The Effect of Obesity in African American Children - Essay Example

The effect of obesity in African American children Chapter 3 The paper seeks to explore the perception ofthe risk of obesity among the African American college children. A study conducted by Fernandez et al (2004) indicated increased waist circumference among the African American children. The findings exceeded the cut off value that exposes the children to complications that arise from obesity. A study conducted on the African American children relating to insulin resistance and obesity showed type 2 diabetes as a complication of obesity. Increase in body index mass in overweight African American children caused a rise in insulin resistance diabetes mellitus. An indication that obesity exposes the body to other risks that is unhealthy to the body (Young-Hyman et al 200).The study employed Quasi-experimental design and concluded that reduced sensitivity of receptors towards insulin was apparent in the overweight children. The study type will be quantitative. The study will target the response of a number of African American research subjects to help determine change in their response pertaining to their perception on obesity. Quasi-experimental research will be utilized as the study design (Yin, 200). The study design will ensure appropriate control levels for the African American subjects. The study design The paper will utilize quasi-experimental design in the study of obesity among the African American population. Quasi-experimental design examines the significance of causal relationships, identifies causal relationships, and clarifies the happening of certain events (Burn &Grove 25). The study design was selected because the study targeted college students and the design is more adaptable in the study of human behavior due to its lower control levels in the area where variables and setting are manipulated and subjects are selected. According to Grove, S. K. (2006, p 200), Quasi experimental design is more suitable for nursing research because of its effectiveness in testing nursing intervention and consideration of human behavior involvement that can be implemented to control patient and family outcome during nursing practice. The hypothesis of the study is that addressing the poor perception on the effect of obesity among the African American students will make them more receptive to preventive measures such as exercise and diet, which will prevent the complications arising from obesity, and help in weight control hence improve their health in college. By utilizing quasi study design, the research will attempt to change the perception of obesity among the African American students through education. The study will then test the selected students who were educated on the effect of obesity to determine whether the subjects became more receptive to prevent measures such as exercising to reduce their risks of being obese. Research sample The study sample will be African American college students selected randomly selected from a public university. The research subjects will be chosen from Coppin state university. Thirty randomly selected students from Helena Fuld School of nursing at Coppin State University will be selected as research subjects. Limitation of the study The study will encounter certain restriction emerging from the data collection procedure and the sample. The sample subjects will be restricted to college students who have enrolled in at least one post high school course toward a baccalaureate degree. Both the off-campus and on campus resident students will be included in the study. The study will restrict subjects for the study to only student of African American descent whether by dual or single parental affiliation who is a citizen of the United States of America by naturalization or birth. The selected students will have to be selected enrolled at Helena Fuld School of nursing at Coppin State University in Maryland. The study will not consider any subject who falls outside the above stated geographical restriction or characteristics. Research procedure The steps for data collection will entail; i) Obtaining permission from the study area (Coppin State University ) to conduct research in its campus using its students ii) Selection of students randomly iii) Formal communication to the students that they are being considered as subjects for obesity study. iv) Obtaining signed consent forms from research subjects v) Providing the subjects with questionnaires to fill vi) Education of selected students on the risks of obesity and available preventive measures vii) Interview of selected students to determine changes in their obesity perceptions and their response to preventive measures after obesity education. viii) Documentation of the test results to include compilation of the interview responses and questionnaires from the study subjects ix) Analyzing research results x) Interpretation and writing of the research findings. Data will be collected using questions, which have been predetermined and typed in an A4 paper. The basic data to be collected from the subject in addition to the subject’s responsiveness and perception will include; age, gender, race and class ( whether sophomore, senior , freshman or junior). Responses from the study subjects will be compiled using Microsoft excel and analyzed using Microsoft excels to document observations from the research. Protection of human subjects Human subjects’ protection will be given a top priority in this research. The steps for protecting the subject will include; providing privacy statement to subjects to assure anonymity, confidentiality, Electronic data collected from the study subjects will be protected by a password, and all paper forms and documents with details of the subject will be locked in a safe box. Data collected instruments The questionnaire will be utilized as the primary instrument for collecting data and will have pre determined questions. The questions will be designed to help cover all dimensions relevant to the study. Interviews will also be employed as additional data collection tools to support the questionnaire. Both the questionnaires and interviews have been utilized in previous studies to collect data and successful results were obtained. Data collection procedure will ensure the information collected is valid and reliable. Copies of the interviews and the questionnaire will be included in the appendices of the study. Appropriate permission to use instruments will be provided. Data analysis Microsoft excel will be used to analyze and document research observation. The study will utilize packaged computer analysis program such as statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) for analysis of data. The results will be generated on the computer printout and interpreted carefully to ensure the results are accurate. Statistical test utilized to analyze the data will include simple linear regression analysis to determine association between subjects’ perception of obesity risks and their responsiveness to preventive measures due to the education provided. Cochran’s Q-Statistical for matched sample will be utilized to analyze paired responses at the nominal data level. It will ensure the responses from the subjects are well paired. The statistical tools will be used to analyze the collected data to test the hypothesis that address perception of effects of obesity among the African American students and their reception to preventive measures such as exercise and diet that will reduce their risks of being obese and thereby improve their health. Summary of chapter three Correlational, descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental approaches are the quantitative approaches available for nursing research. The study of human behavior in clinical areas present challenges for the researchers when it comes to controlling and manipulating variable (Burns & Grove, p 25) .The study employed the use of Quasi- experimental quantitative study design. The design provides an effective method of studying the chosen human subjects in order to address the study objectives. The design selected provides the rule used to achieve control of the subjects during the study (Burns & Grove 25) The steps for quantitative research process include formulating a research purpose and problem, relevant literature reviews, frame work development, formulating research objectives, questions, hypothesis, operationalizing research design, defining sample and population, selecting measurement methods , developing data collection and analysis plan, implementing research plan and communication of the findings (Burns & Grove 49). The study will follow the outlined quantitative research process and utilize quasi-experimental study design to test how African American college students respond to obesity preventive measures and their perceptions on the effects of obesity. References Burns, N., Grove, S. K. “The Practice of Nursing Research. Saunders Elsevier”. St. Louis, MO. (2009). Fernandez, José R., et al. "Waist circumference percentiles in nationally representative samples of African-American, European-American, and Mexican-American children and adolescents." The Journal of pediatrics 145.4 (2004): 439-444. Yin, Robert K. Case study research: Design and methods. Sage publications, 2014. Young-Hyman, Deborah, et al. "Evaluation of the insulin resistance syndrome in 5-to 10-year-old overweight/obese African-American children." Diabetes care 24.8 (2001): 1359-1364. Read More