Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Obesity - Essay Example The success of obesity-reducing strategies is highly unlikely without the utilization of research as a foundational tool in the design process. A 2012 study by Epstein and colleagues examines two different approaches to childhood obesity intervention designs. The researchers conducted this research with the goal of illuminating differences in several outcome measures between groups based on the focus of the intervention being either a reduction in high energy-dense food consumption, or an increase in dietary components with low energy density. A multitude of additional variables were also included in the analysis, and are described below. This study primarily relies on the use of inferential statistics, though a number baseline descriptive measurements (age, gender, height, weight, percent overweight, body mass index, and diet trends) are appropriately added to the report. The primary dependent variable in this experiment is the change in standardized body mass index (zBMI) associated with each group, as measured at three different time periods following the implementation of an intervention program (0-6 months, 0-12 months, and 0-24 months). Secondary dependent variables were also evaluated at these intervals, including changes in eating behaviors like food choices, and the results of questionnaires related to parenting changes. The independent factor in this study was the dietary focus on either reducing high energy-dense food consumption, or increasing low energy-density ingestion. The population of focus for this study was composed only of children between the ages of eight and twelve who are able to read above a grade three level, are in a percentile higher than the 85th of the BMI average, are not currently on other weight loss treatments including pharmaceuticals, have parents who are not in weight loss programs, have at least one parent willing to participate in the study, and dont have any physical or psychological