Result of Cultural Beliefs - Research Paper Example

Obesity: Result Of Cultural Beliefs of the of the Institute Introduction Obesity in children has become one of the major health problems in the United States. It has been observed that since 1971, there has been 100% increase in the prevalence of overweight among children in the US (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 5). The trend and the speed of increase in obesity among children have led the researchers to believe that the prevalence of obesity will continue to grow if immediate steps are not taken to curb it (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 5). Obesity has harmful effects on the body as it makes the body vulnerable to physical, psychological, emotional and social problems. Many researches have been carried out to understand the reason behind the increase in prevalence of obesity among children. The aim of this paper is to compare two articles discussing the research about the role of racial background in the development of obesity among children. The validity of the information in an article depends not only on the credentials of the author but also on the efforts taken by the author to reach the depth of the topic discussed. The two articles that are included in the study are: 1) “Racial and Ethnic Differentials in Overweight and Obesity Among 3-Year-Old Children” by Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn and McLanahan and, 2) “UCSF study finds racial gaps in child obesity” by Allday. The analysis of the articles “Racial and Ethnic Differentials in Overweight and Obesity Among 3-Year-Old Children” (by Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn and McLanahan) and “UCSF study finds racial gaps in child obesity” (by Allday), revealed that the racial background is one of he major factors of development of obesity in a child as parents from different racial background harbor different beliefs about obesity and this influences the weight of a child. Summary Of The Journal Article “Racial and Ethnic Differentials in Overweight and Obesity Among 3-Year-Old Children” by Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn and McLanahan, is an excellent article which provides an in depth information about the effect of racial background on the development of obesity in children. The authors of the article are qualified and have experience in the field of health science. The authors, Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn and McLanahan, are working with University of Wisconsin, Columbia University and Princeton University, respectively. Their experience has helped them to reach the depth of the topic by studying different aspects of children’s life which could affect the development of obesity in them. The study discussed in the article is comprehensive and is based on large sample. There are many aspects of the research which have made the article strong and informative. The survey for the research was conducted on a national level (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 1). The study on a national level assured the inclusion of vast range of sample as people living in different cities tend to have different lifestyles. Also, the research was not limited to only one method of data collection but included three different methods of survey, in-home observation, and interview, to collect the data needed for the research (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 1). The inclusion of three methods in the research gave an in depth approach to the study. Many a times, people answer the survey questions under the influence of their conscious thinking pattern. This affects the authenticity of the response while answering the survey questions. In such cases, personal interview and in-home observation prove to be more reliable as these methods give accurate and authentic information about the participants. Hence, the use of three methods in the survey has proved to be a very strong point of the research. Moreover, the research was longitudinal in nature and hence, was carried out over the period of three years (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 10). The longitudinal nature of the study gave the researchers an opportunity to understand how the different aspects of child’s life like his interaction with parents, the home environment, upbringing and racial beliefs affect his lifestyle and health. The research was conducted over the period of four years, i.e. from year 1999 to year 2003 (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 10). Also, the sample size of the study was very large as the number of participants (children and mothers) involved in the study was 1976 (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 18). This assured the inclusion of children coming from various racial backgrounds and having different lifestyle patterns. As the objective of the research was to know how the racial and ethnic beliefs affect the development of obesity in children, the researchers studied every aspect of the participants, in order to gain a deep insight into their lifestyle (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 1). The researchers were aware that the increase in prevalence of obesity in children was not just a result of sedentary lifestyle. There were many other aspects which were responsible for it. Hence, the authors studied and observed the behavior and personality pattern not only of children, but also of their parents (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 9). The inclusion of parents in the survey helped the authors to understand how the cultural and racial beliefs affect the way the parents bring up their children and hence, how racial background influence the physical development of children. The desire of the authors to reach the depth of the topic is evident from the fact that they studied every aspect that could possibly affect the prevalence of obesity in children. The broad minded approach of the research has made the research strong and complete. Following are the strengths of the research: 1. The authors had collected the information from the previous studies which revealed that mothers from Hispanic and Black ethnic background “do not identify their overweight children as being overweight” and hence, this cultural belief leads to development of obesity in children (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 9). On the basis of this information, the authors decided to study the personality characteristics and eating behavior of mothers as they knew that children are influenced by their mother’s behavior patterns (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 8). 2. The second strength of the study was the focus on behavior pattern and lifestyle of mothers. The authors believed that the emotional, psychological, social and physical aspects of mother influence the development of a child to a great extent. Hence, they decided to conduct a detail study of the lifestyle of mothers. The authors studied every aspect of mother’s life like her social status, education level, relationship status (para 9), stress level (para 13), health status (para12), level of obesity (para 14) and commuting habits, to understand how they affect the development of obesity in their children (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 16). The equal importance given to the mothers and the children in the study proved to be a strong point of the study. 3. The in depth study of behavior patterns of mothers, according to their racial backgrounds, revealed that due to their mother’s disadvantageous lifestyle and behavior pattern, children coming from Hispanic racial background are more vulnerable to becoming obese than children coming from White or Black ethnic background. The study also revealed an interesting fact that childhood overweight problem begin earlier than previously thought as the overall health of the mother affects the child’s health right from his birth (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 28). Hence, children from Hispanic background are twice as likely as children from White or Black ethnic background to become obese (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 28). Summary Of The Newspaper Article The article “UCSF study finds racial gaps in child obesity” by Allday, is an informative article about the success of the public health campaign to decrease the obesity levels in children belonging to Black, Asian and Hispanic ethnic background in California (Allday, 2010, para 1). The article was published in San Francisco Chronicle. The article is written by staff writer Erin Allday who has taken the cue from an article published in the journal called ‘Pediatrics’. The author has developed the informative article based on the information gathered by interviewing Dr. Kristine Madsen, Dr. Padmaja Padalkar and Dr. Lydia Tinajero-Deck, working in UCSF, Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center and Childrens Hospital Oakland, respectively. The article throws a light on the research conducted from 2001 to 2008 studying 8 million school children in California, to observe the effect of public health campaign on rate of obesity in children (Allday, 2010, para 1). The study has concluded that even though the public health campaign in schools have decreased the rates of obesity in children from Black, Asian and Hispanic ethnic background, the program is not a complete success as it had not reached each and every child in the state (Allday, 2010, para 2). Also, no change was observed in severely obese children and obesity continued to increase in girls (Allday, 2010, para 9). Comparison Of Articles The journal article discusses the national level research while the newspaper article discusses the state level research. The authors of the journal article are qualified and have conducted an in depth research with aim of publishing their findings about the influence of racial background on obesity in children. On the other hand, Allday is not qualified in field of health, but is a staff writer and has written the article based on the research conducted by other people. The journal article has concluded that they have found no effect of gender on obesity (Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2007, para. 24), while the newspaper article has concluded that girls are more likely to develop obesity (Allday, 2010, para 9). Overall, the journal article is more informative, in depth and authentic as it surpasses the newspaper article on level of author qualification, quality of research, scale of sample, behavioral analysis of the participants and range of the study. Conclusion The researches discussed in the articles “Racial and Ethnic Differentials in Overweight and Obesity Among 3-Year-Old Children” (by Kimbro, Brooks-Gunn and McLanahan) and “UCSF study finds racial gaps in child obesity” (by Allday), show that the lifestyle and eating behavior of children depend on the racial beliefs, emotional health and social status of their mother. Hence, it can be concluded that the racial background is one of the important factors in the development of obesity in children. References Allday, E. (2010, August 16). UCSF study finds racial gaps in child obesity. San Francisco Chronicle, Retrieved from http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-08-16/news/22221211_1_obese-kids-obesity-rates-fight-obesity Kimbro, R., Brooks-Gunn, J. & McLanahan, S. (2007). Racial and Ethnic Differentials in Overweight and Obesity Among 3-Year-Old Children. American Journal of Public Health, 97 (2), Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/551534 Read More