Question 1
As many of these studies had overweight and obese, white women as participants, do you believe the findings are less valid? What populations do you think would benefit from being used in future research and why?
posted by Kara @ 6:13 PM
32 comments
32 Comments:
I believe these findings are valid for this population, but I also believe that research should be conducted with a sample of men to determine whether or not self-monitoring aids in their weight loss. The population studied may be more prone to recording their intake and exercise as opposed to other populations. Thus, these findings might not be applicable to those populations that are not white women. Although, I do believe that self-monitoring makes one more aware of their intake and exercise habits and may make someone more accountable to their actions and weight loss practices.
I do not feel that this study's findings are less valid due to the fact that the majority of participants where overweight and obese white women. I feel this does demonstrate what population is more willing to self monitor when it comes to diet and exercise. More research should definitely be done using this study on different populations. However, I strongly believe that no matter who participates in this study, those who self monitor will be more successful in losing weight than those who do not self monitor.
I do not think that the findings of this study are less valid due to gender and race being highly skewed (white women), but it would be important to see if the results hold true for males as well. I think that most populations, especially anyone who lives in the United States, would benefit from this research, but African American, Hispanic/Latino populations, and obese/overweight children would likely benefit from this study.
Bethany,
I agree with you in that the results of the study best represent white obese women being that they were the large majority of the participants does not make the results less valid. I definitely think women are more likely to use a food diary and document then intake and exercise/activity compared to men. I also agree if people document what they eat, their feelings, and their amount & type of exercise they will be more likely to adhere to their weight loss/exercise goals because they have proof of their efforts and a sense of accomplishment - that is documented.
I believe that these findings are valid for this particular population. It would be interesting to see if the results differ when other demographics are studied. I strongly believe that anyone who keeps a daily record of their food, exercise, and mood will be more likely to lose weight as opposed to an individual who does not track their progress. I found it interesting that people who weighed themselves daily also demonstrated increased weight lose. I believe that this is because it allows them to see their progress but I think that any measure that allowed them to see progress would be beneficial.
Jordan Dennis
Liz,
I think you make a very interesting point when saying that a similar study should be done with men for comparison. It would be interesting to see if they are as likely to keep self-monitoring aids. It might be helpful for the dietitian to know if a self-monitoring aid is helpful for groups besides women.
I don't think the findings are less valid as long as they are only referenced with this population. If one tried to apply the findings to all women in the U.S., it would not be as valid. In further research on this topic, I think it would be beneficial to use the Hispanic population as well as men and children in both populations who are overweight or obese. There is a major problem with obesity in these populations as well as with white women and it would be interesting to see if self-monitoring is as effective for Hispanics, men, and children. I would be especially interested in knowing if this would aid in reducing childhood obesity. I am not sure if children have the discipline and knowledge to be as successful with self monitoring without parental assistance.
Jamie, I agree that it would be beneficial to look at those populations. I think it would be necessary that the parents do the monitoring for their children but thats not to say their still wouldn't be positive results. It may even be more accurate than someone doing self-monitoring because chances are they will want the best for their children and want to be as accurate as possible.
I believe that the results from this study are valid for the population and just because it focuses on a very specific population does not make the findings less valid, however I do think it would be difficult to use these results when working with a client or patient, unless that person happens to be an obese white female. It would be beneficial to research other groups to ensure the effectiveness of self-monitoring because I do think that positive results would be shown in multiple populations.
I believe these findings are valid within that particular population group, however that is a very small fraction of the population. I would like to see this same sort of study done on low income individuals. I think it would be interesting to see if there would be a large difference in outcomes when monetary issues come into play. This would also be an interesting topic to look at with individuals attempting to lose weight due to disease states.
Jamie,
you make an interesting point bringing up children and the idea that they may not have the discipline to monitor their own intake and exercise. Would this be an area their parents would come into play or would this be an unuseful intervention strategy?
Although the findings may not apply to other demographics, they appear to be valid for the sample population they do address - overweight/obese white women. However, it would seem that more research is called for to examine the effects of self-monitoring in other population samples.
Tiffany, I agree that examining the effects of self-monitoring in various socioeconomic populations would be an area of interest to the health field. I think there might be some interesting findings since members of different SES have varying degrees of access to the tools (scales, calorie counting programs, exercise equipment, etc) required for this type of self monitoring.
I do not believe that the limited variation in population makes the results less valid. It does seem to show that maybe this population is more willing to keep a food/exercise record than other populations. It would be interesting to see these results compared to results from studies using just males or comparing across SES.
Jamie:
It is interesting that you brought up testing this on children. I think you're right that they might need help from their parents but that would be really interesting to see. I have seen pediatric dietitians use activity journals with overweight/obese children but nothing really revolving around food, so that would be interesting to test on children.
I don’t think that the results are less valid; they are just not applicable to individuals who are not overweight or obese white women. I think all populations could benefit from being included in future research. This type of research could be extremely beneficial when trying to initiate behavior modification with patients. I definitely think it would be necessary to attempt to include both genders and other ethnicities. It would also be interesting to see results using participants of varying ages and educational and socioeconomic backgrounds.
I agree with Bethany that it is important to look at other populations, but most likely, any participant who self-monitors will be more successful with weight loss. I think that self-monitoring is such a key component to any behavior change that you will see increased success no matter what population you study.
I definitely agree with Sarah that it would be interesting to determine whether or not self-monitoring is effective in aiding weight loss in children. Although they would need assistance from a parent/guardian, self-monitoring may instill healthy habits in this population.
I do not believe the findings are less valid as long as they are not applied directly to another population. It would be important for research to look at different ethnic/race/age/socioeconomic backgrounds to see if there is a difference in how these populations self monitor. It would be interesting to also consider which age groups/race etc. may be less apt to utilize self monitoring as a tool for weight loss and why.
I believe that while the results are valid for overweight and obese white women, the results cannot be generalized to other population groups. Men and women have very different motivators and different ideals for body weight, which has been largely reported in research. Additionally, cultural and socioeconomic status differences may impact receptivity to using a PDA for tracking and the instant feedback they provide.
Jordan,
I agree that tracking food, exercise and weight is a good method for self-awareness and may help individuals with sustained weight loss.
On a side note, when I was at the Bariatric center in Springfield, the RD said that only about 50% of patients really latch on to tracking food/weight; and it has a lot to do with personality. The individuals in the program who do not track do not necessarily do better or worse than trackers.
I believe that the findings are valid, but possibly less significant. If the population studied was mostly overweight and obese, there was a more significant amount of weight for them to lose, which would make for more significant findings. I believe overweight and obese men should be targeted, as well as individuals in the upper portion of the normal BMI range. Further populations studied should include a more diverse variety of ethnicities as well. Targeting these populations would help validate these findings across weight, gender and race.
I do believe these findings are valid, but like Anna said, they may be more valid per the population studied. More research is needed in order to apply these findings accurately to other populations of concern, such as Hispanic-Amercian and African American adults. Were these studies based on a volunteer basis? That may indicate that overweight white females are going to be more compliant with self-monitoring. I am also interested in long-term use of self-monitoring methods. Would self-monitoring strategies also help individuals keep the weight off after reaching their goal weight?
This is a hard question. If this population made up the majority of the studies, that is all we have to work with. However, the purpose was to focus on self-monitoring and weight loss and did not specify for which populations. Anyone seeking weight loss goals could benefit from participating in such a study or be influenced by results of a study involving a relatable population. It is hard to identify how each study recruited participants. The recruitment could involve volunteering by more proactive individuals and may not be representative of the majority of individual personalities with weight loss goals. It is nearly impossible to have perfect research while being ethical and relying on self reported data. I still think these studies are valid as they all reported the same data.
I'm in agreement with previous posts that the findings from these studies are valid. However, I'm not sure how they would transfer over to practice unless you were working strictly with the specified population. I'd be curious to know why most of the studies focused on one population type. Further studies should be done to include minority populations to determine if self-monitoring would be an effective tool to use in addressing health disparities.
By having only one major demographic represented by the data, it does hinder the generalization to other population. These findings are beneficial and valid approach when working with overweight and obese white women. Besides applying this to other ethnicities, I would also like to see this technique used in a variety of different socioeconomic settings.
Amanda and Amy,
You both bring up an interesting point about how participants were recruited. I think it would impact how we interpret the findings if all participants were volunteers that were already self-motivated.
I do not believe that these reports are less valid. Although it focuses on just one group, it still provides a general guideline of results. However, I think it would be extremely beneficial if a study was conducted on different ethnicities and even males to see how the results are similar or different.
3) Because many of the participants shared the same quality of being white, over weight and obese women, I do believe that findings could have been influenced and a little less valid. Having the same characteristics could mean that these participants possess the same socioeconomic status and therefore could be influenced and act differently than individuals with a different socioeconomic status. Education, time, and money could make a difference in ability to lose weight and self-report.
Jamie-
I really like your point about childhood obesity. If self-monitoring was introduced to children and was effective, it could not only be a great way to assist in weight loss, but it could also be a method of teaching responsibility and education for children. If children are seeing the direct results of the foods that they consume and activities they take part in, it could be an excellent way to learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives.
Meredith mentioned something that I really didn't think of. The results were impressive but those people also had a lot of weight to lose since they were from the higher BMI ranges. Maybe it wouldn't be as effective if they wanted to lose 20 pounds compared to 80.
In agreement with the majority of the posts, the findings from this study are not less valid due to the population. However, it would still be beneficial to research other groups for comparison as well as for motivation to our clients.
Post a Comment
<< Home