Introduction
The research article written by Ginni Garcia, Thankam Sunil, Pedro Hinojosa (2012) is aimed at examining the relationship between the severity of obesity and the consumption of fast food. The scholars attempt to determine the influence of various behavioral factors on the degree of obesity. This is the main research question that the authors strive to examine.
It should be noted that this study was aimed at examining such a group as patients who needed to undergo bariatric surgery (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 810). Overall, the researchers argue that fast food consumption is the most important behavioral factor that increases the extent of overweight. The researchers focus on several independent variables such as the frequency of physical exercises or the frequency of eating (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 812).
Nevertheless, the rate of fast-food consumption is the most important variable that should be considered by medical workers, patients, or educators. This conclusion is supported with empirical evidence which was collected with the help of statistical surveys and logistic regression (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 810). These are the main details that should be considered.
The authors do not provide a hypothesis that is explicitly stated. However, this research is driven by the assumption that various behavioral factors do not produce the same effect on the degree of a person’s overweight. In turn, the consumption of fast food is more significant than other external forces. The scholars arrive at this conclusion by studying various sources related to this topic (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 810). On the basis of these findings, the researchers can formulate the main assumptions that should be examined and tested. These are the main elements that can be identified.
Evaluation
Literature review
In the introductory section of the article, researchers provide an overview of sources that are related to overweight. In particular, the writers examine articles that specifically address such an issue as extreme obesity in the United States as well as other countries (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 811). Additionally, these articles can give readers a better idea about the impact of fast food consumption. These sources are relatively up-to-date since they have been published within the last ten years. Therefore, they can still be by applied by healthcare professionals who want to learn more about obesity.
The relevance of the study to health issues
It should be noted that this research article has been published in 2012; so, one can say that it is current. Moreover, this study can throw light on one of the most urgent problems that medical workers try to address. One should bear in mind that in the United States, the percentage of overweight people continuously increases
In particular, the rate of obesity among adults is currently 33,8 percent (Rippe & Angelopoulos, 2012, p. 35). In turn, one should keep in mind that obesity leads to various complications such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or osteoarthritis (Martyrosyan, 2009, p. 55). Therefore, healthcare professionals should make sure that the risks of obesity are mitigated since they pose a serious threat to the life and health of many people. This is why this study has practical implications.
Research design
Overall, this study can be described as non-experimental research because the authors do not manipulate the setting. In particular, they do not create an artificial factor that can influence the behavior of a subject. It should be noted that researchers carry out a correlational study that can demonstrate if there is a statistical relation between several variables (Mitchell & Jolley, 2012, p. 508).
Overall, this approach is quite suitable for the purpose of this study because researchers do not always have to implement an intervention in order to understand the relations between variables. Moreover, the approach chosen by researchers is less time-consuming. This is one of the advantages that should be considered.
Sampling
The participants of this study were patients who intended to undergo bariatric surgery. This approach can be described as the stratified sampling. It means that researchers select a group of people who share at least one common attribute (Gentle, 2012, p. 241). This approach is appropriate because researchers needed to focus on people who were more exposed to the risks of severe obesity.
Additionally, researchers selected 270 patients whose experiences had to be investigated. On the whole, one can say that the size was quite sufficient to represent the experiences of patients who suffered from extreme obesity. Still, it is important to remember that the patients, who require bariatric surgery, do not represent the entire population of people struggling with obesity. This is one of the limitations that should be considered. Therefore, one should not assume that the research results can be easily generalized.
Practical implications
This research can have several practical implications. In particular, the findings of the authors can be used by nurses and other healthcare professionals who need to raise patients’ awareness about such issues as diet and healthy lifestyles. Additionally, these results should be considered by parents and educators who should encourage proper eating habits of children.
Admittedly, many healthcare professionals know about the detrimental effects of fast food. Nevertheless, these findings can be applied for modifying the diet of many of people who can be exposed to the risks of overweight. Additionally, this study can be applied by other researchers who want to study various aspects of obesity.
There are several ways in which the study can be improved. In particular, the researchers might have modified their sample. It should be noted that the patients surveyed during this study were mostly Hispanic Americans (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 815). Yet, other racial groups were underrepresented. For instance, one can mention African Americans. Apart from that, the respondents were adults; therefore, one cannot say that these findings are applicable to other age groups such as adolescents.
As it has been noted before, the patients requiring surgery do not fully reflect the experiences of all people who may suffer from overweight (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 811). Therefore, the researchers could have included these groups into the study. These are the main recommendations that can be offered. These strategies can help researchers generalize their findings. Moreover, they will gain better insights into the behavior of many people who have extra weight. In particular, they can understand why some of these individuals are more likely to suffer from obesity.
Writing Style
It is possible to say that the authors’ writing style is quite clear and straightforward. In particular, the scientific terms used in this article can be easily understood by the readers. Yet, there are some weaknesses; sometimes, the author use abbreviations without explaining what they stand for. For instance, they refer to an organization named AHRQ without saying it is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 811).
This means that this article is intended for people who know about the work of different healthcare organizations. Some readers may not be familiar with these issues. This is one of the limitations that should be taken into account. Still, such cases are not numerous, and the text of this article does not pose any significant difficulties for the readers.
The way in which the study can be continued
This research can be extended in different ways. In particular, scholars can examine the experiences of people who represent different degrees of overweight. Moreover, one should not focus only people who have to undergo surgery due to some reasons. In this way, one can better illustrate the experiences of many people who may struggle with obesity. Additionally, the researchers can identify those social groups which are more or less resilient to the risks of obesity. These are some of the strategies that researchers can adopt. In this way, the authors can better understand the way in which the impacts of obesity can be mitigated.
Conclusion
The research article discussed in this paper can throw light on a problem that affects millions of people throughout the world. The main strength of this study is that the authors measure the influence of different factors on the degree of obesity. More importantly, this research can significantly assist healthcare professionals. Additionally, it can be used by parents and educators who should pay more attention to the diet of children. This is why it should not be overlooked by researchers.
Reference List
Garcia, G., Sunil, T. S., & Hinojosa, P. (2012). The fast food and obesity link: Consumption patterns and severity of obesity. Obesity Surgery, 22(5), 810-818.
Gentle, J. (2003). Random Number Generation and Monte Carlo Methods. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.
Martyrosyan, D. (2009). Functional Foods for Chronic Diseases. New York, NY: D&A Inc.
Mitchell, M., & Jolley, J. (2012). Research Design Explained. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.
Rippe, J., & Angelopoulos, T. (2012). Obesity: Prevention and Treatment. New York, NY: CRC Press.