Research Paper Sample: Obesity Trends among Low-income Earners

Opening Statement

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The socio-economic status of individuals has been mythically misconstrued to obesity in the sense that high-income earners are the most probable individual who are likely to suffer from obesity. The fact is high-income earners are at a greater risk than middle and low-income earners; the latest research shows even low-income people are likely to suffer from obesity. Many researchers have been skipping the idea that in the current generation the relationship between income and weight is getting thin and the line separating the two is becoming a non-factor to the determination of obesity. The relationship between income and weight can significantly be an oversight on many research projects as scientists/researchers do not consider factors like age, gender and the ethnicity of the people (Bhurosy & Jeewon, 2014). There is a significant weakening between the disparities of income and weight.

Background of Study

The relationship between income and weight is becoming a bit controversial as facts indicate that with higher levels of deprivation, there is a likelihood of increased obesity levels. The obesity levels in relationship to deprivation are high in girls as compared to boys. Higher income individuals tend to be more likely to be obese, but other people find it significantly a fallacy as it is possible that low-income individuals can be obese, the main reason to this is that the access to food and other amenities have increased and very few homes sleep hungry. Research shows that women and children of low-income status are more likely to become obese as opposed to men (Alisha Coleman-Jensen, 2016). The gaps between high and low income groups have recently been thinning, and those with access to higher income are becoming more obese (Bovet, Paccaud, & Chiolero, 2012).

In a study research conducted to examine the social, economic status of individuals with the relationship to obesity the findings indicated that the disparities have reduced over time, the association between high BMI and low socio-economic status has weakened over the last 39 years. Putting into consideration, the overall prevalence of cases of obesity, women and children of both higher and lower income status have increased overtime (Burn-Murdoch & Chalabi, 2013).

Summary of Literature

Data from researchers indicated the increase in obesity among lower income and lower educational groups but on the contrary, the rate of increase of obesity was higher among the high income and high educational groups of society. For instance between 1992 and 2008, the levels of obesity prevalence increased by 42.3% for the lower income groups compared to 88.5% for the higher income groups. According to a research conducted by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, it was noted that from 1971 to 2002, the rates of obesity shot a notch higher among the poor and the rich, among the poor people the rates shot with 5.1 to 6.5% points among the poor. The relationship between obesity and poverty is decrementing, and it appears to be no longer existent (Burn-Murdoch & Chalabi, 2013).

Gaps in Prior Research

Prior research conducted in this field missed out the decreasing relationship between the cases of obesity and the level of income among people. From this, it can be noted that high-income earners are not the only victims of cases of obesity. Most of the researcher have been ignoring the fact that even poor people can get obese, major negligence's and avoidance of other areas of research leads to weakening of the research information released. The actual trends of obesity are not captured due to sidelining and stigmatization of obesity as the disease of the rich.

Another gap that most researchers do not take into consideration is the gender and ethnicity of the people under research. Ethnicity and the gender of people must be put into scrutiny; it is important to consider such factors in relationship to income status in order to draw conclusions on the prevalence of obesity in the world.

Importance of Present Study

The study for obesity levels in both low income and high-income status of an individual is an important study to pursue as it helps in tracking the general health and medical needs of society. It is of vital importance that the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to continue their research on the needs of the obese people in society in order to help find mechanisms of reducing the menace and increasing manageability of the impending menace.

It is also important to study obesity in low-income individuals in order to reduce the community barriers that bar people from routine physical activity and the promotion of an active living way of life (Dinsa, Goryakin, Fumagalli, & Suhrcke, 2012).

To whom is the Research Important

The data found in the study of obesity trends in both the United States and across the world is important in the sense that key metric for health requirements of society can be obtained. It is important for the World Health Organization, the Centre for Disease Control and other medical PR actioners like pharmaceutical companies. These groups can gain insight on the health trends of the world population. The need to prevent childhood and adult obesity is important putting into consideration the afflictions that come along with obesity. It is very vital for the government to have information about the health state of the nation, this correlates with the productivity of citizens in a nation as obese individuals are regarded to be less productive than healthy and fit individuals (Levine, 2011).

Whys the Study should be Pursed

Knowledge concerning the increase in the number of cases of obesity intrically important. It is immeasurably valid that the reasons that lead to an increase in the trends of obesity among young people should be deduced.

Th study should be pursed inorder that we understand the reasons why people are become obese in this day and age. Cutting down rates of obesity is important in boosting the productivity of individuals and even reducing the chances of people getting sick due to complication like diabetes and high blood pressure that come with obesity.

Problem Statement

There is an important relationship between the health and living conditions of people and their income status. The socio-economic status of people has been used for many years to categories people suffering from afflictions like obesity. It has been recently disapproved that people of all genders and differences in socio-economic status have the chances of being obese at some point in time. The current trend is that people of different social classes are soon becoming one in the such that the difference between the rich and the poor is thinning out, so both sides of society can be afflicted with obesity.

It is important to consider and help out individuals from the low-income sides of the population to combat obesity. It has been a known fact that obesity is only for the rich, so the poor people suffering from obesity have been ignored. The disturbing reality is that the rate of obesity among these groups of individuals is on the rise, and no one has been there to sort this situation out. It is imperative that health organizations and the health department embark on a new strategy to help out this group of society, as obesity is becoming a common problem cross-cutting all ages and groups in society. This means that a more detailed and elaborate research studies on obesity among low-income earners.

Purpose of Statement

The main reason for the above statement is to declare the need for more research studies on obesity trends among low-income earners. There is a need to control obesity cropping up on all social classes of society. Low-income earners have not been given the necessary attention needed to help them fight obesity in their societies. It is of vital importance that this group of people is helped out.

There is a need to find control measures that can be adopted to help people in low social income statues to combat obesity. Many low-income earners confront the difficult social and economic environment as barriers to them achieving a high level of physical activity, and they have fewer resources to help them promote a healthy living and fit environments around their neighborhoods. It is important that the governments and other state departments put more focus in helping this disadvantaged group to crop out the menace of obesity within their environments. Some of the most common barriers to their problems include; the trek long distances to resources such as well-maintained gymnastics facilities, insecurities in their environments, poor access to parks and other recreational facilities. Most often poor people lack the time to access these facilities though they may be closer home, they have to work all day to raise enough money to sort bills and meager savings (Levine, 2011).

Research Design

Research methodology for this study will involve a non-experimental study, the main source of data will be a comparison of the already researched secondary sources of data. The research design would involve the collection of the income statues of individuals, and they would be compared to the size of the body that is, the body mass index of individuals collected over the last three decades. The data collected will be put under consideration, and the data to be collected will be analyzed on the basis of body growth as income changes occur among people. The per capita income of populations will be reviewed from the collected information, and this will be compared to the overall weights of the people in the selected population. This comparison of information will help out in determining the conclusions and making of observation of the trends of obesity among the low income and the high-income earners.

Theory Tested

The theory behind this paper is that there is a need for assessment of low-income earners for cases of obesity among them. The theory is supported by that fact that latest research has shown that there is an increase in the cases of obesity among low-income earners. This theory can be supported by the fact that the gap between the high-income earners and the low-income earners is reducing. So the correlation of income and socio-economic status of obesity is very clear, the more the cases of obesity. The higher the need for assessment of these trends will lead to the provision of better healthcare for the low-income population, provision of reactional facilities and provision of more security deployment within their neighborhoods (McLaren, 2007).

Intent

The core intention of the paper is to analyze how poverty is related to obesity. It can be described that the individuals are living in impoverished regions sometimes have no access to fresh food. This for a fact leads to the consumption of junk as staple food. Over-consumption of carbohydrates and proteins leads to accumulation of fat in the body and this, at the end of it, leading to obesity development. The reason for this analysis is to look at how people in the low-income category are influenced by their external environment to go into their compulsive eating disorders and high level of inactivity that puts them at risk of getting obese and contracting other diseases such as diabetes, heart attack and blood pressure.

Poverty stricken areas are usually referred to be deserted with food; this means that they have limited access to fresh food. The fact is 14% of Unites States countries have more than 1 out of 5 people who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In many situations you find it difficult to find food in these regions, people are unable to get healthy food in these regions.

Variables

The...