Obesity in Children Birth to 18 Years-Of-Age

¶ … Obesity in Children Birth to 18 Years-of-Age From Lower Socio-Economic Status Compared to Children Birth to 18 Years-of-Age From Upper and Middle Socio-Economic Status? Research Proposal

Research indicates that children from lower socio-economic status are more likely than children from higher socio-economic status to develop childhood obesity, which makes these children more likely to develop health problems later in life. For this reason, childhood obesity is a significant problem. The research proposed in this study is one that recommends that this issue be examined in a research study.

The Prevalence of Obesity in Children Birth to 18 Years-Of-Age From Lower Socio-Economic Status Compared to Children Birth to 18 Years-Of-Age From Upper and Middle Socio-Economic Status?

Research Proposal

Introduction

There is a great dearth of research that indicates that children from lower socio-economic households have a greater risk of developing obesity during their childhood than children from middle and upper socio-economic households. (Gibbs and Forste, 2013; Ogden, et al., 2008; Singh and Kogan, 2009; Cecil, et al., 2005; Gearhart, Gruber, and Vanata, 2008) Various factors have been cited as the cause for childhood obesity stated to include such as levels of education, household income and lower levels of physical activity combined with poor nutritional intake and some psychosocial factors. Lower socio-economic status is also linked to lower levels of consciousness concerning healthy living practices.

Problem Statement

Children from lower socio-economic status households are more likely to develop obesity compared to children from middle and upper socio-economic status households.

Research Question

The research questions in this study is as follows:

Is obesity more prevalent in children ages' birth to 18 years from lower socio-economic status than children from upper/middle social-economic status? If yes:

(1) What are the variables that result in obesity being more prevalent among children from birth to 18 years of age from lower socio-economic status than children from upper/middle socio-economic status?

(2) What interventions can be used to prevent obesity in children from lower socio-economic status households?

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study is to compare rates of obesity in children from lower socio-economic households to rates of obesity in children from middle and upper socio-economic households.

Methodology

The methodology utilized in the research proposed in this study will be both quantitative and qualitative in nature. The quantitative part of this study will render numerical percentages of obese children in lower, middle, and upper socio-economic households in the United States as well as studying variables that contribute to rates of obesity in children. This study will be in the form of a systematic study. The second part of the research question, which asks why, will require qualitative research, which is descriptive and interpretive in nature.

Literature Review

Singh and Kogan (2009) relate that there has been a dramatic increase in the rates of childhood obesity in the United States over the past thirty years and that increase in the prevalence of obesity "have been substantial among all gender, rate, and socioeconomic groups." (p.2) Obesity is reported to have been identified "as one of the ten leading health indicators for the nation." (Singh and Kogan, 2009, p. 2) Overweight and obesity in children is reported to be defined "as body mass index (BMI) at or above the gender- and age-specific 85th and 95th percentile BMI cutoff points from the 2000 CDC growth charts." (Singh and Kogan, 2009, p 2) The prevalence of obesity among children is reported to have significantly increased "in relation to decreased levels of household education and income in both 2003 and 2007." (Singh and Kogan, 2009, p. 2) Stated specifically is that the prevalence of obesity among children and parents with less than 12 years of education "was 30.4% in 2007, 3.1 times higher than the obesity prevalence (9.7%) for children whose parents had a college degree." (Singh and Kogan, 2009, p. 2) Stated as well is that nearly 50% of children in the low-education and low-income groups were overweight in 2007 while children from the high-education and high-income group were obese at a rates of less than 23%. (Singh and Kogan, 2009, paraphrased)

A study was conducted in Scotland and reported in the work of Cecil, et al. (2005) as having the objective to determine the prevalence of obesity among a cohort of Scottish children based on socio-economic status. Scottish children were recruited from 47 schools in Scotland. Findings reported in the work of Cecil, et al. (2005) state that when obesity levels were examined in the lower and higher income groups that the prevalence of obesity "was much higher in the lower-income group when compared with the higher-income group." (p.1) Cecil, et al. (2005) reports that both boys and girls from the lower socio-economic income group were more likely to be obese than girls and boys from the higher socio-economic income group. (paraphrased)

The work of Gibbs and Forste (2013) reports that children who are breastfed are at a reduced risk of developing obesity during their childhood. However, the children who need this protective factors against developing childhood obesity are the children less likely to be in receipt of this protective factor. There has been shown in studies that a negative association between breastfeeding and lower socio-economic status exists. Gibbs and Forste (2013) report that there are "various mechanisms through which breast milk can influence infant weight gain" and specifically information proffered by recent studies which show that "bioactive substances contained in breast milk benefit infant growth and body mass." (Gibbs and Forste, 2013, p. 3) In addition it is reported that infants who are breastfed "are better able to regulate their feeding or to be more satiety-responsive compared to bottle fed infants." (Gibbs and Forste, 2013, p.4) It is also reported that research shows that breastfeeding mothers report "less restrictive feeding behaviors and lower levels of control, which is linked to healthy infant weight." (Gibbs and Forste, 2013, p. 4)