Introduction
Unfortunately, the change of lifestyle that most college students experience has some detrimental side effects in the health. It can be observed that most people who enter college become overweight or obese after some time. Among the college lifestyle, this is termed as the freshman 5s, 10s, or 15s, referring to the amount of pounds one has put on when entering college. This can be attributed in changes to a more sedentary lifestyle, a shift in dietary habits, and the like. Whatever the cause, it has becoming a more common issue than before. Obesity in America has becoming a more serious problem; more than two-thirds of adults in the country are considered to be obese (“Overweight and Obesity Statistics”, n.d.)
With that in mind, some studies and research must be done in order to determine its cause which can then be used to combat the problem.
Research Design
This research will be a quantitative research; data will be collected and then analyzed to provide objective conclusions. More specifically, a non-experimental cross-sectional research design will be used. Since the variable of interest will not be observed under experimental conditions; i.e. what the characteristic population possesses will be the variable of interest, then the study is non-experimental. Moreover, the research will be cross-sectional because it will involve data collected a specific period in time rather than observing the target population over a period of time and taking note of the results (Bevins, 1999).
Research Purpose
The primary purpose of this research is to determine the causes of obesity and overweight situation among college students, so as to give insight to the problem at hand. In addition, it can also be used to come up with ways to alleviate or even eradicate it. Generally, it can be used to make college students and health officials be aware of the predicament they have in hand so as they can take steps to prevent it from happening it in the first place, and to tackle preexisting conditions. In solving this problem, a plan of action must be formulated, which can be adapted from the results of this study.
Background of the Study
Obesity is defined in the medical profession as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30.0 or greater. It is also defined as having too much body fat for a person to be considered healthy. Obesity is a growing problem in America today; there is a large number of people who are considered obese in the United States recently and this number is still growing by the day (“Overweight and Obesity Statistics”).
At least 1 in 345 adolescents are overweight, which as an alarming statistic—this includes the age in which these people go to college. This reflects the poor state of health in today’s society. It is theorized that college students suffer from obesity from causes like binge drinking, poor dietary practices, a sedentary lifestyle and poor awareness of health choices.
It is important to combat obesity; overweight and obese people are more likely to suffer from health diseases and may die earlier in life. Also, the state of being obese is a huge determinant of being obese later on in life. Therefore, determining the causes of obesity can be the first step towards combating this problem (Spain, 2014).
Method of Population Sampling
The target population for my study will be the college students in the Miami Dade College, specifically students who are aged between 18 and 24 and under a full-time course program at said educational facility. Since it is practically impossible to list all the possible members of the aforementioned population, a sample will be taken instead.
A list of all the possible participants will be gathered and a sufficient sample size like 500 people for example will be randomly selected from the group. Random selection is important; it ensures that the data gathered from the population is appropriate to do statistical analysis later on and it will be representative of the general population.
Once the sample is taken, the students who are in the sample will be contacted and will eb requested to answer a questionnaire asking them of important details such as their weight, their knowledge of healthy eating habits, and the lifestyle activities they engage in, They will be ensured of the confidentiality of their answers so that they are encouraged to answer as honestly as possible.
Once the data have been collected, statistical analysis such as correlation and regression analysis will be performed in order to determine how certain factors like awareness and practice of healthy living will predict the chance of a person becoming obese in college. The significance of these factors will be determined as well.
References
Bevins, T. (1999). Research designs. Florida Golf Coast University. Retrieved from http://ruby.fgcu.edu/courses/sbevins/50065/qtdesign.html
“Overweight and obesity statistics” (n.d.). National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-statistics.aspx
Spain, e. (2014). College kids need to change unhealthy ways. Northwestern. Retrieved from http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/05/college-kids-need-to-change-unhealthy-ways.html
