If Age And Gender Play A Role In Staying Healthy Or Gaining Weight - Essay Example

? If Age and Gender Play a Role in Staying Healthy or Gaining Weight Lecturer: The researcher provided a brief introduction about topic and revealed the way current research study reveals that gender and age play significant role in staying health. It provided the methods that the researcher employed in reporting the findings. The results part revealed the way researcher statistically analyzed information and the reported the outcomes. The discussion section provided a brief report of the research findings and the way they were relevant to the research question. If Age and Gender Play a Role in Staying Healthy or Gaining Weight INTRODUCTION Healthy or gaining weight has become the topic of interest in the contemporary society because of increased diseases. Many health care providers are interested in healthy issues; hence, there are increased research practices that have been carried out in order to determine the risk factors contributing to healthy issues. Taking charge on the health of someone may require a clear understanding of different risk factors vulnerable for increased diseases. Some risk factors are beyond the control of healthcare providers while others can be controlled. The research indicates that having a health problem may contribute to other health issues. For instance, a person with overweight may suffer from diabetes, and this may contribute to high chances of heart attack disease. There are varied factors that determine one’s health such as genetics, age, physical activities, gender, psychological and environmental factors. Among these factors, age and gender play a significant role in staying health or gaining weight. Current Research Study The current research study indicates that age and gender are among the various risk factors for determining the health status of an individual (Unite States, 2011). The author argues that the ability of one’s body to metabolize food slows down once an individual gets older; thus, he or she may not need many calories for weight maintenance. According to (Mokdad, 2003), gaining weight can lead to obesity especially to children and adults. The chances of obesity are high among the age group brackets of below 20 years than those above 40 years. Moreover, the current study indicates that gender is a risk factor for healthy determination. For instance, women tend to gain weight faster than men (Mokdad 2003, p. 76). This is because women have lower resting metabolic rate more than men who burn a lot of energy when they are resting. This means that men need extra calories for maintaining their body weight more than women need. However, the research indicates that, in most cases, women gain more weight than men after menopause because the metabolic rate for women decreases considerably. RESEARCH QUESTION Does age and gender play a role in staying healthy or gaining weight? METHODS The research was conducted through employing qualitative research design for data collection. It also involved some participant of different age group brackets and different gender. The research employed an effective procedure through using different apparatus in order to achieve the intended results. Participants The researcher included varied age group brackets that were selected from different gender groups. For instance, those who participated in the research study included 27 women and 23 men from different areas. The selected age of women and men were from the age of 35 and above. Among these groups, there were 15 children aging from 10-15 and 10 youths aging from 18- 35. The participants came from various schools and people from the community surrounding the chosen schools. The researcher chose the participants through random sampling on the targeted study area. Qualitative Research Design The research study employed qualitative research design method in collecting information to reveal in case gender and age play significant roles in maintaining health. Qualitative research design is one of the effective methods employed by many health care workers in carrying out effective research on health issues. The research design employed included the use of structured and semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, sample surveys and case studies. The researcher structured questioners and distributed them to various participants. Participants were assigned various treatment conditions through random sampling. This is essential because random sampling is simple and does not consume time. Moreover, the researcher used questionnaires that were written and typed; thus distributed them to the targeted population. Lastly, the researcher used case studies and some literature material revealing the current research on the way age and gender play significant roles in health or gaining wealth. The researcher analyzed data and packed it up with some examples, after collecting information. Apparatus The researcher employed Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI II) instrument in determining the health of the targeted population. BDI II is the latest instrument that was developed in 19996 for diagnostic and statistical analysis of disorders. It is mostly used in clinical interviews; thus, it enabled the researcher to determine the way age and gender play role in health. Moreover, through self-administered questionnaires and observation, the researcher was able to determine the way age or gender play a significant role in wellbeing. Procedures The researcher randomly selected the targeted population. Thus, the researcher grouped participants according to their gender and age group brackets. The investigator distributed questionnaires and ordered the participants to fill them. The researcher treated the participants well through requesting them to participate in research activities. The researcher revealed to the participants that the questionnaires would only be used for study purposes; hence, it would remain confidential. The participants filled up the information, but some of the information was biased. There were different responses, but many of them provided information on the way age and gender play significant roles in maintaining their health or gaining weight. RESULTS The researcher analyzed data by using figures and tables in order to reveal the way age and gender play varied roles in maintaining health. Therefore, the researcher found that there is statistical significance between age and gender factors in gaining weight or staying health. The research statistically analyzed the data collected from the participant and found that women tend to gain more weight than men. The researcher found that men tend to lose more calories than their counterparts especially when they are resting; thus, they do not gain more weight unlike women do. The researcher also found that there is statistical variance between the age group brackets in terms of gaining weight. Children below the age 5 to 10 are highly vulnerable to obesity in case they consume many calories and burns few calories. This may lead to increase of BMI (Body Mass Index) of about 20 percent beyond the average weight. The research found that different age group brackets determine different weights in both men and women. For instance, women over 40 years can gain more weight than men and girls at the teenage can gain more weight than boys. DISCUSSIONS The findings are relevant to the initial research question because gender and age play significant roles in maintaining healthy or gaining weight. This is because the research study indicates that age and gender are among the risk factors that determine the health of an individual (United States, 2011). However, the two variables correspond to each other because the result reveals that women and girls gain weight more than men and boys do. Mokdad (2003) reveals that when women grow old, they keep gaining weight than their counterparts. However, it is significant for the future researchers to carry adequate research and add more on what the present researcher have done. This is through looking into insight the research question; thus providing enough and satisfying information on the research question. References Mokdad, A. H. (January 01, 2003). Prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and obesity-related health risk factors, 2001. Jama : the Journal of the American Medical Association, 289, 1, 76-9. United States. (2011). A lifetime of good health: Your guide to staying healthy. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office in Women's Health. Read More