Question

what type of study designs would I use to to identify factors of child hood obesity?

I was thinking Cross sectional design or Longitudinal design. Im not too sure since its so many designs.

4: OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH DESIGNS For Practice and Discussion 1. Some public health issues are complicated in terms of the myriad causal influences underlying the health behavior or the disease outcome. For example, obesity results from poor diet and sedentary lifestyle, but it is important to identify the specific factors that contribute to those behaviors, so that preventive interventions can be developed. Design a study that would first document the prevalence of childhood obesity and then design a study that would allow you to identify a range of contributing factors to childhood obesity. What design(s) would you use? Provide a rationale for each design, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your approaches.

Answer 1

Childhood Obesity

Obesity: The state of being obese due to an excess of body fat is called obesity. Childhood Obesity is a major topic for research studies,since it became a significant risk factor for many chronic diseases in future.

Research design: Cross sectional design

Research is diligent enquiry or examination to seek or revise facts, principles, theories, applications etc. Cross sectional study is a study that analyzes the data collected from a selected samples at a given point of time. It is an observational study. It is also known as transverse study.

Cross sectional study is a type of quantitative , non- experimental design. Cross sectional can be used To identify factors of child hood obesity as this design can be used to identify the prevalence and the factors that determining childhood obesity. Cross sectional study can de done in a short period of time.

Strength:

* It doesn't need a lot of time, in a short period the researcher can do the data collection.

* can study multiple variables at a time

* researcher can compare many variables at a point of time.( sedentary lifestyle, poor diet with obesity)

* Less costly

Weakness:

* Cross sectional study is a snapshot study, data collected in a short time , may not give a clear picture about cause- effect relationship.

* Behaviour over a period of time can't be studied through cross sectional study

( selection of research design largely depends on the research question. Some time research design may change while you progress your research. Usually Cross sectional study can be done in a short period of time, so the beginners may prefer cross sectional study than longitudinal study. )