Obesity and BMI Mini Proposal The obesity problems within Western civilization in today's day have presented many challenges to different aspects of society. Finding causal relationships within this epidemic of obesity is paramount for a well ordered and healthy society. It is important to understand this problems through the younger population as this population provides a unique and key aspect into the problem and provide a manner in providing solutions for the long-term.

Throughout this battle with obesity, researchers have discovered tools that have helped model this problem in new and effective ways. The Body Mass Index (BMI) model has provided health professionals and other interested parties in determining the impact of mass on the health of an individual. This relative scale has been employed in many areas and denotes and important part of the investigation between health and body weight.

Another important variable within this domain of research is the impact of daily exercise and this activity's impact on the health of an individual. The individual effort of exercise has been shown to have varying effects and impacts on those people and finding a direct and relational aspect to this practice is also an important aspect in the investigation of obesity and its overall environmental strain it places on the society as a whole.

The purpose of this study is to determine the impacts of various activities on a BMI scale for adolescents. This study will conduct an investigation into the effect of weight loss with daily exercise and compare that approach to those with no exercise. The essence of this investigation attempts to qualify and quantify the impact of exercise and how it relates to weight loss through the measurements of the BMI.

Problem of the Study

The rationale behind this study is to help focus proper techniques for weight loss issues. The significance of this study is that it can help contribute to finding the key relationships that apply to diet, exercise and weight loss.

Search Strategies Used

When searching for strategies to approach this subject it is necessary to identify the proper variables to be examined. The literature search produced many results and to narrow down the selections it is necessary to impose a logical and practical approach to limiting the research. Approaching this subject from this standpoint is a viable strategy due to many varying factors involved

Assumptions

This research assumes that both diet and exercise the mass of a person. Another assumption applied to this research implies that the statistical manipulation of the data is coherent with qualifying ideas and subjects.

Research Question

In adolescents, what is the effect of weight loss with daily exercise on BMI in comparison to weight loss with diet alone?

Limitations

-Limited time and scope.

- Limited funding to expand this research.

Chapter 2 -- Review of Literature

Ho's (2012) research was designed to determine if immediate effects of diet and exercise on BMI would sustain for longer times. This articles is placed at Level 1 on the hierarchal level and was performed in a meta-analysis style. The article aimed to examine the impact of differing lifestyle interventions on weight change and obesity risk. The article's conclusions were very clear cut and provided important data. The research suggested that these types of interventions are in fact an effective component in treating childhood obesity issues and can have impacts up to one year.

The article can be applied in this research because there is meaningful clinical information that can be applied in treating child hood obesity. The research was presented in a logical fashion and was coherent in its arguments. The research is limited by the use of intermediate outcomes and complexity distorted the refinement needed to further the research.

Maier et al. (2011) presented a research article that aimed to determine the effect of a dietary counseling program in relation to reducing fructose. This study is located at Level 4 on the hierarchy and was designed as a Quantitative Pilot Study. The study revealed after a 12-week intervention that children had reduced fructose, sucrose and glucose resulting in significant BMI adjustment. This research was highlighted by its detailed testing procedures and provided a clear cut pathway to their hypothesis. The design of this research is helpful in applying to this study due to the clear cut approach to the topic. The interventions used in this research allows for some uncertainty. The subjective nature of interventions themselves allows for some non-standardization that may lead to unspecified results. This research's arguments are backed up solidly however, and the evidence is compelling to use within this research proposal.

Siegel...

(2009) presented research that is in accordance to Level 3 within the hierarchal scale and was designed as a Quantitative Quasi-Experiment. The purpose of this research was to identify and reveal the impacts of carbohydrates within the diet of obese children in a primary care office-based setting. The design focused on 63 teens and revealed that a low carbohydrate diet of less than 50 grams per day seems to be a useful and effective intervention in obese teenagers.
The research was not particularly strong in some ways, limiting its ability to provide a useful example in many ways. The design of the experiment provided no control group to measure the impacts of the intervention. The results do provide a compelling suggestion that carbs have an impact on BMI however, which does specifically apply to this research proposal.

Sola et al. (2010) presented their research in a prospective interventional study. The research is located Level 4 on the hierarchical scale. The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility and impact on BMI and physical fitness as an intervention for obese and inactive children in primary care. The research concluded that BMI was significantly reduced in this type of environment. 49 out of the 62 children chosen for this study, after a 6-month program, met BMI and weight loss reduction goals. Another important aspect about this research is that parental involvement was also introduced to the study and profoundly impacted the results according to the authors.

This article is particularly useful for this research proposal as a detailed and proactive plan was designed. The research lasted over the period of a year to determine the long-range impacts of this type of intervention. The research is limited in some fashion by the fact that no control group was used, making the experiment somewhat vulnerable to bias and subjective interpretation in some aspects. There is additional value in this article because of the detail and care that was created for the intervention program.

Yaman (2009) presented a research article that attempted to measure the effects of diet and exercise on changes in weight during adolescence. This is a Level 3 article and was designed as a quasi-experiment. The purpose of this study was to examine diet vs. diet and exercise in concert as an effective measure of BMI. The results of the study provided key information directly related to this proposal and can be used to compare the results due to its similarity in approach. The article concluded that both interventions were successful in lowering BMI but exercise on top of diet altercations delivered more dramatic results.

Defining Terms

Population -- Aged 12- to 14-year-old children diagnosed with obesity in public schools.

Intervention -- This research will divide the group into three populations with the following interventions: 1- no intervention 2- exercise/diet modification 3- diet modification only

Comparison - The BMI indices of these groups will be compared.

Outcome -- Results will be able to determine if BMI is more affected by different types of interventions

Independent Variable -- BMI

Dependent Variable -- Intervention Type

Concepts and Theory

This study will apply the conceptual framework of applying an analysis of an idea. This concept of measuring and gauging can be used to further the topic in general.

Chapter 3 -- Methods

Design

This study's design is quasi-experimental with a pre-test given first to the populations. Each population; control, exercise and diet, diet only, will be periodically measured for BMI to determine the changes in weight loss. The experiment will be conducted over the course of a year with monthly data samples being taken to acquire the necessary information.

Setting

The setting for this design will be in several public junior high schools where children have been identified as obese by BMI standards. The diet and exercise interventions will take place three times weekly. The diet interventions will be similar and a constructed exercise program will be used to apply to the necessary population.

Population and Sample

Four public high schools from a urban environment will be petitioned for their cooperation in this study. The aim is to test 100 students who fit in this category where one third of the group will be randomly divided in to the three aforementioned groups. To be included in this group, a student must be between the ages of 12-14 at the end of one year. Each student must also be considered obese by published BMI standards.

Protection of Human Subjects

The nature of this study poses some risk to the population being examined due to the modifications in exercise and diet. This requires an ethical and moral approach…