Research article critique
Name of the student
Name of the institution
Research article critique
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to critique a research paper in nursing on obesity in children. The paper will consist of . Obesity has become a global problem affecting children in the first-class and third world countries. Parents and nurses should address the issue of obesity to alleviate health complications such as heart-related diseases, which may affect the patient.
Obesity is an important topic to children’s nursing because it enables parents to identify the effects of their children being obese. The topic also enables nurses to identify appropriate methods that they can use to prevent development of severe complications for children as they grow older. Nurses are also able to assist children and parents by providing advice on healthy eating habits and ways of managing one’s weight. Medical experts are also able to discuss the importance of regular physical exercises with parents and their children. Nurses also get an opportunity to explain why a whole-family approach is used while dealing with children suffering from obesity.
Research is a necessary tool in the world of health and social care. Nursing research avails significant information regarding the prevalence and incidence of specific diseases and how medical experts can manage them (Spear, 2007). Nurses are also able to identify the risk factors of diseases and how they can control them. Research also enables medical practitioners to know the effects and results of using specific interventions to treat patients. The background of the research is relevant to the research question.
The article that is going to be analyzed used a quantitative research approach. In the research a specific number of participants were selected and their measurements for certain characteristics measured and recorded. The data was then analyzed using SPSS to produce results.
Authors
The authors of the article to be critiqued are professionals with experience in matters regarding health care and research. Their qualifications show that they possess knowledge in obesity.
Title
The title of the article “Randomized Controlled Trial of the MEND Program: A Family-based Community Intervention for Childhood Obesity” is clear and it communicates the purpose of conducting the research to the readers. The title is also appropriate because it is only made up of 14 words (Bassett, 2003).
Abstract
The authors’ abstract provides a proper summary of the research. The researchers clearly stated the aim of the study in the abstract which was to assess the efficacy of the Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it (MEND) Program as a method of intervention responsible for dealing with obesity. The research method is also well explained in the abstract (Bassett, 2003). The author clearly explains that 167 obese children are randomly assigned to an intervention program or waiting list control. The selected participants then took part in activity sessions followed by swimming exercises. The researchers then analyzed the waist circumferences, physical activity level, self-esteem, body mass index, sedentary activities and cardiovascular fitness at baseline and after 6 months (p.1). The research conducted by Paul and associates (2007) clearly explains the results of the research in the abstract (Schmidt, 2019). Generally, the results indicated that differences were observed in cardiovascular fitness, physical activity, sedentary behaviors and self-esteem. The study managed to prove that the MEND program was indeed efficient in treating obesity.
Writing style
The research article was written correctly and organized properly in terms of different sub-headings and paragraphs (Schmidt, 2019). The authors also made use of simple and correct grammar which can be easily understood by any reader.
Purpose of the study
The study conducted by Paul and associates (2007), mainly focuses on the increase in the number of children suffering from obesity worldwide. The researchers suggest that the prevalence and the various physical and mental complications have made prevention and intervention of the disease a global concern. The authors’ purpose of study clearly explains what is to be studied. The research will not entirely solve the problem of obesity but it will help in determine if the MEND program is an appropriate intervention method for the disease.
The researchers also successfully placed the purpose of the study within the context of existing nursing and health care issues because the prevalence and incidence of obesity among children has been on the rise over the past few years (Bassett, 2003). The authors also suggest that any intervention aimed at dealing with obesity should involve the whole family because it is difficult for the child to handle it alone.
According to Paul and associates (2007), the aim of the study was to “evaluate the effectiveness of the Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it (MEND) Program, a multicomponent community-based childhood obesity intervention” (p.1). The researchers properly outlined the purpose of the study in a manner which makes it easier for readers to comprehend.
Theoretical framework
The author did not specify a specific framework that they used for this particular study (Creswell, 2013). Additionally, the author does not identify any assumptions that are used in this study. However, there is a general assumption that MEND can be used to treat obesity but its efficiency is unknown. The study also lacks a theory to act as a basis of the investigation and its outcomes (Schmidt, 2019). The researchers should have considered using the theory that suggests that obesity can be associated with the development of disorders such as hypertension and diabetes.
Variables
The study does not have the dependent and independent variables. The authors did not also specify a hypothesis for the study (Caldwell, 2005). However, they should have considered using “MEND is an efficient method of treating obesity” as the hypothesis. The authors did not also include any questions to be used in the analysis of the study.
Research design
The researchers conducted the study using the quantitative design method. The use of the quantitative method was appropriate in this study. The authors may have decided to use the quantitative method because it enables them to conduct a wider study by including a larger sample and hence producing better and accurate results. Quantitative methods also provide an appropriate analysis of the data collected which enhances the effectiveness and reliability of the results obtained.
Literature review
The author did not have a section of literature review.
Samples
According to Paul and associates (2007), the patients were enlisted from five UK sites based on the recommendations of local medical experts. The research used a non-probability sample in the study because the participants were not randomly selected (Green, 2006). Non-probability sampling methods are less likely to represent the characteristics of the whole population. The researchers gave out sufficient information concerning the participants to enable the readers to understand the methodology and design of the study. The researchers clearly identified the inclusion/exclusion criteria that was used in the study. The participants were only selected if they were obese, did not have any health complications, and lacked disabilities. They were also supposed to have between 8 and 12 years and also possess a parent or guardian who would be responsible for bringing them to the study sessions. The study was conducted at 5 different sites by experts in health, physical exercises, and teaching. The study involved 116 obese children and some of them were directed to the intervention program whereas the rest were assigned to the waiting list. Those on the waiting list had to wait for 6 months before they could begin the intervention. The participants on the waiting list were used as control in this particular experiment. The researchers should have considered using a larger sample to yield better and accurate results (Bassett, 2003).
The children and their respective parents took part in an educational and exercising session for 2 hours which was done twice every week. The participants were then given free swimming pass for 12 weeks. The researchers analyzed the participants’ body mass index, waist circumference, cardiovascular fitness, self-esteem, and sedentary activities before the study and after six months. The methods of collecting data that were used in this study were appropriate because they provided relevant information concerning the participants which were used to check if the MEND program was useful in treating obesity. The researchers also discussed the methods they used in detail and their relevance to the study. For instance, some of the participants were required to join the intervention program after 6 months to enable the researchers to use them as control. The authors did not use any ambiguous words in the study design. Additionally, they did not employ the use of jargon words which would be difficult for people with little information concerning nursing to understand. The study methods used in this study are rational and reliable because they managed to produce results which successfully proved that the MEND program can be used to treat obesity in children. The author also discussed the use of a small sample size as one of the limitations of the study. A smaller sample size may not reflect all the characteristics of the population that it is picked from and hence the results obtained may not be accurate.
Ethical considerations
The researchers received ethical permission to conduct the study from the Metropolitan Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee (Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN 30238779). The participants were fully informed about the nature of the study and its relevance to nursing. The confidentiality of the participants was guaranteed. Some parents feared enrolling their children in the study because they thought they would be deemed to be responsible for their children’s condition. However, the researchers assured them that there would be no discrimination in the research.
Data analysis
The researchers used linear regression and SPSS to analyze the data collected during the study. The methods chosen for data analysis were appropriate because they managed to help the researchers analyze the data and make conclusions. The author did not clearly explain the research methodologies and strategies used in the study. The data analysis carried out by the researchers was sufficient to validate the results and outcome of the study. The study was supposed to analyze the effects of the MEND intervention on body mass index, waist circumference, and body composition. However, the authors mainly relied on the waist circumference as the primary determinant of the effectiveness of the MEND program because waist circumference accounts for the changes in the amount of total fat and body mass. The body mass index was not used because it does not differentiate between fat and lean mass. The results obtained after analysis were relevant to the research question because they clearly showed that there were differences in the participants who took part in the MEND intervention and those that did not. The tables present in the study gives a good visual impression and also assist the readers to understand the data analysis more easily. For instance, table 1 enables a reader to identify the characteristics of the study population at baseline whereas table 2 compares the characteristics of the different cohorts after 6 months. The author also incorporated the use of a study chart which enables a reader to understand the changes in the total number of participants from the beginning of the study to when it was completed. The findings of the study suggest that the MEND intervention is efficient in dealing with obesity. The authors should have considered incorporating graphs in the study to help a reader to identify the changes in the characteristics of participants after 6 months.
Discussion
The author clearly interpreted the results in the study correctly in relation to the purpose of the study. For example, the author explains that the waist circumferences of the children in the intervention group reduced by 4.1 cm whereas no changes were observed in those in the control group. Additionally, the body mass index decreased in the intervention group whereas it remained constant in the control group. A slight change was observed in the body composition of the participants in the intervention group while no change was observed in the control group. Therefore, this clearly illustrated that the MEND program was effective in treating obesity. The author did not discuss the results in relation to any framework or hypothesis because the research did not define any of them.
Most of the conclusions reached in this study were drawn from the analysis of data. For instance, the authors concluded that regular exercises were necessary in order to successfully treat obesity. The researchers based this conclusion on the fact that after intervention the children became more physically active and also reduced seated activities. The authors also concluded that the MEND intervention program improved the self-esteem of the participants. The researchers based this conclusion on the fact that the participants in the intervention group exhibited signs of improved self-esteem after taking part in the MEND program.
The researchers clearly stated the most significant outcomes of the study and their implications. For instance, the author explains that the author explains that the waist circumferences of the children in the intervention group reduced by 4.1 cm whereas no changes were observed in those in the control group. The change in waist circumference was used to illustrate the effectiveness of the MEND program in treating obesity.
The authors used their results to support the results obtained in other studies. For instance, the author claims that little changes were observed in the body composition of the children in the intervention group. A study conducted by Hunt et al supports this claim and suggests the body mass index of an individual needs to reduce by 0.5 to indicate a change in the body composition.
The results obtained in this study are useful to nursing because they suggest that the MEND intervention program is efficient and should be used in treating obesity. They can also be used to improve the MEND intervention program to make it better in terms of treatment.
The authors also outlined various strengths and limitations of the study. For instance, the author explains that one of the major strengths of the study was that a large percentage of the participants started and took part in the research till the end. The huge attendance shows that the program was accepted by a large number of families and hence the study can be considered to be reliable. Additionally, the author explains that the standardization of the MEND program was identified as another strength of the study because it enabled the practitioners to use the same approach in the study even though they were in different centers and had no previous experience.
On the other hand, the author identified a drop in the total number of participants as one of the limitations of the study. Only 83% of the total number of participants was present after 6 months. The drop might result in inaccurate representation of the population and consequently leading to wrong conclusions. The researchers also identified the little time taken before a follow up was conducted as another limitation of the study. A follow up should be conducted after a while to enable the researchers to identify the long term effects of the MEND intervention program.
Conclusion
The author successfully managed to bring out the main points of the study. He concludes the paper by indicating that the MEND program was effective in reducing adiposity in children and the effects were evident after 9 months. The author gave a few suggestions for future research. He states that further research should be conducted to assess the efficiency of the MEND program when used on larger samples and how the limitations experienced in this particular study can be dealt with. The researcher concluded that the MEND program was among the best intervention programs currently available which is carried out in accordance with the required procedures. Based on the results, the author also suggests that the MEND program is an efficient program to help deal with obesity in children. The author did not illustrate new perceptions on the topic of study.
Reference list
The author clearly cited all the sources and also provided the full bibliographic details. The author mostly used older sources because the topic being discussed was contemporary and hence it required information from previous studies. The author also used journals, articles, and books.
References
Application of Research. (4thed.) [VitalSource] Retrieved from: https://vsaccess.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284155471.
Bassett C, B.issett J (2003) Reading and critiquing research. BrJ Perioper
Burns N, Grove S (1997) The Practice of Nursing Research: Conduct, Critique
Caldwell K, Henshaw L, Taylor G. Developing a framework for critiquing health research. J Health, Social and Environmental Issues. 2005;6:45-54
Christensen P. The health-promoting family: a conceptual framework for
Connell Meehan T (1999) The research critique. In:Treacy P, Hyde A, eds.
future research. Soc Sci Med 2004;59:377–387.
Green BN, Johnson CD, Adams A. Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: secrets of the trade. J Chiropr Med. 2006;5:101-1.
Green JW. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. 3rd ed. (Los Angeles, USA: Sage Publications Inc), 2013.
Marshall G. Critiquing a research article. Radiography. 2005;11:55-59.
NriK 13(4): 162-4
Nursing Research and Design. UCD Press, Dublin: 57-7
of child and adolescent overweight and obesity. Pediatrics and Utilization. 3rd edn.WB Saunders Company, Philadelphia
Schmidt, N., & Brown, J. (2019). Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses: Appraisal and
Spear BA, Barlow SE, Ervin C et al. Recommendations for treatment
2007;120(Suppl 4):S254–S288.