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EthicalConsiderationsVictoriaIke.docxRunning head: PART 1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH CRITIQUE 5
Qualitative Study Research Critique
Neither of the studies selected were qualitative.
Introduction
There has been a growing concern in the healthcare system because of the growing prevalence of obesity among adolescents in the past two decades. Obesity is a health problem involving excessive body fat that is required, which increases the risk of other health problems. Some adolescents may just see it as a cosmetic problem, but when they get a bit older, they are at higher risk of getting diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and heart disease. These diseases are in high numbers in the US and combined they become the highest disease-causing deaths. Considering these, the number of these diseases needs to be evaluated and interventions put in place to try to reduce the numbers. One of the ways we could try to curtail the number of these diseases is by treating obesity when it’s still in children and adolescents. The prevalence of obesity in adolescents needs to be studied and recommendations should be given based on the findings to reduce these numbers. Different studies has been done to constantly evaluate the prevalence of obesity in adolescents. The PICOT question aimed at establishing the prevalence of obesity in adolescents, its current trends and how we can use the data to ease the occurrence of other diseases caused by obesity.
Qualitative Studies
To answer the PICOT question, this paper focuses on two qualitative research studies that have evidence-based interventions in studying the prevalence of obesity in adolescents. The selected studies was done by Al-Haifi et al. (2022) and Duan et al. (2020). Details from the two studies are identified in the subsequent sections of this article.
Background Information: You were able to describe some elements of the background but not each of the elements.
The first research study that we reviewed was carried out by Al-Haifi et al. (2022). The study sought to give a detailed update on the rate of obesity among adolescents while also giving associations between the levels of obesity or overweight and the influence of their perception due to their body weight by friends and family. The problem of the study was to establish the updated rates of prevalence of obesity and overweight in Kuwaiti adolescents. Worldwide, the prevalence of obesity among adolescents between the years of 5-18 years stood at 18% but in Kuwait, these figures were much higher (Al-Haifi et al., 2022). Different studies done previously has stated that the number of adolescents and children in Kuwaiti with obesity or overweight stood at more than 50% in boys and 46% in girls. These figures were much higher than was previously reported in 2004 when a report suggested that the prevalence rates stood at more than 30% in boys and 26% in girls. These numbers have rapidly increased, and it would be a healthcare problem later in future because of the increased risk of developing such diseases as cardiovascular and diabetes which represent the main costs of diseases by health institutions. Apart from establishing the rates of prevalence, the study also wanted to establish the perception of parents and friends on overweight and obese adolescents, since it is critical for lifestyle intervention programs to have the support of both social and parental structures (Al-Haifi et al., 2022).
The second study was done by Duan et al. (2020). The study wanted to establish the prevalence of obesity and overweight adolescents and the various factors that correlate with them in Northeastern China. Previous reports had shown that obesity and overweight in adolescents had grown by more than 8% from 1976 to 2016. The study was significant as obesity and overweight are factors that cause other diseases such as respiratory diseases, diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders (Duan et al., 2020). These diseases come to affect the lives of the people later in future and the numbers of these diseases have grown mainly due to the increase in the prevalence of obesity and overweight. The objective of the study was to establish the prevalence of obesity and overweight in adolescents while also examining various factors associated with overweight and obesity in Changchun, Jilin. The research question for this study was at what rate is the current prevalence levels of obesity and overweight in adolescents and what factors mainly correlate with the prevalence of this condition (Duan et al., 2020).
Methods of study 1. 1: Unsatisfactory Discussion on the method of study for each article is omitted. The comparison of study methods is omitted or incomplete. The two studies selected were quantitative and not qualitative.
In the first study by Al-Haifi et al. (2022), they opted for a cross-sectional where they used a multi-stage stratified sampling method to get the participants from each of the two schools that serve as the sample of the study (Al-Haifi et al., 2022). The used specifically designed self-reporting questionnaires that were given to parents and friends of adolescents with obesity and overweight to establish their perception. The questionnaires were also used to by the researchers to report matters on weight and height by the adolescents (Al-Haifi et al., 2022). The second study also used stratified cluster sampling. The study was done by the First Hospital of Jilin University. Interviewers helped parents and guardians fill in a special questionnaire based on various correlative factors that may influence the prevalence of obesity such as age, sex, exercise, dietary habits, birth history, maternal weight, paternal weight, the highest parental education, area, and BMI classification (Duan et al., 2020). The two studies used similar approaches but had very different outcomes in terms for finding the various causes of the prevalence of obesity (Duan et al., 2020). The limitation in these studies is that they used a very small sample size as compared to the whole population giving some degree of error when it comes to the results and conclusions.
The results of these two studies had helpful insight on establishing the current trends and prevalence rates of obesity and overweight among adolescents. They were also able to establish the causes and correlations between various lifestyle and behavioral factors that increased the prevalence rates among adolescents. In the first research, there were a total of 706 adolescent participants in the study. The results showed that overweight and obesity among Kuwaiti adolescents were at a rate higher than 50% (Al-Haifi et al., 2022). Boys had the highest prevalence rate of obesity and overweight with their rates standing at 54% while that of girls stood at more than 46% as gotten from the self-reporting questionnaires. (Al-Haifi et al., 2022). There was no significant prevalence difference concerning age from the ages investigated from 15-18 years. Adolescents’ perception of whether their parents and friends would classify them as either obese or overweight was as more likely as gotten from the study (Al-Haifi et al., 2022).
From interviews and self-reporting questionnaires, the results from the second research established that the prevalence of overweight in the studies area of Changchun, Jilin stood at 12.7% with males having a higher prevalence at 17,4% while females stood at 10.1% (Duan et al., 2020). The results of obesity stood at 4.9% overall and males had a higher prevalence rate at 8.8% and that females stood at 3.1% in the province of Changchun, Jilin (Duan et al., 2020). From the correlation factors, they established that students who ate faster, ate fruits for more than two days, and males had a higher prevalence rate (Duan et al., 2020). Students who were not picky in terms of food and had paternal or maternal parents who had obesity were not obese or overweight (Duan et al., 2020).
Both studies established growth in obese and overweight prevalence among adolescents. They also showed that males had a higher prevalence of obesity and overweight. This was caused by various lifestyle and behavioral factors such as lack of physical activity, eating habits, and their perception of being overweight or obese.
Ethical considerations
Both studies sought to protect the identities of the participants to promote their confidentiality. Also, since the participants were underage and were under the care of their parents or guardians, the researchers sought consent to do the studies from them. No participants in the studies were forced, and they reviewed what the study was about before accepting to participate. The criteria for participation eliminated those with mental illnesses to make the sample and results as accurate and ethically right as possible.
Conclusion
Both these studies confirmed that there was a steady increase in the prevalent rate of obesity and overweight. They also concluded that males have a higher prevalence rate than female adolescents. They also concluded that lifestyle factors such as lack of physical activity and poor dietary habits s the core causes of the increase in prevalence in recent years. There is a need to improve efforts to enhance healthy eating habits and physical activities among adolescents in school to reduce the increased rates of obesity. Various policies can be implemented in school, such as compulsory physical education programs.
References
Al-Haifi, A. R., Al-Awadhi, B. A., Al-Dashti, Y. A., Aljazzaf, B. H., Allafi, A. R., Al-Mannai, M. A., & Al-Hazzaa, H. M. (2022). Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Kuwaiti adolescents and the perception of body weight by parents or friends. PLOS ONE, 17(1), e0262101. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262101
Duan, R., Kou, C., Jie, J., Bai, W., Lan, X., Li, Y., Yu, X., Zhu, B., & Yuan, H. (2020). Prevalence and correlates of overweight and obesity among adolescents in northeastern China: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 10(7), e036820. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-036820
