Rising Obesity in the United States - Dissertation Example

Sociology Dissertation Report Introduction: The incidence of obesity is on the rise and this is evident not only from media reports and medicalresearch, but also from simple observation of individuals in any context. Obesity has grown to the level of such a great medical threat that it poses the risk to life itself. The problem of obesity appears to be as prevalent and widespread in American society as other sociological problems such as smoking and taking drugs. The negative implications of the continuation of current obesity trends provided me the spur to engage in this research effort. I was interested in examining a problem that was not necessarily restricted only to small segments of the population. This report details my reasons for taking up this subject for my study and reflects on the conclusions drawn therein. The topic for the research study: While there were many issues I considered for the purpose of preparing a sociology dissertation, obesity appeared to be the one that had registered the sharpest rise in recent years and was also affecting the greatest number of people. At the outset, I recognized that obesity could also be classified as a medical problem rather than a sociological one. But there is one aspect in which obesity differs from other urgent medical problems that pose a danger to health. Such medical problems are restricted to limited sections of society; but obesity appears to be a prevalent condition, which is affecting a huge segment of American society, especially among young people who have traditionally been more active and thereby less obese than adults. The question that arose in this context was – what could be the possible reasons for such a dramatic rise in obesity, especially among children, in recent years? Applying Mills’ Sociological approach, the trend towards rising obesity is a feature of recent times, therefore it appeared likely that changing lifestyles with concomitant sedentary lifestyles were contributing to obesity. There are of course, medical reasons that can also be attributed as causal factors in obesity. But while some individuals may be obese due to medical reasons it is difficult, if not impossible, to explain away the increase in obesity among Americans across the nation, from different walks of life, purely on these grounds. There appeared to be indisputable sociological factors or elements in the environment that are causal factors of obesity. From this perspective, I began to explore the literature to discover the findings of other researchers on the causal factors leading to obesity. I found that there was a clear inference that could be drawn from the findings that social and environmental factors were playing a role in contributing to obesity. In particular, the question of the role of the media became an important part of my research exploration, since one of the direct causes of the sedentary lifestyles of the present can be attributed to the presence of the media, which hampers the pursuit of an active lifestyle among children and adults alike. Studies by Morley and Silverstone (1991) and Goldfield et al (2006) in particular offered considerable support for the proposition that TV watching habits could play a significant role in contributing to obesity. The theory of symbolic interactionism appeared especially relevant in the context of obesity, because this theory focus upon the impact of the social environment upon an individual and the manner in which the individual constructs reality based upon this. Obesity is a condition that gets worse depending upon the mind set of the individual and may thus be a function of the kind of construction of reality that occurs. In the case of the media, there is an image of the ideal model like figure that an individual must possess, while the reality an adolescent experiences about his or her self image may not conform to this image. This could contribute to feelings of depression and overeating, leading to obesity. I was interested in exploring this link between the media and obesity. While there were plenty of studies on obesity and on the influence of the media, I was curious about the extent to which young children were actually conscious about how TV watching and sedentary habits were contributing to their obesity, I wanted to explore the psychological aspects behind the subjective views of the children and determine the extent to which they were being affected by the images being bombarded on them through the media, in terms of their eating habits. I felt that this issue was very important, because it could provide insight into how far young children were being affected and conditioned by the media in their eating habits, Since it is obese children that grow into obese adults, an understanding of the causal factors contributing to obesity in children is likely to be very helpful in taking steps to target such behavior, so that the number of obese children can be reduced. These were the reasons that motivated me to take up this topic for my research study. Ethical considerations: A very important issue in this study was the ethical considerations associated with the research. Since the nature of the information being provided by the participants on their eating habits was of a personal nature, it was very important to preserve the confidentiality of such data and ensure that the privacy of the participants was maintained.(Saunders and Thornhill (2003:311). The steps taken to ensure this was by preserving the anonymity of the respondents and not requiring them to provide their names so that their identity could be protected. Since the participants in the study ranged in age from 11 to 18, this research study also gave rise to legal issues, since they were not of an age to provide their informed consent to participation in the study on the same basis that an autonomous adult would have done. The Nuremberg Code of 1947 clearly specifies that the voluntary consent of the human subject in a research study is absolutely essential. The participant in the study must have the legal capacity to give consent after the exercise of the free will of choice and without being subjected to any force or duress. (BMJ, 1996). Since the participants in this study were not of a legal age to make informed consent decisions to participate voluntarily in this study, I had to approach their parents to seek their consent on behalf of their children. I discussed the purpose of the study with them, its objectives as well as the kinds of questions that would be asked, in order to ascertain whether based on their knowledge of their own children, they perceived any risk or harm resulting for the child. Additionally, before the survey was administered, the children were provided a brief explanation about the questions and the assisting teachers who were with me during this process, were also helpful in ensuring that the children were not reluctant to fill up the survey and that they completed all the questions. This also helped to ensure that the children were comfortable and understood the questions properly so that they could provide meaningful answers. Since their regular teachers were also present, this provided the element of familiarity and assistance for the children, to address the issues of comprehension and consent. Paulson (2006) has highlighted some of the ethical issues that arise in the case of research carried out on children; one of which is that where no direct benefit results to the children, the research itself may become questionable. From an ethical standpoint, the question that will arise is whether parents can actually consent to such research being carried out on their children. Thus, I also had to consider whether there was adequate justification for the research effort, since there was no direct benefit as such resulting to the children; my objective was to assess the subjective perspective of the children on the issue of their obesity. But in this context, the Belmont Report (1987) makes a distinction between human subjects used in practice and for purposes of research. The research protocol aims to test a hypothesis through statistical methods in order to make a contribution to the general body of knowledge. Since in this case, the study did not fall under the category of practice, but a research study, the question of direct benefit to the participants did not arise because a hypothesis about the impact of the media in contributing to obesity was being tested and this is permissible from an ethical standpoint in research (Belmont Report, 1987). I also had to consider the potential negative implications that this research study was likely to have on the participants, especially because they were discussing “painful or difficult experiences” related to their obese condition.(www.eds.ac.uk). There was the possibility that answering questions about their obesity could have produced a negative emotional impact on the children at a later date after I had completed my study. Although this risk existed, it was not possible to exactly predict it with any degree of certainty and therefore could not be factored into this study. But in order to address this possibility, I did take necessary precautions as detailed above through the process of communication with their teachers and parents to ensure that such possibilities were minimal. Before carrying out the study, I was careful to gather consent from the parents and I had indicated to them that participation was strictly voluntary, therefore if they felt that there was a possibility of a negative impact on their children, they were free to decline participation. Since the teachers were also well acquainted with the children, they were also in a position to assess potential risks. Thus, on an overall basis, I was fairly confident that on the balance of probabilities, there was no danger of any undue negative impact. Observations and Conclusions: During the process of carrying out this study, I was struck anew by the relevance of context and the environment in contributing to this problem of obesity. Although there are earlier medical studies suggesting that TV viewing may play a role in contributing to obesity, the findings in this study demonstrate quite conclusively that the eating habits of children may be conditioned to a great extent by the influence of the media. The subtle yet all pervasive influence of the media through advertisements targeted at children, shows that the media is one of the significant causal factors of obesity. The fact that children these days are more sedentary appears to be a direct result of changing lifestyles and strongly suggests obesity may be more of a sociological problem than a medical one. Another significant aspect that emerged in this study was that the self-concept of children these days is strongly influenced by the images they are bombarded with through the media. I was struck by the large percentage of the obese children in my study who felt unattractive and wished they were more like the images on TV. This provides a strong inference that refining and modifying the images on TV could possibly contribute to an alleviation of the problem. Since depression arises due to a failure to conform to TV images, which in turn exacerbates the problem of overeating, eliminating the cause of such depression could produce good results in tackling obesity. It is also significant to note that the literature review revealed that those efforts to tackle obesity which were showing some degree of success were those that brought about changes in the food environment, as well as those which focus on regulation brought about through the Government. The results from my study only corroborated the fact that if obesity among those participant children were to be reduced, it would have to be done by bringing about changes in the food environment. This can be accomplished not simply through modification of lifestyles and eating habits by teaching the children about healthy eating options, but also through strict regulation of advertising on TV. TV programs need to portray fat people also in positive roles, so that the negative connotation associated with obesity on TV does not contribute to depression in youngsters. If I had to carry out this study again, I would increase the participant sample base and carry out a much larger scale study. The findings that have emerged through this limited study of 50 participants is quite significant and it would be useful to assess whether similarities also exist in other parts of the nation. The process of carrying out the study was vastly informative and I believe I would select the same topic if I had to do another study, because during the process, I have gained a new perspective on the complexities associated with the problem of obesity. I have also realized that there are no simple solutions to this problem, rather it would need to be tackled on multiple levels, and only a concerted, coordinated community and governmental approach can bring results. It would be far more helpful to examine obesity as a sociological problem, which is the product of the media and the environment rather than tackling it as a medical problem alone. Bibliography * BMJ, 1996. “The Nuremberg Code (1947)”, British Medical Journal, 7070 (313):1448, 7 December 1996. http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/nuremberg/; July 16, 2008. * ESDS, 2003. “Legal and Ethical issues in interviewing children”, Economic and Social Data Service, ; July 16, 2008. * Paulson, Jerome A, 2006. ‘An exploration of ethical issues in research in children’s health and the environment”, Environmental health Perspectives, 114(10):1603-1608 * Saunders, M, Lewis, P and Thornhill A, 2003. “Research Methods for Business Students”, Prentice Hall * The National Commission for the protection of human subjects of biomedical and behavioral research: The Belmont Report: Ethical principles and Guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research”, DHEW Publication No: OS (78) 0012, Washington at pp 2; cited in: Zimmerman, Janet F, 1997. “The Belmont report: An ethical framework for protecting research subjects”, The Monitor, Summer 1997. ; July 15, 2008 * Zimmerman, Janet F, 1997. “The Belmont report: An ethical framework for protecting research subjects”, The Monitor, Summer 1997. ; July 15, 2008 Read More