Performing Department
Agriculture
Non Technical Summary
Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, especially, in young adults and children. The most recent statistics (2011-12) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. Obesity is a multi-factorial health disorder caused by reasons ranging from imbalanced caloric intake, poor dietary choices, lack of physical activity, genetics, imbalances in hormones, and occasionally emotional stressors such as depression. It has been proven that obesity results in chronic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers. For many years, such health disorders were synonymous with the adult population, however, now, chronic diseases such as, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome are commonly seen in young adults and children.While there are many causes of obesity, one to consider in recent times, use of media, especially non-traditional media like video games (online/offline), social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snap Chat, etc). Furthermore, in olden times, definition of media consumption was related to watching television (movies, popular sitcoms, and other popular shows), whereas, in present times, cell phones have replaced traditional TV sets. Additionally, with the influx of various portable hand held devices, it appears that young adults are spending increasingly long hours on media consumption.Therefore, in lieu of increasing obesity in young adults accompanied with evidence from other studies that media consumption could be one of many reasons for the increasing waistlines of both adults and children, we wish to establish experimental data that will help us determine if media consumption is truly one of the many reasons for the growth in obesity in young adults.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
90%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, especially, in young adults and children. The most recent statistics (2011-12) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. Obesity is a multi-factorial health disorder caused by reasons ranging from imbalanced caloric intake, poor dietary choices, lack of physical activity, genetics, imbalances in hormones, and occasionally emotional stressors such as depression. It has been proven that obesity results in chronic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers. For many years, such health disorders were synonymous with the adult population, however, now, chronic diseases such as, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome are commonly seen in young adults and children. While there are many causes of obesity, one to consider in recent times, use of media, especially non-traditional media like video games (online/offline), social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snap Chat, etc). Furthermore, in olden times, definition of media consumption was related to watching television (movies, popular sitcoms, and other popular shows), whereas, in present times, cell phones have replaced traditional TV sets. Additionally, with the influx of various portable hand held devices, it appears that young adults are spending increasingly long hours on media consumption. Many survey studies have been used to estimate if media consumption can be one of the many causes of increasing body mass index in young adults. However, experimental data on effects of media consumption and development of obesity are lacking. Moreover, in researching this, we realized that the effects of social media on BMI and obesity have not been studied experimentally either. There are countless studies on effects of frequent use of social media on sleep disorders, behavioral problems, and overall diminished health and wellness (Ogden et al., 2012). However, most studies use self-reporting and surveys as their instrument of choice to investigate this phenomenon.Therefore, in lieu of increasing obesity in young adults accompanied with evidence from other studies that media consumption could be one of many reasons for the increasing waistlines of both adults and children, we wish to establish experimental data that will help us determine if media consumption is truly one of the many reasons for the growth in obesity in young adults. Furthermore, our data will allow future health professionals, school systems, and other stake holders to evaluate this chronic disorder given that in the United States alone, the estimated annual medical cost of obesity was $147 billion in 2008 and the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight (Ogden et al., 2012).
Project Methods
At the inception of each phase, subjects will be randomly assigned to control or treatment group.PHASE I: A double blinded controlled experimental design will be used to examine participant's food consumption in two conditions; with exposure to visual media (television without any commercials) and without exposure to any media. Subjects will be randomly assigned to one of the two conditions for a period of two hours during regular lunch time (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.). Each session will comprise of ten subjects and each phase will last ten weeks through the respective semester. The experiment will be conducted in the experiments lab (south campus) at Lincoln University. The lab has comfortable seating arrangements for up to ten subjects, and a large screen 9-foot projection system with digital stereo sound. The screen will be retracted during the no-media condition. Subjects will be given 30 minutes after arrival (11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) to familiarize themselves with each other, the venue, and be briefed about the study from one of the researchers. The initial 30 minutes will not only allow the subjects to familiarize themselves with each other and the experimental environment, but, also allow them time to select foods from the menu provided and since, to avoid any biases and confounding variables, subjects are not informed beforehand that this is a study investigating their eating patterns, the extra 30 minutes will help the research assistants brief the subjects such that the intervention has no impact on their food choices and eating patterns. Each participant will be assigned to an individual seating space and a research assistant will be present in the room throughout the experiment for observational and data collection purposes. All food provided during each phase will be weighed before and all leftovers will be collected by the assigned assistant on duty and all foods (consumed and/or wasted) will be measured. Participants will be asked to leave their food plates including condiment wrappers, beverage bottles/cans on their respective tables for the assistants to pick up after them. At the end of each session, each participant will be asked to respond to several questionnaires and anthropometric measurements will be performed by certified health professionals.PHASE II: In this portion of the study, sessions will be carried out with the same procedures as phase I with few exceptions; treatment group in phase II will be exposed to 90 minutes of television with commercials. The non-media control group however will remain exactly the same.PHASE III: In this portion of the study, sessions will be carried out with the same procedures as phase I with few exceptions; treatment group in phase III will now be exposed to 90 minutes of online video gaming. The room will be equipped with five gaming consoles; two subjects will share a console for online gaming. The non-media control group however will remain exactly the same.PHASE IV: In this portion of the study, sessions will be carried out with the same procedures as phase I with few exceptions; treatment group in phase IV will now be exposed to 90 minutes of co-op video gaming. The room will be equipped with five gaming consoles; two subjects will share a console and play each other. The non-media control group however will remain exactly the same.PHASE V: In this portion of the study, sessions will be carried out with the same procedures as phase I with few exceptions; treatment group in phase V will now be exposed to 90 minutes of social media. The room will be equipped with computers so that participants may engage in chosen social media. The non-media control group however will remain exactly the same.PHASE VI: In this portion of the study, sessions will be carried out with the same procedures as phase I with few exceptions; treatment group in phase VI will now be exposed to 90 minutes of social media containing food advertisement/commercials. The room will be equipped with computers so that participants may engage in chosen social media. The non-media control group however will remain exactly the same.Choice of Experimental MenuEach participant will be given a food menu comprising of a variety of food choices from high- fat fast foods to low-fat foods, fruits, and sugar and sugar-free beverages. The menu will contain a variety of food items to allow subjects to choose food of choice at their table/experiment station. This protocol will allow us to avoid any location biases that may result if the subjects have to walk to a food- serving area. This methodology will allow us to examine both quantity and quality of food preferences when being exposed to the respective media stimulus. Menu will include foods such as breaded chicken sandwiches, grilled chicken sandwiches, regular chips, baked chips, chocolate brownie, fruit cups, and regular pre-packed condiments. Also, there will be a choice of regular sugar and sugar- free beverages and bottled water. Participants will be informed that they can request for any amount of food items. Participants will not be aware of the low and high caloric food choices in order to avoid any unprompted biases on food choices. The food items have been selected in such a way that the subjects will have a choice of the item(s), the category (low calorie or high calorie), and any amount of food to consume. This strategy will allow us to observe them in an uninhibited environment and thus be able to observe their "true" food consumption patterns as affected by the choice of media.Food MeasuresEach food item provided will be weighed before and after the meal session to calculate total amount (weight) and caloric intakes using the manufacturers disclosed nutritional information. Any spilled foods will be collected and added to the weight of unconsumed food. Post exposure, subjects will provide basic demographic information and self-report the average number of hours a day they consume visual media and the type of movies/sitcoms, games, and social media sites they like to watch/visit. Subjects will also self-report how frequently they eat meals while watching television/media, and provide information about their regular meal habits and consumption patterns. For protection of privacy, subjects will be assigned unique identifying numbers and these ID numbers will be used on all questionnaire/measures. All measurements will be taken by a HIPPA certified research assistantAnthropometric MeasurementsVarious anthropometric measurements will be gathered from each participant. Height and weight measurements will be collected to compute BMI. Furthermore, waist circumference and hip circumference will be gathered to compute waist/hip ratio. Additionally, body fat analysis will be completed using the BOD-POD (Air Displacement Plethysmograpy in the Assessment of Body Composition) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), a commonly used tool to gather perecent body fat non-invasively. The relationship between obesity and related co-morbidities and eventually early mortality are a result of increased fat-mass and overall body weight. Thus, it is very essential that weight loss regimes focus on both decreasing total body weight as well as reducing fat-mass (Minderico et al., 2006). As our understanding of weight loss methods evolve, so do the countless assessment tools. One such body composition assessment tool is air-displacement plethysmography (ADP). The BOD-POD is an instrument designed by Life Measurements Incorporated that incorporates ADP to measure body composition and has been used by several researchers to assess changes in body composition. The BOD-POD is relatively easy to use and is able to accommodate individuals with extremely large body size and weight, additionally, it is safe to use both for the patient as well as the operator (Minderico et al., 2006).