Associations of Television Content Type and Obesity in Children - Article Example

The paper “Associations of Television Content-Type and Obesity in Children by Zimmerman and Bell" is a delightful example of an article on social science. This paper evaluates a journal article, which relates to health and pediatrics. The article is titled “Associations of Television Content-Type and Obesity in Children.” This article was written by two different authors. These include Zimmerman Frederic, Ph.D., and Bell Janice, Ph.D. Zimmerman Frederic is a professor in the Department of Health Services at the University of California Los Angeles.

His research studies mainly focus on economic influences on population health, with a special focus on media use and children health. He is an economics Ph.D. holder from the University of Wisconsin. On the other hand, Janice Bell is an assistant professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California Davis. She is an accomplished health services researcher, who focuses on how health systems and services influence the quality and accessibility of care, especially for children, youth, and vulnerable populations.

She holds a doctoral degree in Health Services Research from the University of Washington Seattle. Their research article was published in the American Journal of Public Health in the year 2010. Therefore, to date, this article is about four years old, since its publishing. This research article is considered to be the first to break down the types of television children watch to better determine whether different kinds of content may exert different effects on obesity. The thesis of this article holds that the relationship between television viewing and childhood obesity is directly influenced by the exposure of children to commercials, which advertise unhealthy foods (Zimmerman and Bell 334).

Thus, the authors in their conclusion emphasize that: Television viewing may be a sedentary activity, but it is not for that reason that it is associated with obesity in children (Zimmerman and Bell 339).In this article, the authors have provided good and clear examples to support their claims. The kind of data provided by the authors to support their thesis is primary data, as these authors gathered data from primary caregivers of 3, 563 children, including infants up to children aged 12 years (Zimmerman and Bell 335).

The researchers/authors asked the caregivers of the selected children to record the activities, including television watching, of their children throughout the week as well as during weekends. These were also supposed to record and report the kind of programs their children watched (Zimmerman and Bell 336). Nonetheless, this information was crucial for the authors, in order for them to categorize the programs watched by the children as entertainment or educational, and thus be able to determine the level of advertising present in the programme.

The results of the study presented in the article show that “Television advertising, rather than viewing per se, is associated with obesity” (Zimmerman and Bell 338). Nevertheless, going by the results obtained from the research, it is possible to say that the arguments of the authors of the article are convincing. This is mainly because; the authors have provided sufficient evidence to prove their claims by conducting primary research. For instance, the authors noted the amount of physical activity, the age, gender, and ethnicity of the children, as well as body mass index.

The results showed that television viewing is associated with higher body mass index. Watching DVDs or watching educational programs with no commercials had no relationship with obesity (Zimmerman and Bell 337). Therefore, the argument of the authors is convincing, since they also provide a body of evidence, which ascertains their argument.The source is also highly objective. This is because; the authors have not relied on their personal convictions, judgment, feelings, or opinions in order to present their arguments.

Instead, these have based on the primary data they collected from the field research. In addition, the coverage of this source is comprehensive. The authors have provided a summary of the article, the method used in the study, which includes outcomes and variables as well as statistical analysis. The authors have also provided the results of the study, which they also present using tables, and they have gone ahead to provide a discussion of the results. Furthermore, the authors have focused on the implications of the study, and the strengths and limitations of the study, before finally concluding the article.

Nonetheless, this source is detailed and comprehensive, showing that the authors were thorough in their presentation of facts. The quality of this source, as well as the authenticity of the content and arguments,  is high. This could be associated with the credentials of the authors, who are experts in the subject the article addresses. For this reason, this source can be recommended for academic knowledge for students and other professionals dealing with the study subject, as well as for general knowledge for the rest of the people.