purpose of this study is to show that there are ways in which the condition can be maintained and also controlled. This research might bring scientists and researchers closer to finding the ultimate way to end the condition. Most of the adolescents who suffer from obesity face rejection by their peers; they view themselves as unable to fit in with the other adolescents their age. They do not consider themselves as part of the younger generation. Some o them even give up trying to lose weight and in their own way fond other methods to increase their weight because they have come to accept their own health states. With this research, they will be competent to make a difference in their lives. This research will open a door for them to try losing weight. This research will bring about restoring hope to those affected, and also will come a long way in maintaining the condition and helping to put a stop to the condition (Jelalian & Steele, 2008).  Background literature Based on past researches, there have been a number of conclusions in this field. It has come to be discovered that adolescence and obesity go hand in hand. Past researches have shown that there have been a number of individual stresses related to obesity in young adults or adolescents. Research has shown that stress seems to affect the adolescents more than it does for the older generation. This shows that obesity is taking its toll on young people. When one takes more calories in the body than the body can contain, then there is a likely possibility that there will be an increase in weight. Taking a look at adolescent age, there have been times that the average adolescent individual feels stressed in matters that concern their lives; such as school work, relationships between them and their parents or between themselves. This in turn results to a number of things. Some eat to relieve their stress levels and this does not help them in any way. Another factor that has been researched is the fact that there is also the possibility that obese people find cooking healthy foods as a tiresome procedure. This is because they have become so used to the fact that they can only consume foods that are high in their levels of fat and thus continue gaining weight. Another factor that was researched and found to be true is the fact that without proper care at a young age, there is the likelihood that a child will grow up to be obese. All this researches that have been done give the general idea that obese is a serious issue and needs to be maintained (International Congress on Obesity, Bouchard, Medeiros & Halpern, 2003).  Research Design and Data analysis Lack of sleep is a factor that influences obesity among adolescents. It has come to be researched and concluded that the amount of sleep time that an individual gets affects the turnout of the physical health of an individual (Bagchi, 2011). Sleep is an exercise, which many individuals have fail to learn the advantages of sleep. The lack of sleep affects the body’s total index and thus is a very important factor in finding the wellbeing of the body. Sleep is important as it enables the body to metabolize itself and as such much of the excess body fat can be utilized. The attention is mainly fixed on the adolescents since it is through the adolescents that a more modern nation will be created (Taheri, Lin, Austin, Young, Mignot, 2004). Obesity affecting adolescents is bound to affect all the world population since the adolescents of today are the leaders of tomorrow (Gangwisch, 2005). As such, there should be a controlling factor that seeks to prevent or at least control the level of obesity in adolescents. Studies have shown that there is more to the relationship between the level of increase body mass and hours of sleep. According to research, the body mass of an individual is influenced by the number of hours of sleep that one gets. The lesser the hours, the more the body mass increases and the more the hours, the less the body mass gets (Al Mamun, Lawlor, Cramb, O'Callaghan, Williams, Najman, 2007). Obesity is seen as something that is growing and looking at the statistics, they can confirm that the highest and most likely to be affected people are of the age of between 12 to19. This age group represents the group that is most productive but because of obesity, they are far less productive than they should be. As a matter to be considered, there should be measures that would bring about interventions and also bring about the ending of a condition that reduces those affected to be viewed differently by the general public. In order to bring the research of how sleep affects the general body weight of an individual, there are certain questions that beg for answers. Some of the questions are; How does sleep affect the body weight of an individual; Sleep affects the body weight of an individual in that sleep brings about hormonal activity that brings about the generation of appetite. The main hormones that are responsible for the generation of appetite are activated and thus one can regulate the amount of food that one takes in. When one does not get enough sleep, the hormones are not generated and thus there is no appetite. This causes an individual to eat more quantities of food in order to feel satisfied. This in turn brings about large quantities of fat in the body that are continually stored. An appetite regulates the amount of food that one takes in, because it is accompanied by another hormone that sends a message to the brain telling it when one is satisfied and thus should stop eating. Is sleep deprivation linked to obesity?; Obesity has been linked to the amount of sleep that one gets. The more the sleep hours the less the chance that one will be obese. The less the sleep hours the more the likelihood that one will be obese. Is obesity associated with poor sleep quality in adolescent?; Obesity is associated with lack of proper sleep in adolescents and if the problem does not get attention and thus intervention, obesity will be a condition that will continue to affect adolescent individuals, and this will be a major problem. Conclusion From the above essay, it can be seen that obesity if a medical condition and that any person can be affected by the condition. Obesity needs to be faced off and in particular in adolescents. Sleep is essential since the hormones produced while one is asleep enable them to notify the brain that a person is full; thus, one will stop eating. Lack of sleep brings about the eating without feeling satisfied. Sleep and eating should be controlled from an early age and in particular when one is at the age of between 5 to12 (Gupta, Mueller, Meininger, 2002). References AI-Hafian, K. (2008). Sleep, Obesity, And the Adolescent Population: A Literature Review. A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Nursing. Washington State University. Al Mamun, A., Lawlor, D.A., Cramb, S., O'Callaghan, M., Williams, G., Najman, J. (2007). Do childhood sleeping problems predict obesity in young adulthood? Evidence from a Prospective Birth Chohort Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 166 (12), 1368­1373. Biggs, S., Dollman, J. (2007). Association between sleep, BMI and waist girth in children and Adolescents: a retrospective analysis. Acta Paediatrica (96), 1839 - 1843. Gangwisch, J.E. et al. (2005). Inadequate Sleep As A Risk Factor For Obesity: Analyses Of The NHANES I. SLEEP, Vol. 28, No. 10, 2005 Gupta, N.K., Mueller, W.H., Chan, W., Meininger, J. (2002). Is obesity associated with poor sleep quality in adolescents? American Journal ofHuman Biology, 14, 762-768. Taheri, S., Lin, L., Austin, D., Young, T., Mignot, E. (2004). Short Sleep Duration is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index. PLoS Med, 1(3), 210. Kiess, W. (2004). Obesity in childhood and adolescence: 24 tables. Basel [u.a.: Karger. Jelalian, E., & Steele, R. G. (2008). Handbook of childhood and adolescent obesity. New York, NY: Springer. International Congress on Obesity, Bouchard, C., Medeiros, N. G. A., & Halpern, A. (2003). Progress in obesity research: 9. Surrey, U.K: John Libbey Eurotext. Bagchi, D. (2011). Global perspectives on childhood obesity: Current status, consequences and prevention. London: Academic. Read More