Obesity is a growing public health issue

Obesity is a growing public health issue

Obesity is a growing public health issue. Accordingly, stakeholders need to develop research-based interventions to reduce the prevalence and impact of the disease in the long run. For instance, for this practice problem, the proposed intervention entails the establishment of an awareness creation program targeted at individuals with obesity in the local community. As is with any other form of intervention, it bears potential benefits and harms. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate such an intervention based on its ethical implications.

The proposed intervention has various benefits. Firstly, according to Karnik and Kanekar (2017), it helps to improve the decision-making processes of persons with obesity. It achieves this outcome by imparting on them crucial knowledge on aspects like the importance of making healthy eating choices and what healthy meals constitute. Additionally, it also enables them to appreciate the importance of other interventions, like engaging in regular physical exercises. Further, it also empowers them with information on treatment options, especially in situations where the disease has become comorbid with others. More critically, it helps them to improve their self-esteem by showcasing that it is  problem can paddressed. This aspect is vital ossgiven the social stigma attached to the disease.

Nevertheless, participating in the intervention may cause harm to the research subjects. Selecting the participants entails choosing ispecifically those with obesity. Given the social stigma associated with the disease, Tomiyama et al. (2018) contend that the selected persons may face discrimination from their peers and community. Consequently, it may lead to low self-esteem and other mental health concerns like depression.

The potential harm to research participants implies that it is vital to adhere to ethical principles when conducting research. This occurrence is especially highly likely where competing personal or professional values exist. One of the main professional values regarding human research is the need to guarantee the privacy of the participants. This aspect, while necessary, may affect the level of transparency in the research. Open identification of the participants and the effect of the intervention on their rate of obesity would act as a more reliable testament to its effectiveness or lack thereof. However, the guiding principle in making a decision where values conflict is the need to protect the research subject. This occurrence is line with the key ethical issues in human research namely beneficence, privacy, and obtaining informed consent.

The personal urge to ensure transparency in the research process may lead to numerous objections from the school’s Ethics Review Board (ERB). The objections will center on the need guarantee the participants privacy, ensure their safety, and to obtain informed consent from them. These concerns would be addressed by explaining to the committee that all the participants must provide their informed consent before taking part in the process. Additionally, before providing their consent, they would be educated on the potential risks and benefits of participating in the study. Regarding privacy, the committee would be informed that none of the subject’s personal identifying information will be used when conducting research. Instead, they would be offered unique identifiers.

Moreover, the researcher would endeavor to keep all the personal information of the prospective participants in a secure platform. The dissemination process also creates a conducive environment through which ethical breaches can occur. Nonetheless, the ERB will be informed that none of the participants’ private details will be included in the final report. Consequently, addressing these objections increases the likelihood of obtaining permission to proceed with the study from the ERB.

References

Karnik, S., & Kanekar, A. (2012). Childhood obesity: a global public health crisis. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 3(1), 1–7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278864/

Tomiyama, A. J., Carr, D., Granberg, E. M., Major, B., Robinson, E., Sutin, A. R., & Brewis, A. (2018). How and why weight stigma drives the obesity ‘epidemic’ and harms health. BMC Medicine, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-018-1116-5