肥胖问题英文论文.docx
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肥胖问题英文论文
Abstract
ObesityhasbeentaggedbytheWorldHealthOrganisation(WHO)asthenewcrisis
inpublichealthbecauseofincreasingevidencethattheconditioneasilyleadstoa
hostoflife-threateningdiseaseslikearteriosclerosis,diabetes,cancer,asthma,
arthritis,etc.Anenormousamountofscientificresearchhasbeendoneonobesity
butthereisasyetnoconsensusonwhatconstitutesobesity,whatareitsexactcauses
andcontributoryfactors,andhowexactlydoesobesitydeteriorateintoserious
medicalcases.Theonlypointofagreementseemstobethatadeterminedand
concentratedeffortneedstobeundertakentoarrestthegrowingnumberoflivesthat
havebeenwastedbyobesity,whichalsocausesanenormousdrainonanation’s
healthserviceresources.Forsuchanefforttobeeffective,however,everyone
involvedshouldhaveaclearunderstandingofwhyithappenssothatappropriate
stepscanbetaken.Thisdissertationsetouttodojustthat:
provideaclearergraspof
thecausesofobesityandtheextenttowhichtheproblemhasdegeneratedtoguide
futureactivitiesdesignedtomitigatetheprevalenceofobesity.
Forthepurposeofthispaper,UKwasmadethefocusofthestudybecauseof
increasingconcernthatobesityhasreachedunwieldyproportionsinthiscountry,
especiallyamongchildren.Infact,childhoodobesityisnowtheobjectofaPublic
ServiceAgreementthattheBritishgovernmentusuallyreservesforproblemswith
seriousnationalrepercussions.
CONTENTSPAGE
1.Introduction
2.Rationale
2.a.Aim
2.b.Objectives
3.Methodology
4.LiteratureReview
4.a.Obesity-relatedDiseases
4.b.PublicHeathIssue
4.c.ObesityinUK
4.d.PSATarget
4.e.PreventionandIntervention
5.CausesandEffects
6.InfluencingFactors
6.a.Diet
6.b.Nutrition
6.c.PhysicalActivity
6.d.Mediaadvertising
7.Findings&Analysis
8.Conclusion&Recommendation
9.ReferenceList
1.Introduction
The2002HealthSurveyforEnglandmadeadisturbingdeclarationthatoverhalfof
theUKpopulationwasoverweightorobese.Inthesameyear,theNationalOfficeof
Statistics(NOS)cameupwithamoredetailedreport,blowinguptheproblemby
sayingthatobesitywasaffectingchildrenmorethanadults.TheNOSrevealedthat
22percentofallboysand28percentofallgirlsinthe2-15agebracketwereeither
overweightorobese.Thestudyraisedthesamealarmbyassertingthatabout1
millionofallobesepersonsinUKwerelessthan16yearsold,indicatingasteadyand
rapidyearlyincreaseintheprevalencerateforchildhoodobesityinthecountry.This
isacauseforgeneralconcernbecauseobesityinchildhoodtendstobeirreversible
andobeseadultsarehighlyvulnerabletoarangeofailmentsthatincludeheart
disease,diabetes,arthritisandcertainstrainsofcancer.Sincethefutureofanation
liesinthehandsofitschildren,whatfutureawaitsanationwithadisease-prone
citizenry?
Thisupwardtrendintheprevalencerateofobesitystartedasearlyasthe1970swith
thereleaseofanumberofgovernmentstudies,notablythe1974-94NationalStudyof
HealthandGrowthandthe1995HealthSurveyforEngland.Between1984and
1994,thereportsnotedadoublingintheprevalenceofobesityamongBritish
children,from0.6percentto1.7percentinboysandfrom1.3percentto2.6percent
ingirls.Amongadults,theprevalenceraterosefrom6percentin1980to17percent
in1998inmenandfrom8percentto21percentinwomen.Obesityisdeterminedby
measuringaperson’sbodymassindex(BMI),orthebodyweightaccordingtoheight,
rateofgrowth,sexandage.Amongboys,theyareobeseif25percentofbodyweigh
isfat,whileitis32percentingirls.BasedontheBMImeasurementofthegeneral
populationinthesucceeding10-yearperiod(DoH,2004;POST,2003;RCP,2003;
Comptroller&AuditorGeneral,2006),thereisasteadyandworrisomeincreasein
thenumberofobesepersonsinUK.Thiscallsforanorganizedandconcentrated
multi-sectoraction,whichrequiresathoroughanddefinitivestudybeforehandtosee
wheretoplugtheholesinthepublichealthsystem.
2.Rationale
AccordingtotheWHO(WHO,2002)obesitymayhaveassumedtheproportionsofa
globalepidemicbutUKpresentsaninterestingcaseforacountry-specificstudy
becauseitholdsthedistinctionofbeingthecountrywherethefirstobesity-related
caseoftype-2diabeteswasreported(NHS,2002).Thisisanindicationthatobesity
hasbecomearunawayprobleminUK,whichissupportedbyrecentpublichealth
bulletinsexpressingduealarmoverthesituation.Itisnecessarythenthatan
attemptmustbemadetoassesstheoverallpicturesothatitcanbeproperly
determinedifanorganised,resource-intensiveandmassiveintermediationeffortis
warranted,andwhatparticularstrategiesareappropriate.Thiscanonlybe
accomplishedbyexaminingtheexactinfluencesofdiet,physicalinactivity,nutrition
andmediaonthesupposedincreaseofobesitycasesinUK;byseekingtodetermine
themagnitudeandextentoftheproblemintheUKcontext;byunderscoringthe
socialandpsychologicalfactorsthatbroughtaboutandcontributedtothesituation;
andbyevaluatingtheeffectivenessofthepreventionandintermediationmeasures
thathavebeentestedforgovernmentadoptiontomitigatetheproblem.Aclose
examinationofthesefactorsmaygivestakeholdersanideaofwheretostartattacking
theproblemandwheretoconcentratetheeffort.
2.a.Aim
Theprincipalaimofthisdissertationistodeterminehowdeleterioushasbeenthe
effectsofmediaadvertisingandprogramming,physicalactivityanddietandnutrition
ontheoverallhealthandfitnessoftheBritishpopulationasregardstoobesity.In
puttingupthesetrendsforcloserinspection,theaimofthedissertationistoascertain
theextentoftheirinfluenceonpublichealthsothattheyserveasbasisforthe
remedialmeasuresthatshouldbeundertaken.
2.b.Objectives
1)Giveanaccurateperspectiveontheinfluenceofthemodernenvironmenton
obesity,focusingonfactorssuspectedasresponsibleforincreasingthe
numberofobesepersonsinUK,suchasimproperdietandnutrition,the
emergenceofasedentarylifestyleandmedia’sunwittingpromotionofthese
unhealthyhabits.
2)Investigatewhetherobesityhasbecomesowidespreadahealthproblemasto
warrantdrasticmeasuresandaconcentrationofgovernmentresource
3)Identifythefactorsthatcontributedtotheunwieldyincreaseofobesechildren
andadultsinUK.
4)Evaluatetheeffectivenessofmeasuresthathavebeenundertakentocombat
obesityandidentifythemeasuresthatcanbeundertakentoreversetheupward
trendintheprevalenceofobesityinUK.
3.Methodology
3.a.ChoiceofResearchDesign
Researchforthispaperhasleanedheavilyontheobservationmethod,whichusedthe
quantitativeapproachtogeneratewhatisknownassecondaryresearchdata.The
quantitativeconductofresearchwasgivenpreferenceoverthequalitativeapproach,
whichemploysthedirectcommunicationmethod,becauseoftheuniversalityand
multi-dimensionalnatureofobesityasagrowingsocialandpublichealthproblem.
Thestudyalsotakesonthecharacteristicsofboththedescriptiveandcausalresearch
strategies,whichwereusefulinhelpingmeetthevariedrequirementsofthisresearch.
Themainrequirementsincludeddescriptiveresearchofthisconditionaswellasa
discussionofitscauses.Descriptiveresearchhelpsdescribesthehistory,
characteristicsandscopeoftheproblem,whilethecausalresearchdetermineswhich
factorsorvariablesarecausingaparticularbehaviour.Webelievebothmethodsare
usefultothispaperasitfocusesontheproblemofchildhoodobesityandthe
behaviourrelatingtotheunhealthyeatinghabitsofBritishchildren.
Inthedirectcommunicationmethod,researchisconductedbyface-to-faceor
telephoneinterviewswiththeuseofsurveysandquestionnaires.Itsscopeof
coverage,however,isnarrowandiscarriedouttorevealonlyspecificdata.Therefore
thismethodwouldbeoflittleusetothisstudyanyway.Ontheotherhandwiththe
observationmethodusedforthisresearch,whichwascarriedoutwithawidevariety
oftoolstobearonanequallylargerangeofstudyrelatedtoobesity,theresearch
pannedouttogatherdatafromallpossiblesourceswhichincludebooks,trade
journals,websites,governmentstudies,papersfromseminarsandotherinstitutional
publications,togiveusthewidestchoiceofperspectiveonthesubjectarea.Since
obesityisamulti-sidedsubject,amassofinformationisrequiredtomakerealistic
comparisonsbetweentheoriesandevolvingconceptsandthereforevalidateourtheory
thattheproblemencompassesthewholerangeofhumanbehaviour,foodintake,
eatingpatterns,physicalexertionsandmediaadvertisement.Secondarydata
accordingtoCurwin(1996,p.46)cancomefromwithinoroutsidetheorganisation.
Externalsecondarydataarethosecollectedfromresearchinvolvingtextbooks,
journalarticlesandreports,whileinternalsecondarydatacomesfromorganisationinitiated
surveys,annualreportsandservicefeedback.Theoveralladvantageof
secondarydatainresearchisflexibility,sinceitisofteninformationthatanindividual
organisationcannotcollectonitsown.Byusingtheobservationmethodofresearch
tocollectsecondarydatafromwhatothershavewrittenandexpressedonobesity,this
writerwasabletopindownthetheoriesandfindingstofillinthegapsandmake
comparisonsonwhathasbeendoneandwhatstillneedstobedonetoaddressthe
problemofobesity.Thetheoriesandfindingsinclude:
girlsaremorepronetoobesity
thanboys