Introduction
Topic
- Research Question: What practical measures can be taken by the child’s parents, guardians, doctors, and teachers in order to prevent childhood obesity.
- Working Thesis: While genetic predisposition plays a large role in determining whether or not a child is going to be affected by obesity during preschool and early school years, it can be overcome with a proper exercising regimen, healthy diet, and timely medical and therapeutic preventive actions.
- The angle on the Topic: The dominant view on childhood obesity is that genetic predisposition is the main determining factor in childhood obesity. Many types of research focus on proving this fact a dozen times over while ignoring other factors that may influence childhood obesity in a positive or negative manner. The environmentalist approach to this problem states that action and inaction are the ultimate deciding factors, which allow for genetic predisposition to come into play.
Context
- The USA is known to be one of the most obese nations in the world. Childhood obesity is an affliction that has a great influence on a child’s health, self-esteem, and social life and may transition into numerous health issues in the future, ranging from heart problems to depression. Finding practical solutions to lessen the effects of genetic predisposition towards the disease will help improve the overall healthiness of our nation.
- Although I am a novice scholar, I trust that my research and its results will be graded based upon academic principles of credibility and trustworthiness. The research will be backed by peer-reviewed scholarly sources of medical literature, which will help establish its worth and credibility. My ideas are based on recent findings of several acclaimed professionals in the medical field, such as Cunningham, Kramer, and Narayan (2014), as well as Leonska – Duniec, Ahmetov, and Zmijewski (2016).
Audience
- The primary audience that this article is intended for is healthcare specialists, school teachers, nurses, administrators, and other stakeholders involved and interested in promoting child health.
- The secondary audience for this article is my professors and classmates, who may have experienced childhood obesity or know someone who did. This makes the subject even more relatable to them.
- The audience will largely share my opinions on the matter, especially after I will present my case to them and back it up with evidence taken from scholarly sources.
Evidence
Current Evidence
The research material I have found and reviewed so far indicates two things – that genetic predisposition is indeed a prevalent factor in predicting the possibility of development of childhood obesity. This point of view is currently dominant among healthcare professionals, and numerous researches back up the validity of that claim. The other research made by a group of Polish and Russian scientists states that depending on genetics, certain patients may be more predisposed towards different types of physical exercise as a primary way of treating obesity.
Additional Evidence
In order to further my research and validate my thesis statement with facts, I will require information on the overall effectiveness of standard exercise regimens against childhood obesity. The results of these researches would help either prove or refute my hypothesis. In order to represent the opposing view and eliminate bias from my research, I will do my best to find researches that specifically oppose my point of view both in their statements and in results. Aside from information in regards to exercises, I will have to research how a healthy diet affects the development of childhood obesity.
Conclusion
In order to fight childhood obesity statewide and improve the overall levels of health for our nation, the USA requires taking a more proactive stance. Parents, teachers, and healthcare specialists must work together in order to prevent obesity from happening, as it is much easier to prevent the disease than to treat it later. Doing so will help save lives, improve standards of living, and save money otherwise spent on the treatment of diseases that stem from obesity.
References
Cunningham, S. A., Kramer, M. R., & Narayan, K. V. (2014). Incidence of childhood obesity in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(5), 403-411. Web.
Leonska – Duniec, A., Ahmetov, I.I., & Zmijewski, P. (2016). Genetic variants influencing effectiveness of exercise training programmes. Biology of Sport, 33(3), 207-214. Web.