HS201 Lab Assignment #1: Getting to Know Health Research
Using APA formatting guidelines, write out the complete article reference
Kapantais, E., et al (2009).” Breakfast skipping and its relation to BMI and health
Compromising behaviors among Greek adolescents.” Public health Nutr. (1):101-8.
1) Study design
a) The hypothesis of the research study
The null hypothesis was that there is a relationship between breakfast skipping, BMI and other health comprising behaviors in Greek adolescents. The alternate hypothesis was that there was no relationship between breakfast skipping, BMI and health comprising behaviors in Greek adolescents.
b) What is the Dependent Variable?
The dependent variable in this study was breakfast skipping.
c) The Independent variable
The independent variables in this study was body mass index
3) The study participants
The total number of participants in this research study was 14454 6676 boys and 7778 girls. All were adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years attending public schools in Greece. Out of the total sample size, 6261 male and 7328 females were Greeks. 206 male and 223 female participants in this study were non-Greek while 209 male and 227 females had missing nationality. The mean age of the participants was 15.4 percent. 96.8 percent of the male participants and 97 percent of the female participants were Greek. 3 .3 percent of male participants and 3.0 percent of the female participants were not Greek participants.
4) Measurements
a) How was breakfast consumption measured?
Breakfast consumption was measured through analyzing data obtained from an interview questionnaire filled by the participants in the study.
b) How were the participants divided into groups?
The participants were divided into groups according to the responses they reported on the interview questionnaire. The participants who skipped breakfast were grouped into breakfast skipping group while those who ate breakfast were categorized as breakfast eating group. The respondents who responded in the affirmative regarding whether they smoke were classified as smokers while those who responded with a NO were grouped as non-smokers. The participants were divided into other groups depending on the responses of whether they responded in the affirmative regarding whether they watched TV, had exercise and played computer games.
C) Describe one strength and one weakness of this measurement
Measuring data from interview questionnaire is ideal for a large sample. The limitation of this measurement is that it is hard to probe deeper into a respondents feeling (McNeil, 2005).
D) How was weight status measured?
The weight of the participants was measured using a portable weighing scale (Terraillon T715).The participants were in minimal clothing while taking the measurements.
E) Describe at least one strength and one weakness of this measurement
The limitation of direct measurements of weight using a scale is that some factors such as food intake, clothes and body composition influence body weight. These factors affect body weight. This slight fluctuation in weight depending on the condition of the body affects the precision of weight measurements (McNeil, 2005).
4) Results
The average BMI for each group Boy breakfast skippers: 23.2Boy breakfast consumers: 21.9Girl breakfast skippers: 21.8Girl breakfast consumers: 20.9
B) The authors use a t-test to determine whether there is a difference in weight status in breakfast skippers and breakfast consumers (again, they look at boys and girls separately).
A) What is the p-value for boys?
The P for boys was 0.001
B) What is the p Value for girls?
The p value for girls was 0.279.
C) Are these results considered statistically significant?
The results are considered statistically significant because they P Value are high and it indicates a significant difference between the BMI of boys and girls.
d) Based on these results, what do you conclude about the relationship between breakfast and weight status?
Part Three: Searching for an article
1) What search engine did you use, and what key words did you search for to find your article?
The words used in the search of the article are breakfast skipping, Health and BMI. The search engine used was Google.
2) Using APA formatting guidelines, write out the complete article reference
The article
Keski-Rahkonen A, Kaprio J, Rissanen A, Virkkunen M, Rose RJ. (2003). “Breakfast
Skipping and change in body mass index in children. Int J Obes (Lond). Jul; 35 (7):899-906.
3) Copy and paste the full text of the abstract of the research study here
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:
Childhood obesity is prevalent, and dietary habits are a key determinant. Some children skip breakfast for weight control, but studies have shown mixed results. Therefore, we assessed the association between breakfast skipping and body mass index (BMI) among young Chinese children in Hong Kong. DESIGN/SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cohort of 113,457 primary 4 participants of the Department of Health Student Health Service in 1998-2000 was followed up for 2 years, with 68,606 (60.5%) participants available for analysis in primary 6. The sociodemographic characteristics for traced and untraced participants were similar. At baseline and follow-up, students reported breakfast habit (consumed vs skipped) and other lifestyle characteristics using a standardized questionnaire. BMI was derived using height and weight measured by trained nurses. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the cross-sectional relationship between breakfast habit and BMI, as well as the prospective association between baseline breakfast habit and change in BMI. Models adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics.
RESULTS:
A total of 1805 (5.3%) boys and 1793 (5.2%) girls skipped breakfast at baseline. In cross-sectional analyses, breakfast skippers had a higher mean BMI than did eaters among both primary 4 (β = 0.77, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.67-0.87) (P < 0.001) and primary 6 children (β = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.78-0.95) (P < 0.001). Compared with eaters, baseline breakfast skippers experienced a greater increase in BMI in the subsequent 2 years (β = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.07-0.16) (P < 0.001), and this association was stronger among lunch skippers than eaters were (P for interaction = 0.04).
CONCLUSION:
Our study provided prospective evidence that skipping breakfast predicts a greater increase in BMI among Hong Kong children. As breakfast is a modifiable dietary habit, our results may have important implications for weight control. However, the underlying mechanism of this effect warrants further investigation.
4. Compare your study to the study provided for you above.
a. How are the subjects/participants similar or different?
1) The two articles are the same in that they explore the effects of skipping breakfast on BMI. However, Tin et al, (2011) used young children as the study group while Kapantais et al, (2009) study utilised adolescents as the study group. Kapantais et al (2009) research study is a detailed study because it also explores the effect of breakfast skipping on other health determining factors. Tin et al (2011) study had a big number of participants 68606 compared to 14454 participants in in Kapantais et al 2009 study.
a) Compare how the independent and dependent variables were measured.
In Kaptanais et al, (2009), study, the dependent variable was breakfast skipping and it was measured through collection data from questionaries filled by participants just like in Tin et al research study. In both studies BMI, (the independent variable) was determined by direct measurement
B) What were the results of your research study?
. The results obtained in the study indicated that there is a relationship between breakfast skipping and Body mass index. Breakfast skipping is associated with an increase in the body mass index.
C) How do these results compare with those of the study provided?
The results obtained in both studies are similar on the relationship between breakfast skipping and Body mass index. Breakfast skipping is associated with an increase in the body mass index in both research studies. However, Kapanstain et al, (2009), Study found out that breakfast skipping is part of some of some unhealthy behaviours in adolescents in Greece
STEP 4: DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
1) Compare the findings of each of the two research articles.
The results obtained in both studies are similar on the relationship between breakfast skipping and Body mass index. Breakfast skipping is associated with an increase in the body mass index in both research studies. However, Kapanstain et al, (2009), Study found out that breakfast skipping is part of some of some unhealthy behaviours in adolescents in Greece
2) Based on this information, what is your conclusion about the relationship between breakfast consumption and weight status?
The conclusions that can be made regarding the relationship between weight status and breakfast consumption is that skipping breakfast can be associated with a high body mass index.
3. Does this relationship make sense based on what you have learned about health from your classes and textbooks or what you know about the study participants? Describe the physical, psychological, and/or practical explanations based on your knowledge.
The link between skipping consumption of breakfast and high body mass index does make sense. Skipping breakfast is part of a constellation of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors that lead to weight gain. The results obtained in these studies can be useful in designing of diet patterns for weight control.
4) What other confounding factors (characteristics of the subjects) could also explain the results we found between breakfast consumption and weight status. Consider things that may influence both breakfast consumption and weight status.
According to Kylie et al, (2010), some of the factors that influence weight and breakfast consumption can be classified to personal and social economic factors
Personal factors examples are commitment to healthy eating, and physical activity.
The social environmental factors are family support in healthy beating and family food preferences. The physical environmental factors are availability of healthy food in the community.
References
Kapantais, E et al (2009).” Breakfast skipping and its relation to BMI and health
Compromising behaviors among Greek adolescents.” Public health Nutr. (1):101-8.
Kylie B., et al (2010).” Personal social and environmental correlates of healthy weight
Status amongst mothers from socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods; findings from the READI study.” International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 2010 -5868-7-23.
McNeil, P., (2005) Research methods. London: Routledge.
Tin SP, Ho SY, Mak KH, Wan KL, Lam TH. (2011). “Breakfast skipping and change in body
Mass index in young children”. Int J. Obes (Lond). 2011 Jull (7):899-906.
