Internet Cause to Obesity

Internet Cause to Obesity

Introduction

With childhood and adult obesity ballooning in the United States, researchers are looking everywhere for solutions -- even toward the Internet and video games, which have been maligned by many for contributing to the crisis. Up to $300,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded for the best ideas. It can be a video game, a toy, Web-based initiative anything, says Ellen Lapointe, vice president for strategic partnership at Computer zone. "It can be the next hula hoop or Dance Revolution (the popular video game also known as DDR) (Rocca PA-C Julia 2009 24-93), or even something in between."

Discussion

Currently 65% of the adult population is overweight or obese. Unfortunately, safe and effective treatments for obesity are costly and intensive; therefore, this level of support is unlikely to be feasible in most clinical settings. Moreover, an additional limitation to current obesity treatment approaches is the limited reach and availability of programs for persons who work, live in rural areas or do not want, or cannot afford participation in group support classes.

The advent of telecommunications technology may provide a solution to this dilemma. Telecommunications technology can presumably improve access to services and improve efficiency of delivery. Moreover, research examining new technologies such as the Internet, will provide information for policy makers interested in disseminating low-cost, high reach effective obesity treatment interventions (Wang and Dietz 2002 99-124). However, the effectiveness of the Internet for inducing weight loss has not been rigorously tested.

Do you know the difference between being overweight and being obese? Generally, overweight is defined as above the normal or desired weight. Obesity is a condition in which an accumulation of body fat may negatively affect health. When an individual gets to the point of obesity, they situate themselves in harming their health that is the main difference. There a few different methods to determine the weight status in adults and children. Those are: weight tables, waist circumference, and, the most commonly used, the BMI (body mass index).

Calculating the BMI is used widely by medical professionals and it is used on adults and children. BMI calculates an individual's body weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters. It does not measure the exact body fat, but it gives an estimate (Ogden Flegal Carroll et al 2002 23-45). The BMI is compared to a growth chart that ranks the weight in a percentage. Weighing between the 85th to 95th percentiles puts the individual at the overweight status and weighing over the 95th percentile is considered obese. Using the BMI method alone is not use to diagnose the patient. The physician will, also, use other assessments, such as ethnicity and body type, to do so.

Therefore, the overall goal of this project is to determine if obesity treatment can be effectively delivered over the Internet. A secondary aim is to evaluate whether the effectiveness of Internet interventions can be improved with the addition of minimal in-person support. Not long ago, Internet was a ...