Epidemiology of Childhood Obesity Research Paper

Epidemiology of Childhood Obesity - Research Paper Example In epidemiology, there are certain steps done systematically to successfully cure diseases (Page, Cole & Timmreck, 1995). The first step is to identify the problem, or the disease, then make a community or a population assessment by determining whether there are actual or potential health problems present. In this step, questions such as which among the population is the least or the most susceptible is determined. By performing demographic profiling, it can determine the percentage of individuals affected, and can be a reliable indicator of the overall health of the population (Yarnell, 2007). This step is followed by the determination of the causes of the disease. After having a conclusion as to how an ailment affects individuals, epidemiologists give out information on what the disease is, as well as causes, effects and prevention methods. The last step would be on the hands of an individual and his or her personal decisions after being informed about a certain disease. The person can choose whether to do actions that could prevent the onset of the disease or just do nothing to prevent it (Page et al., 1995). Diseases can be studied either by the number of affected individuals in a given population (quantitative epidemiology) or by studying the causes and effects of the disease in the affected individuals (qualitative epidemiology), which are both important in determining risk factors (Yarnell, 2007). In order to search for the causes of diseases, a model is used in determining those factors. Figure 1. The Epidemiology Triangle The epidemiology triangle is a traditional model used in determining the causes of diseases (Page et al., 1995). The vertices consist of the host, or the carrier of the disease, the agent or the cause of the disease, and the environment where the host and the agent are brought together (ibid.). Another part of the triangle is TIME, or the incubation period before a disease becomes full blown (Merril & Timmreck, 2006). After all compon ents of the formation of the disease are identified properly, epidemiologists break the legs of the triangle, disrupting the connections between environment, host and agent in order to prevent the outbreak of the disease and prevent it from spreading. However, in non-infectious diseases this triangle model is not always reliable due to some particular components that are not easily classifiable whether they are agents or environmental (Page et al., 1995). This paper would be tackling the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, and attempt to create a disease model as well as to list the steps in its prevention, focusing on presentation of qualitative obesity epidemiology. Definition of Obesity Body mass index or BMI is used to determine whether a person’s weight is below normal, normal, or above normal, which can be overweight, obese or morbidly obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2011). A percentage of at least 25-30% fat in the body can consider a child as fat (Williams et al., 1992). BMI that is 25 up to 29.9 is overweight, and beyond that is considered obese. Being obese, or obesity is defined as an excessive or abnormal accumulation of fat that presents various risks to health (WHO, n.d.). Problems that can arise from excessive fat include high blood pressure and cholesterol, increased impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, breathing

The impact of the removal of DRA on the management of Human Resources Dissertation

The impact of the removal of DRA on the management of Human Resources in Organisations - Dissertation Example Presentation and description of data shall be done by complying results from core aspects of the questionnaire. The results shall be presented quantitatively by the use of tables and charts to organize data collected. After this, the researcher shall draw on the flow of information received in the data analysis to build three major themes in relation to the research problem. Finally, the researcher shall discuss and interpret data by grouping the data presented into three to correspond to the themes. The discussion and interpretation shall be done qualitatively by drawing subjective conclusions based on concerns and theories raised by various authors and researchers in the literature review. 4.1 PRESENTATION AND DESCRIPTION OF DATA Based on the purpose of the study and research questions raised by the researcher, responses on six key questions from the questionnaire have been presented and described in this section. Answers to these questions are useful in find out factors that have accounted for the scraping of the DRA, the merits and de-merits that are likely to be associated with the scraping of the DRA, and measures that are needed to be put in place to ensure that the policy of scraping the DRA useful. 4.1.1 What is your level of preference for being served by older people aged 55-65 in organisations? The researcher sought to know how well respondents preferred the serviced of older people aged 55-65 in organisations. This question was to draw an inference on the usefulness of older people in organisations and find out their contribution to the development and daily running of various organisations. The table below presents respondents’ level of preference for being served by older people Table 4.1 Preference for being served by Older People Preference Level Number of Respondents Percentage Very much preferred 3 15 Preferred 2 10 Not preferred 9 45 Not preferred at all 6 30 Total 20 100 From table 4.1, it can be seen that out of the twenty (20) resp ondents, 15% of them had a high level of preference for being served by older people. 10% of respondents preferred to be served by older people but did not esteem that so much. 45% of respondents did not prefer being served by older people whereas 30% did wished they were never served by older people. The respondents who were aged between 18 and 70 said their preferences were informed by factors as such as working experience, worker ethics and approachability. 4.1.2 Do you support the scraping of DRA? This component of the questionnaire was a build up to the question asked in 4.1.1. In simple terms, the researcher wanted to find out from respondents whether or not they supported the policy of scraping the DRA to enable people to work in organisations till they themselves felt the need to drop. Out of the twenty (20) people who responded to the questionnaire, thirteen (13) of them answered ‘No’ to the question whether or not the DRA should be scrapped. This means thirtee n (13) respondents wanted employees to retire at age 65. Seven (7) respondents answered ‘Yes’ meaning they wanted employees to work after age 65. Proportionally, If 20 respondents represent 360Â °, 13 respondents = 7 x 360 20 = 234Â ° representing ‘No’ On the other hand If 20 respondents