Introduction
The aim of this is to conduct a critical synthesis on a particular problem that has plagued the society for quite some time. This is the problem of childhood obesity. The most common reasoning that comes to mind when one witnesses an obese child is that these kids must be excessive eaters. In fact, every kid who exhibits obesity tendencies is often thought of as an excessive eater. Is this assumption justified? Is it true that obesity in kids is primarily due to excessive eating especially that of unhealthy foods commonly referred to as “junk food”? The assumption that the amount of dietary intake is the sole factor leading to child obesity is a perfect enactment of hegemony. This is where a significant portion of the society assembles to adopt common or dominant assumptions or beliefs about a certain behavior or trait.
In this essay, I plan to adopt a counterhegenomy approach to challenge the dominant belief that excessive eating is the sole cause of obesity and therefore challenge the major thinking of individuals. To do this, I will utilize a couple of resources to show that in spite of excessive and unhealthy eating being one of the causes of childhood obesity; they are other causes that are of equal significance. These are emotions and lack of sleep. I believe that the exploration of this issue is hugely significant as will help to dispel one huge misconception or hegemony about childhood obesity and bring into light other causative factors that of crucial importance.
There is clearly a great connection between childhood obesity, emotion and lack of sleep. Over the past few decades, cases of obesity in children have increased significantly especially in developed countries where unhealthy food is widely available. In light of this, it is reasonable to adopt a hegemonic thinking about the cause of obesity and that is that it is caused by excessive and unhealthy eating.
However, recent studies have indicated that there is a direct link between inadequate sleep and obesity. Therefore, the hegemony that excessive and unhealthy eating is the sole cause of childhood obesity is hugely inaccurate (Silva et al., 2011). Children who often get little sleep at night are said to be at a higher risk of being obese compared to those who get enough sleep. Children aged 4-10 who get shorter sleep are 4.2 times more likely to be obese (Hale et al., 2011).
Research questions
- Is it justifiable to assume or conclude that the sole cause of obesity is excessive and unhealthy eating?
- Is childhood obesity connected to emotion and lack of sleep?
- What are the levels of significance of emotion and lack of sleep as causative agents of childhood obesity?
Evaluation of the Research
There is a proliferation of literature on the subject and many findings have been reported. The biggest challenge in studying this topic is the inconclusiveness of previous studies and contradictions of findings. The sources used in this paper are advanced, comprehensive, and reliable and involve high levels of precision and expertise. These resources explore the connectivity between childhood obesity, emotion, and shortness of sleep. These resources support the counter hegemony used in the essay to develop ideas and discourse that dispel a popular belief and assumption by the wider society.
Annotated Bibliography
Cappuccio, F. P., Taggart, F. M., Kandala, N. B., & Currie, A. (2008). Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults. Sleep, 31(5), 619.
This study agrees with the findings from previous epidemiological studies that short sleep duration and childhood obesity are associated. The researchers made a systematic review of publications on population-based studies, performed a meta-analysis and obtained a quantitative estimate of the risk to review the potential significance to public health. This article will be of crucial importance to my research because from it, I will be able to show the level and significance of the interconnectedness between shortness of sleep and childhood obesity.
Carter, P. J., Taylor, B. J., Williams, S. M., & Taylor, R. W. (2011). Longitudinal analysis of sleep in relation to BMI and body fat in children: the FLAME study. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 342.
This study involves children who were recruited from birth and their sleep behaviours were examined between the ages of 3 and 7. This study includes elements like family factors like the BMI of the mother during pregnancy, weight and her behaviours such as smoking. Dietary intake, television viewing and level of physical activity are also taken into consideration. This article disapproves the current assumption that the rates of obesity are decreasing and argues that they actually increasing. As obesity rates increase, sleep durations in children are decreasing thus raising the issue of whether the two are connected or not. In studying this connection, essential confounders must be adjusted. This article will provide crucial details to my research on the relationship between sleep duration in children and childhood and probability.
Chen, X., Beydoun, M. A., & Wang, Y. (2008). Is Sleep Duration Associated With Childhood Obesity? A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis. Obesity, 16(2), 265-274.
Hale, L., & Berger, L. M. (2011). Sleep duration and Childhood obesity: Moving from Research to practice. Sleep, 34(9), 1153.
This study takes a more practical approach and argues that despite the increased explanations for childhood obesity, researchers have made a considerable milestone towards understanding the connection between obesity and lack of quality sleep. Short sleep is also connected to other emotional problems like anxiety and depression. This study points out a major challenge in the studies examining the association between short sleep and obesity which is the inadequate statistical power from small relatively samples. However, despite the methodology, statistical adjustment and sample of the study, the findings have a similar conclusion. In most studies, researchers use parent-reported data while few others have measured sleep duration using accelerometry. The paper moves us from science to practice; review recommendations and ask ourselves ‘what next’? Once again, this article will aid my research in a similar manner with some of the articles mentioned previously and this is to show that lack of sleep and emotional aspects are equally significant to childhood obesity as it the amount and quality of food intake.
Jarrin, D. C., McGrath, J. J., & Drake, C. L. (2013). Beyond sleep duration: distinct sleep dimensions are associated with obesity in children and adolescents. International Journal of Obesity, 37(4), 552-558.
This article agrees with the connection between short sleep duration and childhood obesity. It goes to claim that these factors should also be given equal attention as the amount and quality of food in causing childhood obesity. However, it goes ahead and looks at unique dimensions of sleep, which are often ignored in studies that solely look at sleep duration in relation to obesity. These sleep dimensions include disturbances during sleep, sleeping patterns, quality of sleep and parental support and their individual effects on obesity must be studied and findings linked to the general mechanisms connecting obesity and sleep. The researchers argue that the insular approach of the subject might give misleading results because sleep is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. This article will come in handy in my research and will provide crucial facts on the connection between sleep and obesity.
Silva, G. E., Goodwin, J. L., Parthasarathy, S., Sherrill, D. L., Vana, K. D., Drescher, A. A., & Quan, S. F. (2011). Longitudinal association between short sleep, body weight, emotion and learning problems in Hispanic and Caucasian children. Sleep, 34(9), 1197.
This is a prospective cohort study carried out over a period of five years with children aged between 6 and 12 years and were classified based on their sleep durations and factors like depression, anxiety, studying problems, obesity or being overweight were examined. Children who slept for less than 7hours/night had higher chances of being obese and problems like depression and anxiety compared to those who slept for over 9 hours. Unlike other studies, this study included the aspects of ethnicity and gender while examining the different BMI responses. It involved Hispanic and Caucasian children and the findings indicate that Hispanics seem to be at a higher risk of short sleep and high BMI compared to Caucasians. This study is more advanced and relevant because it uses polysomnographic data which is measured objectively. This article will aid my research in terms of demographics It will show which demography of people is likely to be more affected by a particular causative agent of childhood obesity.
References
Cappuccio, F. P., Taggart, F. M., Kandala, N. B., & Currie, A. (2008). Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults. Sleep, 31(5), 619.
Carter, P. J., Taylor, B. J., Williams, S. M., & Taylor, R. W. (2011). Longitudinal analysis of sleep in relation to BMI and body fat in children: the FLAME study. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 342.
Chen, X., Beydoun, M. A., & Wang, Y. (2008). Is Sleep Duration Associated With Childhood Obesity? A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis. Obesity, 16(2), 265-274.
Hale, L., & Berger, L. M. (2011). Sleep duration and Childhood obesity: Moving from Research to practice. Sleep, 34(9), 1153.
Jarrin, D. C., McGrath, J. J., & Drake, C. L. (2013). Beyond sleep duration: distinct sleep dimensions are associated with obesity in children and adolescents. International Journal of Obesity, 37(4), 552-558.
Silva, G. E., Goodwin, J. L., Parthasarathy, S., Sherrill, D. L., Vana, K. D., Drescher, A. A., & Quan, S. F. (2011). Longitudinal association between short sleep, body weight, emotion and learning problems in Hispanic and Caucasian children. Sleep, 34(9), 1197.
