Comparison of Nutrition-related Factors Between Normal Weight and Obese Group - Dissertation Example

Result Write-up for Research on nutrition related factors for obesity and normal person. The research on nutrition related factors to determine the difference between obese and normal persons in Hong Kong was conducted by selecting a sample of 108 people, which included different variables. The variables were selected according to different age group starting from 18 years of age to 35 years. They were given set of questionnaires to collect data regarding their knowledge about nutrition, their food habits, food timings etc. The focus group were then sorted out gender vice and age vice. In addition to that, people belonging to different category such as underweight, normal weight, and overweight were treated as subordinate variables to focus on getting at least approximate results. Out of the 108 samples 17 belonged to underweight group, 58 belonged to normal weight and 33 belonged to obese and overweight group. Preference was had been given to normal weight and obese group first and then the underweight group. Out of them 81 are female and 27 are male. The targeted people between the age group 18-23 were amounted to 38 in number, and the age group 24-29 were amounted to 59 and finally the age group 30 and above were 11 in numbers. Since the research requires a mixed group of people including educated and uneducated, employees and students samples were selected accordingly. For example 16 out of 108 samples were students, 10 of the are either house wives or family men, 69 were employees, 5 of them are employees from technical field. Remaining 8 belonged to a normal persons who would not come under any of these category. As far as the education level of the group is concerned 17 out of 108 from the underweight group were found to be having a minimum of secondary education and maximum of University and few of them were qualified above the University level which is comparatively less with that of the education level recognised among the normal weight group. The normal weight group were found to be 58 in numbers with a minimum of primary school level education. The education percentage of the overweight group does not reflect any large amount of difference when compared to that of the normal weight group’s education level. The education level was specifically given importance, as it became a major requirement for this research, which was again based on acknowledging the ideas of the people concerning their food items and its values. A minimum educational qualification was felt necessary to carry on with the questionnaires. Particularly speaking the education level of the normal weight and the obese persons were concentrated so that a better understanding could possibly brought out in order to compare, analyse and evaluate the differences found in the food habits of these two variables. To calculate and compare the nutrition related factors of normal and obese persons a basic knowledge of nutrition and the importance of balanced diet was required for the samples. So majority of samples of different age groups with a minimal education background were selected. Their nutrition knowledge was analysed with the help of Chi –Square test and the questions 5 – 9 were formatted accordingly. Moreover, the answer was analysed based on the positive reply given by them reading their knowledge on nutrition. The result showed that there seemed to be nothing significant regarding the nutrition knowledge of the samples, they reflected similar information. Out of 58 people from normal weight group 33 answered with a positive attitude towards their nutrition knowledge and 10 from obese and underweight groups gave positive reply. Where as majority of those in obese group seemed to have no positive response towards nutrition and its effects on health. Based on their reply food consumption of these three different groups were analysed in terms of balanced diet, frequency of eating snacks, food items taken by them which has low calorie level, fried food items taken by them, food items taken by them rich in fibre, beverages preferred by them, frequencies of eating or timings of taking food etc. The result showed no considerable difference from the responses given by them, however, at the same time T test was also applied to compare the results with that of Chi Square test. As far as the results acquired through Chi square test is concerned there is only a slight variation found from the positive responses given by people regarding their nutrition knowledge. However, the obese group were found to have comparatively a low standard of nutrition knowledge than the others in spite of their educational background. This could be one of the reasons for the growing problem of obesity in Hong Kong. The other tests were conducted to estimate the knowledge of people concerning their food habits and types of foods taken by them. The results were analysed on a statistical ground by applying Levene’s test for analysing the group statistics. In addition to that, individual analysis was also done to find out the exact answer as to how many people eat fried food items, how many of them visit restaurants in a week, and the type of food mostly preferred by them. Finally, the analysis was done by means of cross tabulation of independent sample results with the help of their understanding of the purpose of the questionnaire. The difference found while analysing the response was least. However, the difference was moderate for diet and food related questions. It was found out from the cross tabulation that majority of obese were found to be taking snacks frequently, where as other group people were found to be taking snacks comparatively less number of times. The frequencies of eating sweets were found to be very less for normal and underweight groups when compared with that of the obese. In addition to this above analysis, some Chinese restaurants and instant food centres were also visited to know the type of visitors visiting. From that, it is understood that obese group people were found to be frequently visiting the fast food restaurants and multi-cuisine restaurants in more numbers than that of the other group of people. The analysis reflected the results that eating sweets, fried foods, snacks, multi-cuisine food prepared with more oil content, sugar added beverages are supposed to be causes influencing obesity or overweight. While looking into the same factors from nutrition point of view some of the food items are found to be rich in nutrition and some do not have at all. Therefore, it has to be understood that food items with either nutrition or less nutritious values and more calorific values are likely to enhance obesity. A supplementary analysis regarding the physical exercises was also taken over and the result showed that less physical activity and more food intake in quick time frequency would also lead to obesity and overweight. Conclusion: A research based on the nutrition related factors of normal and obese person was conducted with the people of Hong Kong. Variations in body weight as an influence of fat leads to obesity and over weight, which in turn results in major health issues such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus etc. However, there are some strong factors, which were found closely related to obesity and body fatness such as parental influence, frequency of eating outside food, eating high calorie and oily food items, imbalance diet etc.. Children and adults with imbalanced diet approach and practise with a life style, which has very least physical work are at high risks of obesity observes, Dalton [2004]. As far as Hong Kong is concerned food culture reflects the influence of Chinese cuisines, however the increasing number of restaurants in Hong Kong due to people preferring restaurants as their meeting place. Woo et al [1998] observes that the people of Hong Kong visit restaurants frequently and this might be one of the strong reasons to see them getting chances to eat many type of food preparations. While on the other side of this matter, dietary supplement also changes in normal persons and the obese. Yew Chung [2006] supports the factor that supplementary diets such as snacks, ice creams, fried items, are found to have high level of calories and fat and many children of Hong Kong are found to be practised to eating many supplementary food items with high calorific value. There seems to be a strong link between nutrition and calories. If nutrition is identified as, the useful vitamins and minerals found in a food item, calorie level is the amount of nutrition present in a food item. Every one has to maintain a balanced diet while eating, if more calorie level is taken than the require one it will result in over weight gain. A questionnaire was prepared for different age groups to analyse the eating habits, eating timings, and types of food in terms of calorific and nutritional values. The result observed was that an imbalanced eating habit, and eating of fried items, sweet beverages, snacks, and other supplementary foods within a least time interval in addition to less physical activity are contributing factors to obesity. Read More