It has been a while since my last post so this entry has turned out to be a fairly length one!
Firstly, I have some updates about my project. Unfortunately, things have not turned out quite as planned and it looks like I will not be able to work on the child obesity project that I came here for. The main reason for this is that the project was relocated to the National University Community Research Institute (NUCRI) in California last year, and I am not able to access any of the infrastructure in order to conduct the work I had planned.
Firstly, I have some updates about my project. Unfortunately, things have not turned out quite as planned and it looks like I will not be able to work on the child obesity project that I came here for. The main reason for this is that the project was relocated to the National University Community Research Institute (NUCRI) in California last year, and I am not able to access any of the infrastructure in order to conduct the work I had planned.
To make good use of my time, the current idea is that I will commence work on my honours thesis. My project hasn't been scoped as yet, but I will try to do as much background work as possible. After a conversation with my supervisor, it was decided that I start investigating Value Sensitive Design and Design Science as a research method.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been spending a fair amount of time investigating obesity trends, the various ways BMI is measured, and other related issues surrounding obesity. I will present some of my findings here.
I compiled the following graph from data from the World Health Organization (WHO) website. It presents the alarming extent of the 'obesity epidemic' in both the United States and Australia.
The data is sorted according to the following variables:
| Age group: | 15-100; 30-100 |
| BMI group: | 25+ (considered to be overweight); 30+ (considered to be obese) |
| Sex: | Male; female |
| Country: | Australia, United States |
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| Diagram 1: A comparison of overweight and obesity in relation to age, BMI group, sex and country. |
As can be seen from the data, the proportion of the people who are (at a minimum) considered overweight represent a significant amount (>65%) of the population in both countries. At the upper end of the scale, males aged over 30 in the US and Australia who are considered overweight amount to over 80% of the population. It can also be noted that overweight / obesity is:
- Higher for males than females across all categories
- Higher in the 30-100 age group than the 15-100 age group across all categories.
- Higher in the US compared to Australia across all categories
To illustrate that the epidemic is not confined to Australia and the United States, I have included a diagram below to provide a graphical representation of the prevalence of males aged 15+ who have a BMI over 25 (e.g. are considered to be overweight). The data shows that it is clearly a global epidemic affecting over 50% of the population in most parts of North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.
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| Diagram 2: Estimated overweight and obesity (BMI >25) prevalence, males, aged 15+ |
The visual online tool used to create the image above can be located at the following address:
https://apps.who.int/infobase/Comparisons.aspx
It should also be noted that the standard interpretation of BMI has been identified to be less suitable for some East Asian ethnic groups. In response, BMI categories/indicators have been redefined in some countries to incorporate lower thresholds. For example, the standard definition of overweight (BMI 25+) has been redefined to BMI 23+ in both Singapore and Japan. This is shown in the following tables:
As such, an overweight East Asian (according to the redefined BMI levels) may record a ‘normal’ BMI as per the standard BMI scale. If the global BMI levels relating to the populations in East Asia (represented in diagram 2) are reinterpreted according to the ethnicity considerations noted in the table above, it is likely that a larger proportion of the countries in Asia would show heightened overweight/obesity levels. It is therefore important that other factors including ethnicity are considered when interpreting BMI data.
The methods employed to measure child BMI should also be scrutinised. The current standard to measure child BMI is as follows:
"Overweight is defined as at or above the 95th percentile of body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) for age. At risk for overweight is defined as at or above the 85th percentile, but less than the 95th percentile of BMI for age”. (JAMA, October 9, 2002—Vol 288, No. 14; Prevalence and Trends in Overweight Among US Children and Adolescents, 1999-2000; Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD; Katherine M. Flegal, PhD; Margaret D. Carroll, MS; Clifford L. Johnson, MSPH)
There has been some criticism as to the effectiveness of this method of measuring child BMI as it has been claimed that numerous factors including ethnicity, maturation, diet and physical activity, in addition to gender and age need to be considered to produce a meaningful result. For example, it is asserted that "African-American children have more bone and muscle mass and less body fat than their European-American counterparts" and therefore the results according to the current measures of child obesity may not lead to an appropriate indication. There is a risk that these factors could emerge as a criticism for studies and should therefore be taken into careful consideration during the experimental design process.
In addition to investigating various factors related to obesity, I have met a few people in the last couple of weeks, including Guy Garnett. Guy serves at the University of Illinois as Associate Professor of Music, Director of the Cultural Computing Program, and Associate Director for Research of eDream (Illinios Emerging Digital Research and Education in Arts Media Institute). It was interesting to hear about his research as it primarily involves the intersection of music (and other forms of the arts) and IT. One of the many projects he is involve in relates to the use of music as a control mechanism for a computer visualisation. Hopefully I get to see a live example of this before I return to Australia!
It should also be noted that the standard interpretation of BMI has been identified to be less suitable for some East Asian ethnic groups. In response, BMI categories/indicators have been redefined in some countries to incorporate lower thresholds. For example, the standard definition of overweight (BMI 25+) has been redefined to BMI 23+ in both Singapore and Japan. This is shown in the following tables:
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| Diagram 3: A comparison of various BMI interpretation methods |
As such, an overweight East Asian (according to the redefined BMI levels) may record a ‘normal’ BMI as per the standard BMI scale. If the global BMI levels relating to the populations in East Asia (represented in diagram 2) are reinterpreted according to the ethnicity considerations noted in the table above, it is likely that a larger proportion of the countries in Asia would show heightened overweight/obesity levels. It is therefore important that other factors including ethnicity are considered when interpreting BMI data.
The methods employed to measure child BMI should also be scrutinised. The current standard to measure child BMI is as follows:
"Overweight is defined as at or above the 95th percentile of body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) for age. At risk for overweight is defined as at or above the 85th percentile, but less than the 95th percentile of BMI for age”. (JAMA, October 9, 2002—Vol 288, No. 14; Prevalence and Trends in Overweight Among US Children and Adolescents, 1999-2000; Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD; Katherine M. Flegal, PhD; Margaret D. Carroll, MS; Clifford L. Johnson, MSPH)
There has been some criticism as to the effectiveness of this method of measuring child BMI as it has been claimed that numerous factors including ethnicity, maturation, diet and physical activity, in addition to gender and age need to be considered to produce a meaningful result. For example, it is asserted that "African-American children have more bone and muscle mass and less body fat than their European-American counterparts" and therefore the results according to the current measures of child obesity may not lead to an appropriate indication. There is a risk that these factors could emerge as a criticism for studies and should therefore be taken into careful consideration during the experimental design process.
In addition to investigating various factors related to obesity, I have met a few people in the last couple of weeks, including Guy Garnett. Guy serves at the University of Illinois as Associate Professor of Music, Director of the Cultural Computing Program, and Associate Director for Research of eDream (Illinios Emerging Digital Research and Education in Arts Media Institute). It was interesting to hear about his research as it primarily involves the intersection of music (and other forms of the arts) and IT. One of the many projects he is involve in relates to the use of music as a control mechanism for a computer visualisation. Hopefully I get to see a live example of this before I return to Australia!
Last night, I participated in a global health reading and discussion group. The attendees had diverse backgrounds ranging from medicine to biomedical engineering to sociology. Most of them are currently undertaking their PhD and had lived abroad in various locations (Ethiopia/Vietnam). As a result, the discussion was well-balanced and we were able to approach the discussion from various angles and viewpoints.
The book we discussed was Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen, a prominent economist and philosopher. The discussion covered many topics including the role of freedoms in society, the influence and impact that some freedoms have on others, how Sen's ideas could be actualised, the necessity for revolution to create social change, management and mismanagement of NGOs, among other themes. Probably the most prominent criticism of the book that emerged was the theoretical nature of the content - some asserted that it was non-practical and idealistic. I agree that the book is theoretical and proposes an ideal, but that the book was specifically intended to be as such. It was not written as a blueprint to enact social change, but more as a framework to work towards.
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| Ice hockey game in Washington |
On the way back, my connecting flight from Philadelphia to Chicago ended up being cancelled due to the snow in Chicago and by the time I arrived at O'Hare airport, I had already missed my train back to Champaign and had to spend the night in Chicago. After arriving at the hotel, I found a salsa event to attend and ended up having a great night, meeting plenty of people.
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| Baking with Shad (Wolfram Research) and Judy (Psychology PhD student) |
As for this week, I will be attending my weekly salsa events as per normal. On Wednesday however, I will be joining a friend from the Global Health group to see an acclaimed documentary on the education system in america: Waiting for Superman - and on Thursday, I have planned to meet some friends to make my favourite dessert: Crème brûlées. I will post some photos at a later date.
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| Mushroom risotto and vanilla chicken |
- Christoph Adami
- Timothy Bretl
- William Gropp
- Art Kramer
- Sherban Lupu
- Deana McDonagh
- Jeffrey Moore
- Antonino Musumeci
- Barry Pittendrigh
- Gabriel Popescu
- Alexander Scheeline
- Mark SubbaRao
- Deke Weaver
- Don Wuebbles
One final note - I found a decent cafe to go to in downtown Champaign - with free internet! I do miss my coffee of choice (Long Black) but have found a way to order coffee so that I achieve a similar result: triple espresso with a small amount of water. I tried the American version (called an Americano) although it wasn't exactly what I was after.
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