Epidemiological Studies: Critical Review - Essay Example

Key terms: obesity, causes of obesity, effects of obesity, and epidemiology were used, singly and collectively, in recruiting resources for the study. This generated, in series, a list of articles on obesity and either or both of causes and consequences of the disorder. Inclusion criteria were then considered in selecting the articles for review. The first inclusion criteria limited selection of empirical studies among journal articles from the online library. Focus was then made on the articles’ year of publication and a three year limit set for consideration of articles published after the year 2010.

Relevance of the articles to the subject of study and their validity and reliability formed other inclusion criteria before three articles were sampled at random. Aljunaibi, A., Abdulle, A. and Nagelkerke, N. (2013). Parental weight perception: A cause for concern in the prevention and management of childhood obesity in the United Arab Emirates. Plos One 8(3); 1-4. Types of risk factors studied The authors considered psychological type of risk in parent’s perception in moderating management effectiveness against obesity in children.

Applied study design Non-experimental design was used in the study and the research procedure that identifies data collection without treatment or randomization infers this. The researchers did not however discuss their design. Proximate or underlying determinants of risk factors Underlying determinants of the study’s risk factors are knowledge of actual weight of a child, household earnings, and gender. Description of the article Internal validity Randomized sampling approach and application of questionnaires that eliminate researcher bias demonstrate the article’s high level of validity.

Its quantitative scope support this (Cottrell and McKenzie, 2010). Generalizability The high number of participants in the study, 1440 students, shows a significant level of internal validity and the probability sampling strategy establish external validity towards generalizability of the study’s results (Bryman, 2012). Naukkarinen, J., Rissanen, A., Kaprio, J. and Pietilainen, K. (2012). Causes and consequences of obesity: The contribution of recent twin studies. International Journal of Obesity 36(8); 1017-1024.

Types of risk factors studied The researchers studied biological causes of obesity with focus on genetic. Studying genetic composition of twins and occurrence of obesity among them facilitated the study. Applied study design Qualitative method’s case study design was used in the study that explored literature on growth of twins and differences in occurrence of obesity among them. Proximate or underlying determinants of risk factors Environmental factors are the identified underlying risk factors of the disorder and therefore moderate occurrence and severity of obesity.

Description of the article Internal validity The study’s qualitative approach does not regard validity but reliance on results from longitudinal empirical studies establishes credibility (Cottrell and McKenzie, 2010). Generalizability Nature of the source of data for the study, empirical longitudinal studies, establishes reliability of sources of data and derived conclusion from the data and this means that the results can be generalized to other populations (Bryman, 2012). Beales, J. and Kulick, R. (2013). Does advertising on television cause childhood obesity?

A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Public Policy &