This study is by Amanda J. Wielder in 2010. It deals with the issues of childhood obesity, which have become common among children especially in the United States. The research was qualitative in nature. This is because most of the findings are in words as opposed to quantitative research, which mostly makes use of charts and graphs. The research has also provided detailed description of the topic under study, as opposed to a quantitative research that concentrates mostly on classifying the data collected, and drawing conclusions from them.
The researcher used questionnaires as the major tool of collecting her data. She also used secondary materials like documents and books dealing with childhood obesity to supplement her information. The research question aimed at finding the role played by teachers, parents and students in helping fight obesity especially in schools. It states, “What do parents, students, and teachers understand about what schools can do to support and improve students’ physical health and nutrition.”
The area of focus for the research was an elementary school in the Mid-Atlantic region where the researcher works. The school acted as a representative of the other elementary schools in the country and the findings and recommendations are therefore applicable to other elementary schools. Five participants were involved in the study. They included one parent, one teacher and three students. The teacher was 25yaers old and taught at the school. The parent was 30 years old and had two children who schooled in that school. The three students included two boys and one girl whereby, the girl and one boy were in the fourth grade and the other boy in fifth grade.
From the research, the researcher found that there are several causes of obesity among children and especially school going children. The most frequent cause is the type of food that the students eat. The children ate only one variety of food. They also did not eat enough fruits and vegetables, which are particularly important in maintaining a healthy body. Thus, in order to reduce the cases of obesity among children, they should eat a range of foods with a lot of fruits and vegetables and less processed foods.
References
Amanda, J. W. (2010). Childhood Obesity: The New Epidemic. New York: Unpublished Research Paper.
Oyekunle, O.A., & Raji, Y. (2011).Assessment Of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Usage to Enhance Male Sexual Performance in Ogbomos Metropolis. Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology, 3, 271-274.