What are the determinants associated with obesity among primary school children?

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Name of the student:
Module no:

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research question and research statement:
The question statement set for the proposal is “What are the determinants associatedwith
obesity among primary school children aged 5 to 11 years old in London?”
Introduction:
Present day researchers advise healthcare professionals to follow the biopsychosocial
model of care to ensure proper management of chronic ailments of all patients. Considering the
biological, social and psychological determinants of health helps in providing comprehensive
care management of patients ensuring that they live better quality life. With the rising concern of
obesity among children, it has become important for professionals to identify the determinants
that lead to obesity in the children so that they can develop effective interventions that address
such determinants. Determinants can be considered as the factors or the living conditions that
determine the health status of individuals. The proposal would mainly be developed in ways by
which the maximum number of determinants that contribute to weight gain and obesity issues
among children of 5 to 11 years studying in primary school can be ventured and identified. The
specific population on whom the improper health outcome of childhood obesity would be
explored would be the children of London who are within the age cohort of 5 to 11 and they
should be studying in primary schools. The proposal would be incorporating a research question
on one of the most important rising concern of the nation about the increased prevalence of
childhood obesity among the children of the present generation. The research question would be
followed by background of the growing concern of obesity on children and the various
complications that they face when they are affected by the chronic disorders (Walliman 2017).
This would be followed by the methodology section and then ethical considerations that need to

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be considered. A short overview of chapters would be given and then a gannt chart would be
provided.
Background and rationale of the study:
The data researched by the London government had found that nearly 40% of the
children in city of London had been found to be overweight and obese and the highest rate of
childhood obesity being prevalent in the areas of greatest deprivation. Further researches
conducted showed in London as a whole, about 23% of Year 6 students were obese. It is a
concerning situation as this rate is higher than in England that accounts for 205 of children
obesity of year 6 students. Close analysis of the different boroughs in London that the change
had been uneven where eight have been seen to have faced improvements with the level of
childhood obesity falling as well as while rest eight of the boroughs there had been an increase in
childhood obesity of more than 3%. Barking and Dagenham had the highest level of childhood
obesity at around 29% with 4% increase in 2010/2011 (Liu et al. 2018). The borough with the
largest increase was seen to be Waltham forest. In the year 2010/2011, about 20% of the Year 6
children were obese but by the year 2015/2016, there has been 6% increase rising to about 26%.
Obesity in childhood can have different long-term negative outcomes on the health of the
children. Children who are obese are seen to become obese adults when they grow up. Obese
adults are seen to be more at risk of having type-2 diabetes and thereby suffer from different
types of health complications like heart disorders and even mental health depressions. Even,
children are often bullied at school, cannot participate in sports and lose their self-confidence in
their lives. They tend to suffer from depression and anxiety that affect their academic progress
and hence hamper the future career aspirations as well (Wood et al. 2016). It had been found

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that negative effects of childhood obesity are not evenly distributed among the different children
in London with more prevalence being found in the children living in the deprived areas. Such
children are also seen to be suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and increased
risk for impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Joint problems and
musco-skeletal discomfort are also common.
Therefore, as healthcare professionals working in the public domain, it becomes their
responsibility to prevent the present situation from being one of the national disease burden in
the nation. It is also the responsibility of healthcare professionals to develop health promotion
programs for educating the present generation children, their parents and their teachers about the
various ways they can prevent the occurrence of childhood obesity. For these, it is important for
the healthcare professionals to understand the determinants that contribute to such disorders and
accordingly they would be developing strategies to handle the determinists (Llewellyn et al.
2016). Hence, conducting the research would help in developing extensive knowledge about
contributing determinists to childhood obesity and help in establishment of strategies, programs
and policies for its prevention.
Aims of the study:
The main aim of the study is to explore the different types of determinants that are
associated with childhood obesity among primary school children in London.