Childrens Food Choice Process in the Home Environment - Essay Example

Critique of a Qualitative Research Article of The The “Children’s Food Choice Process in the Home Environment. A qualitative descriptive study” appropriately described the main topic tackled in the research article. The words “children’s food choice” provide a good keyword that can relate to indexing systems related to children’s diet and nutrition. The Abstract The abstract is well-constructed providing clear information that summarized the purpose, methodology and findings of the research. According to the abstract, the independent and dependent variables were not directly identified as the research theme is a qualitative descriptive study of the process of children’s food choice at home. Thus, the researchers’ main objective is to describe a process, in this case, to describe the food choice process which they found out to involve three interacting components. Each component has variables that influence variation of the food choice process. Through this description, primary findings have been mentioned. There is enough information to enable a reader to decide the relevance of the research article to his own work. This particular research on children’s food choice at home is relevant to studies that aim to undermine the trend of children’s nutrition, the probable relationships of current health status of children and their diet composition, and factors that affect their diet composition. The Introduction: The Research Problem The research problem was clearly defined. The research was based on reported increasing rate of childhood obesity, and becoming poor of children’s dietary patterns characterised by increase in intake of energy-dense foods low in nutrients. Having the intention of improving the diet and also the health of children, the researchers recognised that understanding of the factors that affect the food choice must be initially done. The research problem was significantly presented to warrant investigation. It was backed up with sound research results which were previously conducted. The initial inference was also established on recent research frameworks on fundamental dietary behaviours reinforced at home settings such as the Ecological Model of Health Behaviour. It further reported that current models of home food environment do not encompass the specific process of food choice from children’s perspectives. The introduction justified the research problem and the need for the research to be done. There is no existing research yet on factors that affect children’s diet involving all the foods that they eat, and as the existing studies dealt only with food and vegetable intakes. The Literature Review Though the literature review was short and integrated with the introduction, it achieved its goal of validating the research on children’s food choice at home. It was logically presented leading to the justification of the Methods section. No hypothesis was provided as the aim of the research was to provide a qualitative description of the process of children’s food choice at home. Instead of hypothesis, the research article cited all the factors that influence food choices among children and adolescents in accordance with several literature sources thereby signifying a trend in the probable will-be findings of the research. Since the research design did not have to deal with independent and dependent variables, it instead detailed the framework of the qualitative descriptive techniques to be implemented to achieve the goal of describing the food choice process at home. It was to be done through inductive study with particular attention to environmental influences. The Method: Procedure The methods were thoroughly described in such details that the study can be replicated by the reader. A holistic approach characteristic of a qualitative descriptive study employing face-to-face, semi-structured interviews was done on 47 sub-samples of children. It also mentioned that the study used principles of grounded theory in that the analysis emphasised examination of social interactions. The procedures of conducting the semi-structured interviews were systematically discussed. It was structured using a funnelling technique that started using general questions on eating on typical days and then worked towards detailed perceptions of food choice influences at home using probing questions. The method of interview conduction, the longevity and the recorded data during the interview were critically discussed. The methods of data analysis were also comprehensively documented. Data was gathered from full transcriptions of the interviews and verified with audio- recordings. Data were imported into NVivo for analysis. Conventional content analysis and code development were then applied. The qualitative descriptive nature of the study didn’t require allocation of control and treatment groups. The Method: Design and Sample The sampling methods were thoroughly described. The samples were selected by recruitment from a public middle school with 742 students. The school was selected based on criteria of racial and ethnic diversity of the students, and its suburb location being proximal to venues of recreation, and supermarkets and restaurants. Thus, these reflect a sound representation of the study samples to answer the defined research problem. The qualitative description was mentioned to be a part of a concurrent mixed methods study where a convenience sample of 65 students was enrolled over the telephone. The detailed characteristics of eligible participants were described. The method of inclusion used to create a sub-sample was stated. A sub-sample of the children was invited to participate in an interview having the participants selected based on maximum variation techniques. This resulted to 47 interviews, a valid percentage for theoretical saturation from the original set of 65. The 47 resulting interviews were then used for analysis. The Method: Instrumentation The qualitative descriptive characteristic of the research appropriated it to employ systematic interview measures from previously established literatures, where the interview information collected from the filtered samples were considered valid and reliable. All the 47 sub-samples sourced for the interview information were completely described and presented with socio-demographic and BMI data. The Results The presentation of results was comprehensive, encompassing every detail of factors of influence on children’s food choice at home. Each factor of influence was supported by interview summaries that distinctly described the process on how the food choice of the children was influenced. Results were clearly written and logically organised. The interacting three components that determine children’s food choice were presented first. The general process and patterns occurring on food choice at home was discussed and systematically depicted using a model. The visual modelling of the perceived children’s food choice process at home derived from the interview information was appropriate to the qualitative descriptive design of the study. Since the context of time highly controls the food choices, the interview results relating to it were next presented after the description of the general food choice process influenced by three interacting components. It involved children’s descriptions of the daily sequence of activities that led to occasions of their eating routines. It was found out that the time of day was associated with certain food choice. The three interacting components, the child, the parent and the food, followed the reporting of food choice relating to the context of time. Each component was further described with a comprehensive list and summaries of sub-factors that influence the primary interacting components. This way, the general categories of interacting components were defined with further descriptive factors thereby producing a vivid picture of how the food choice process actually occurs at home. This is vital to the research problem that states the need to examine the circumstances that surround and affect the children’s food choice so that the dietary intake of the children could be understood and ultimately help them improve their diet and health. The results also fulfilled the qualitative descriptive research framework by presenting facts on the qualities and characteristics of food choices as sources of variations influence the children. It can be observed from the data presented in the results that the sub-factors for each interacting component are different. Therefore, the researchers’ perceived sources of food choice influence from the interview signified a wide array of variants. The reported results addressed well the research questions. No reliability of measurements was required for this type of study. The single children’s food choice process model presented was helpful in communicating to the reader on how the food choice process is affected by key components and outside influences. The Discussion The discussion considered the results that described the process of children’s food choices at home through identification of the overall context, main interacting components and the key actions. The first paragraph of the discussion successfully interpreted the results. Food choice at home is a result of interaction of both the parents and the children, and the availability of food. The context of time influenced all components and actions. These generalizations and its details were drawn from the interview information results, making the research consistent with its subjects and objectives. The strengths and limitations of the study were also discussed in-depth. The strength of the research was its novelty in applying inductive approach to articulate food choice process from preformed theoretical assertions. This approach provided a level of detail that emerged the participant’s voices. Its limitations included sampling and inherent methodological issues where samples collected were biased on 95th BMI percentile of age and gender consequently limiting variations, and samples belonged to highly educated and wealthier status with few overweight conditions. Suggestions for future research and implications of research were objectively provided. It mentioned suggestions on application of the same study to a more diverse populations and utilisation of additional data collection methods that triangulate food choice factors. Since the results depict of strong influence of parenting styles in the risk of obesity in children, this area has been also suggested to be explored. The findings of this study supported a family-based approach to obesity prevention and treatment for children and adolescents. It also provided practical focal points for intervention through behavioural understanding that related to food choice. The validity of data analysis was confirmed through the approval of the University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board. The References The references used for this research are generally current, with citations ranging from 1988 to 2010 where majority are from the last ten years. The classic studies referenced for the research framework included the 1988 study on “An ecological perspective on health promotion programs”. The references used represented a comprehensive review of the existing literature on children’s nutrition and issues confronting it. References are diverse on areas of common food consumptions by children, parent’s perspectives on the food of middle-aged children, autonomy and control of adolescent’s food choice, coding for qualitative research analysis, energy intake trends across age groups, prevalence of high BMI in children and ecological models of health behaviour. My Opinion This article represents a well written and organised qualitative descriptive research. It successfully applied all the research components required to address a research problem. The research was also conducted ethically, in a socially relevant manner and the approach was consistent to every research component. The researchers were able to construct a clear research article that is possible for replication. The research paper was able to introduce the topic, justify the research need, present qualified research questions and deliver sound answers. It was able to relate the research results to the reality of the problem on children’s food choice process that contributes to health problems such as obesity. The researchers were able to encourage further research based on their own findings. I have learned from the structure of the research article how to write an organised research paper that addresses comprehensive research questions on a given topic. I also have learned how to collect and interpret qualitative descriptive data on the basis of established models and utilise an acceptable volume of samples that would serve as source of the research findings. I have found out that in qualitative research studies, sound data analysis can be conducted through applications of codes and clustering of coded data. These methods simplify, organise and form the interpretation of the varied qualitative data collected. I have learned from the content of the research article that children’s food choices at home are influenced by the interactions of the parent and the child, and the availability of food. It is also influenced by the child’s food preference and the control of the parents. It means to me that should parents provide enough time at home with the children, the food preferences of children can be directed into a healthy option. Reference: Holsten JE, Deatrick JA, Kumanyika S, Pinto-Martin J and Compher CW 2012, Children’s Food Choice Process in the Home Environment. A qualitative descriptive study, Appetite, 58, 64-73. Read More