Obesity in childhood is a great concern of current medicine as the habits of healthy eating and lifestyle are taught by parents at an early age. Many researchers try to identify factors directly impacting the risk of obesity among youngsters and try to develop strategies preventing them. The Swiss research by Herter-Aeberli et al. (2019) assessed the commonness of overweight and obesity among children related to specialties of their lifestyle and parental factors. The attractive fact about the study is that it was extended in the timeline and studied children for 16 years. Several estimations were held in 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017/2018 years (Herter-Aeberli et al., 2019). Data for the research was gathered from four nationally representative, cross-sectional, school-based surveys in Switzerland.
For every survey, researchers used identical stratified probability-proportionate-to-size (PPS) cluster sampling to obtain a nationally representative sample of 6–12-year-old children in Switzerland. The study design is an effective way of choosing representatives from a diverse population, as Switzerland has several groups of citizens speaking various languages. Cluster sampling allows to pick up representatives from each population group.
Overweight and obesity data gathering was realized by various measurements: height, weight, waist circumference, and skinfold thickness (SFT). The latter was later excluded from measurements as caliper was found unreliable. Skinfold thickness was indeed an untrustworthy characteristic of obesity or overweight. Calipers measure the thickness of tissue that can be more massive because of other factors such as water and salt intake. The measurement can provide unreliable data and impact the results of the research. The investigators also calculated the BMI and body fat percentage of participants which was based on SFT in four different localizations. Even though the technical error of measurement was used in calculations, SFT still can be a variable indicator.
To assess children’s lifestyle and parental education information as predictors of obesity, researchers developed a questionnaire involving questions about their parents’ socioeconomic background, their common health, level of daily activity, and nutritional habits. The positive aspect of this part of the study is that questionnaire includes all the topics mentioned above and can clarify the problems if the child answers everything honestly. For instance, the food preferences section has lists of products children can pick up and say how often they eat this product per week.
However, the weak side of the questionnaire is the subjectiveness of the youngsters participating in the research. Moreover, sometimes children from 6 to 12-years-of-age do not know the truth about their parents’ education and place of birth. Such data can be confirmed by questioning parents which were not involved in the survey. To ameliorate the predictors of obesity investigation, parents should have been involved in the research and asked the same questions about their children. Then, by uniting the data from the members of the same family, the researchers might find closer facts to the truth.
Thus, the researchers used identical stratified probability-proportionate-to-size (PPS) cluster sampling to pick up various participants to the study from the diverse population of Switzerland. The study design allowed the authors to involve various communities to study various children and families in the country. During data gathering, some negative sides of the process were identified. The authors submit that the caliper was unreliable and was excluded during the research. However, body fat percentage was still calculated relying on the SFT. This connection might have given deviations in the research calculations, and the most reliable number should have been the BMI. The second part of the research was planned properly regarding the questions in the application form, but it did not count the subjectivity and lack of knowledge of children and excluded parents survey as the possible source of data.
Reference
Herter-Aeberli, I., Osuna, E., Sarnovská, Z., & Zimmermann, M. B. (2019). Significant decrease in childhood obesity and waist circumference over 15 years in Switzerland: A repeated cross-sectional study. Nutrients, 11(8), 1922. Web.