The Epidemics of Obesity in Children - Essay Example

"The Epidemics of Obesity in Children" is a perfect example of a paper on child development.
This paper uses an article titled ‘Expert Weigh in on Childhood Obesity’ that was published on ABC online news blog to evaluate the research process. This article reported the findings of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention concerning obesity in the US. According to the report, more than one-third of American minors were overweight or obese (Rebecca, 2013).

The actual research study is contained in the article titled ‘The Epidemics of Obesity in Children and Adolescents in the World,’ published by the Central European Journal of Public Health. This article compares obesity prevalence data from six regions in the world. Besides, it discusses the epidemiology of obesity, trends, risks, and issues related to overweight.

Although the news article provides important findings of obesity in the US, this information is not enough to assess the reliability and validity of the research.  There was a need to mention the sampling technique and sample size used so that an evaluation of its representation could be done. Moreover, the report failed to provide information on the data collection method and instruments used. Therefore, the standard used is unknown.

The news report does provide the methodology of the research but only mentions the key finding. On the other, the original research relied on secondary sources of information. However, the findings of the original study are backed by clear arguments, strong theoretical support, critical data analysis, and insightful interpretation of results. Nevertheless, the two articles provide relevant data relating to obesity in children.

The health news reports are meant to create awareness about existing health issues. Therefore, they are biased to some extent. This article report on one finding and leave other critical issues pertaining to obesity in children and adolescents. Consequently, it becomes difficult to put the obesity problem into perspective because of skewed reporting that is aimed at giving health notice to the audience. Such biases can be eliminated through objective balanced reporting that focuses on issues (Walton, 1999).

This study reported on ABC news ought to have given detailed information relating to the environment and issues pertaining to obesity. Minus this information, this research is lacking transferability. Meaning, the consumers of the information may experience difficulties in comparing the findings of the research and their environment or situations. This, in turn, lowers the effectiveness of the study.

The conclusion of the news report supports the findings of the original study. It states that the rising case of obesity among children is a major health challenge confronting the US. This is corroborated by the original research that had projected that, by 2010, 46.4% of US children would be overweight (Kosti & Panagiotakos, 2006). This projection differed from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics by about 15 percentage points. Meaning, the instituted measures caused the desired change in dietary and lifestyle habits.

The two research reports prove that obesity is a real problem in America. However, the news report leaves critical parts of research that are helpful in the evaluation of research. It does not provide information on design, sampling, and methodology. To this end, the validity and reliably of the report cannot be determined. On the other hand, Kosti and Panagitako's research provides a good analysis of data related to obesity in the world. Furthermore, it supports the findings with strong theoretical concepts.

In conclusion, it is worth stating that data analysis is an important stage of the research process.  Critical analysis of information helps a researcher to determine whether or not the findings support the hypotheses. It also gives meaning to research thereby improving its usefulness. Moreover, it contributes to the building of knowledge by strengthening theories, viewpoints, or perspectives.