Obesity and the Causes in Children

Title:
Obesity and the Causes in Children, By Stacey Baker, Research for the 21st Century, Winter Quarter 2008

Introduction:
My research topic is on obesity in children and some of the causes of it including diet, exercise, television and genetics. Obesity is becoming a problem for younger people more and more, and the research I have done has found some of the reasons for this. The children today have poorer diets, don’t do as many physical activities and watch television that enforces bad eating habits. All of these causes can be controlled, unlike genetics which can’t be changed, but can be foreseen and other factors controlled to help. All the information that I got is recent information on the causes of obesity in children since it is a more recent issue.
Topic Analysis:

Academic Disciplines-
Health
Medicine
Nutrition

Library of Congress Subject Headings-
Medicine
Pediatrics
Nutrition and Feeding of Children and Adolescents
Child Health, Child Health Services
Genetic Aspects

Key Word Terms-
Obesity
Children
Diet
Exercise
Television

Most Important Databases and Periodical Indexes-
ProQuest
Google Advanced
Alternative Sources

Identifying Subject Headings and Keywords-
Keywords and subject headings were a little harder than I had originally thought they would be. My first attempts were a little too broad, when I used terms like causes. I had to narrow it down and actually put the causes instead of being so broad. After I was using more specific terms I still got a lot of articles each time, but there was usually always a good one or two on the first page.


Best Reference Sources:

Organizations-
KidShape
8733 Beverly Blvd, Suite 400, Los Angeles, CA 90048
(888) 600-6444
http://www.kidshape.com/

KidShape is an organization that helps children to deal with obesity problems and give solutions like healthy eating and exercise to get back in shape and stay away from obesity.America on the Move
150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111
617-636-2714
http://www.americaonthemove.org/

America on the Move is to help Americans to start exercising to stay healthy.

Source of Statistics-

“Nutrition.” National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 11 December 2007. Department of Health and Human Services. 22 February 2008. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/nutrition/index.htm#5.

The CDC and Department of Health and Services are the creators of the site and responsible for the information, so the information should be very reliable. The site was easy to navigate and I quickly found the information I was looking for with only one search. I was looking for statistics and found very useful ones on obesity. There weren’t as many as I had hoped for, but other than that everything was great.
Articles from Encyclopedias-
“Confronting Childhood Obesity." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 3 Feb. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9403613>.

The article I found on Britannica was Confronting Childhood Obesity. The article discusses different causes that are blamed for childhood obesity. It also shows how people are becoming more aware of things that are an influence to children. Big influences like children’s shows are being recognized as a problem for children becoming obese. This article will help with my topic of obesity in children to show what causes, such as Cookie Monster, are really affecting children.

Segal, Laura M. “Generation O: Addressing Childhood Obesity before it’s Too Late.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Vol 615 (2008)

This article addresses the causes and consequences of childhood obesity and why it is so important to stop the epidemic. The book focuses on “poor nutrition and inadequate physical activity,” as reasons for obesity in the children of today. That helps with the sections I will be covering causes in.


Best Books:

Sears, William, Martha Sears, James Sears, and Robert Sears. The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood: Ten Ways to Get Your Family on the Right Nutritional Track. New York: Little Brown, 2006.

William Sears studied pediatrics at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and has been practicing pediatrics for more than thirty years. Martha Sears is a registered nurse and the mother of Drs. Robert and James Spears who are both pediatricians. The book contains information and ideas of different ways to have a healthier lifestyle with children. Chapter nine is about obesity and how to avoid it with children, which helps with my topic of child obesity. I found this book at Hastings with the help of the librarians there.

Okie, Susan. Fed Up!: Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity. Washington D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 2005.

Susan Okie is a physician and award winning medical journalist, who got her schooling at Harvard Medical. This book shows what a problem obesity has become and how it causes so many problems that can threaten your life if not taken care of. It goes over the generic causes of obesity and how it has become such a noticeable issue today. This helps with my topic by addressing the issue and showing why it is such a problem. I looked this book up on the internet.


Best Periodical Articles:

"First 5 Discusses Child Obesity. " Sacramento Observer [Sacramento, Calif.] 15 Nov. 2007,B6. Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW). ProQuest. Seattle Community College Libraries. 13 Feb. 2008 http://www.proquest.com.ez.sccd.ctc.edu:2048/

The article is about how sugar is a major problem in causing obesity in children. They also address how to teach families to eat healthy so that it doesn’t become a problem. The author on this article is anonymous, and the article comes from The Sacramento Observer, so the information may be biased or not completely accurate. I used ProQuest to find this article.

Marian Wright Edelman. "Childhood Obesity - A Growing Epidemic. " Precinct Reporter [San Bernardino, Calif.] 18 Oct. 2007,A4. Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW). ProQuest. Seattle Community College Libraries. 13 Feb. 2008 http://www.proquest.com.ez.sccd.ctc.edu:2048/

Marian Wright Edelman is the president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund. This article is about how to stop childhood obesity by eating healthy, such as healthier foods, and smaller portions. It also says how less time in front of the TV would be better for children. This shows what some problems are that are causing children to become obese in the first place, because they aren’t doing these things. I used ProQuest to find this article.

Tara Parker-Pope. "Watching Food Ads on TV May Program Kids to Overeat. " Wall Street Journal [New York, N.Y.] 10 Jul 2007, Eastern edition: D.1. National Newspapers (5). ProQuest. Seattle Community College Libraries. 13 Feb. 2008

Tara Parker-Pope is a journalist for “The Wall Street Journal Online,” and writes “Health Journal” every Friday. This article is about a study on how food ads on TV can cause children to overeat. The study showed that when children are showed toy ads before a cartoon they are not as likely to eat extra snacks as when they are showed food ads before a cartoon. This shows a possible cause for obesity in children, which directly relates to my topic. I used ProQuest to find this article.


Best Internet Sources:

Ferry, Robert Jr.. “Obesity in Children.” E Medicine Health. Ed. Melissa Conrad Stoppler. 2008. WebMD. 20 Feb. 2008. <http://www.emedicinehealth.com/obesity_in_children/page2_em.htm>

Robert Ferry Jr. is a board-certified Pediatric Endocrinologist, who does studies on cancer and diabetes as well as work at UTHSCSA School of Medicine as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics. The article has a lot of information that could work for different aspects of childhood obesity. Yet it is specific enough that the information is useful. For my research the Obesity in Children Causes had a lot of good information.

“Overweight and Obesity: An Overview.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 22 May, 2007. Department of Health and Human Services. 20 Feb. 2008. <http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/contributing_factors.htm>

I couldn’t find the author of the article, but the website is backed by The Department of Health and Human Services so the information should be very reliable. Information was fairly easy to find with paragraphs broken into the different causes and headed in bold in what the type of cause was being discussed. The information was very useful for my topic and easy to find.


Best Non-Print Source:
Chana Joffe-Walt, host. A Halloween that is Healthy? NPR News and All That Jazz. 30 October 2007. 22 February 2008 http://search3.webfeat.org/cgi-bin/WebFeat.dll?Command=Search&Client_ID=converg&wf_field1=wf_keyword&wf_all_years=yes&wf_term1=obesity+children&Databases=wf_kclscat&Databases=wf_kuow&Databases=wf_kplu&Databases=wf_pacificnorthwestcollections&Databases=wf_kcts_video&Databases=wf_splcat&select=on#wf.
KPLU is a radio show that addresses issues that are important to the average person, such as politics, weather, food and sports. This radio show is about the idea that Halloween doesn’t have to be all about candy. They are promoting a healthy Halloween that is still fun for kids where the kids can make their own costumes and encourages adults to hand out alternatives to candy. They call it Green Halloween. The kids aren’t entirely for the part about not having candy, but they liked making their own costumes. This works well with my topic because it shows a way that parents can help their kids stay away from so much junk food.

Review of my Research Process:

Looking for information on obesity and the causes in children has been a good experience. I learned all the different databases that are helpful, not just ProQuest, though it is still my favorite. I also learned that there is more to Google, like Google Advanced which is a lot more helpful than the normal Google everyone knows about. Using my keywords obesity and children, put together with the different causes came up with really good results each time and found me useable information for my topic.
I found all sorts of information that I never knew was out there. Like when I was looking for my alternative source, I found a radio show that fit right in with my topic and I had never known how to go and find things like radio shows on the internet, or that they could be useful. I also found a lot of reliable information from sources that you can find the history of and know that the information is true. I wasn’t planning on using television as one of my original causes, but when looking up other causes I began to find a lot of good information on how much of a problem television is for kids these days and how it influences their eating habits.
My topic is getting a lot more attention by everyone because people are really starting to notice it. People are starting to be willing to do more because they can see the problem right in front of them with a lot of children. Another reason it is getting noticed is that people like doctors are writing about it and getting people to start doing something before real health problems set in. More and more you see television supporting a healthier lifestyle like healthy foods and getting out and doing physical activities more. I think that the more the issue is brought up, the better; because more kids can be helped before their lives are too affected.
I still favor the internet for finding sources just because of how easy, fast and accessible it is. You can find all different types of sources all from the internet, even radio and television shows. You can find almost anything on any topic that you can think of on the internet. The only problem is to watch where your information is coming from, books have to be published, but on the internet anyone can put whatever they want no matter how reliable the information.