by
A. F.
Contents
Chapter 1:
Introduction........................................................................................
............page1
Chapter 2:
Literature
Review........................................................................................page
2
Chapter 3:
Methodology
................................................................................................page3
Chapter 4:
Results................................................................................................
..............page4
Chapter 5:
Conclusion.........................................................................................
...........page8
Chapter 1: Introduction
Problem Statement
Adolescents are often known to not pay very much attention to
what they eat and what they do to stay healthy. For example,
many of them eat high calorie foods and then don’t get enough
exercise afterward. Many people question if middle school
students care about their health.
Research Question
Do middle school students care about their health?
Hypothesis
Middle school students are exposed to some advertisements
promoting healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Even though
schools try to enforce healthy habits, students still tend to ignore
them. I think many middle school students do not care about their
health.
-1-
Chapter 2: Literature Review
I think that many middle school students do not care about their
health. According to http://www.nga.org, “The health of
America's children is at serious risk because of poor nutrition
and lack of physical activity. During the past four decades,
obesity rates have soared among all age groups, more than
quadrupling among children ages 6 to 11.” In simpler terms, this
web site is saying that children are becoming less healthy because
they are not eating healthy, and they are not exercising. The web
site also says that obesity is becoming more common among
children ages 6 to 11.
Finally, http://www.pediatricobesity.com/ says that “ The
prevalence of calorie-dense and nutrient-light food, television,
and video games have created an epidemic of pediatric
obesity.” The site goes on to say that less than half of high school
students don’t participate in PE classes even once a week, and that
only two-thirds of students exercise at least 20 minutes on at least
3 days out of the week.
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Chapter 3: Methodology
Methodology
After creating a 20-question survey, I distributed this survey to
twenty CLC middle school students. There were 4 (2 boy and 2
girl) representatives from each grade (grades range from 5-8).
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Chapter 4: Results
Raw Data
If you have ever drunk beer, wine, or liquor
outside of religious reasons, or without your CLC
parents, how old were you when you had Percentag National
your first drink?
Category e Percentage
10 or younger 5 19.4
10 or younger
11 15 9.3
age 11
5%
15%
12 5 8.3
age 12
13 0 5.7
5%
age 13 14 0 2.6
0%
0% age 14 15 or older 0 .8
75% 0% 15 or older I have never had
I've never had alcohol
alcohol to drink. 75 53.8
to drink
CLC
If you have ever tried marijuana, how old Percentag National
were you when you first tried it?
0% Category e Percentage
0%
0%
10 or younger 0 3.1
0% 10 or younger 11 0 1.9
0%
age 11
12 0 2.3
0%
13 0 2.5
age 12
14 0 1.1
age 13
15 or older 0 .5
age 14 I’ve never had
15 or older alcohol to drink 100 88.5
100%
I've never tried
marijuana
Jim is 13. Sometimes he and
his friends get together to
drink a couple cans of beer.
CLC National
How right or wrong are they Category percentage Percentage
to do this? Very wrong 55 46.7
0% Wrong 30 28.9
15% 0% very worng Not sure 15 16.7
wrong Right 0 4.5
Not sure Very right 0 3.2
30% 55%
right
Very Right
I worry about all the drugs and drinking I
see around me.
5% CLC National
10% 20%
Category Percentage Percentage
Not at all 20 15.7
Not at all
Very little Very little 25 21.5
Somewhat
Quite a bit Somewhat 40 27.4
Very much
25%
Quite a bit 10 19.1
40%
Very much 5 16.2
I worry about whether my body is develoing
in a normal way.
CLC National
Category Percentage Percentage
0% 5%
Not at all 40 22.4
30% 40% Not at all Very little 25 29.3
Very little
somewhat Somewhat 30 22.6
Quite a bit
Very much Quite a bit 0 13.9
25%
Very much 5 11.7
My friends try to get me to do things I
believe are werong.
CLC National
5% Category Percentage Percentage
5% 0%
Never 60 30.8
never Once in a while 30 36.1
once in a while
30%
sometimes Sometimes 5 22.1
often
60% very often Often 5 7.3
Very often 0 3.8
who would you turn to in the following CLC National
situation? - when wondering how to handle
Category Percentage Percentage
your feelings.
A parent or
guardian 16 43.7
A parent or guardian
A friend my age 58 23.9
0% 21% 16%
a friend my age
An adult friend 0 6
0% an adult friend A relative (uncle
5%
A relative (uncle or or aunt) 5 6.8
aunt)
0%
a priest, minister, or
A priest,
rabbi minister, or rabbi 0 4.1
a teacher or school
58% counselor A teacher or
nobody
school counselor 0 3.2
Nobody 21 8.8
In an average week, about how many hours
do you spend playing video games?
CLC National
Category Percentage Percentage
11%
0% 0 hours 37 41.1
11% 37% 0 hours 1 or 2 hours 41 34.7
1 or 2 hours
3 to 5 hours 3 to 5 hours 11 13.8
6 to 10 hours
11 hours or more 6 to 10 hours 0 5.5
41% 11 hours or more 11 4.9
How much do you weigh?
CLC National
Category Percentage Percentage
5%
16%
80lbs. or less 5 22.4
26%
80 lbs. or less 81 to 100lbs. 26 31.2
16% 81 to 100 lbs.
101 to 120 lbs. 101 to 120lbs. 32 28.2
121 to 140 lbs.
141 lbs or more 121 to 140lbs. 5 12
not sure
5%
141lbs. or more 6 6
32%
I am not sure 16 N/a
How tall are you?
CLC National
Category Percentage Percentage
5%
16%
0% 21% Under 4.5 ft. 5 4.7
under 4.5 ft.
4.5 to 5 ft 4.5 to 5 ft. 21 33.8
5ft. To 5.5 ft.
21%
5.5 to 6 ft. 5 to 5.5 ft 37 37
taller than 6ft.
I'm not sure 5.5 to 6 ft 21 23.4
37%
Taller than 6 ft 5 1.1
I am not sure 16 N/a
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Chapter 5: Conclusion
Research Question
Do middle school students care about their health?
Hypothesis
Middle school students are exposed to some advertisements
promoting healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Even though
schools try to enforce healthy habits, students still tend to ignore
them. I think many middle school students do not care about their
health.
Conclusion
The results in question 20 (question 20 questioned kids about their
height), as well as the results in question 5 (question 5 questioned
if kids worried about their body development) somewhat proves
my hypothesis: Health is not important to middle grade students.
In question 20, 16% of kids said that they did not know how
tall they were. I believe that if kids care about their health, they
will pay attention to the rate their body is growing at.
Question 5 also proves my hypothesis. In question 5, kids
were asked how much they worried about their body development.
40% of the kids surveyed said that they didn’t care about their
body development at all. And 25% of the kids surveyed said that
they cared about it very little.
Although, the results in question 2 (questioning whether or
not the student being surveyed had tried marijuana) did not. 100%
of the kids being surveyed had not tried marijuana. This does not
prove my hypothesis.
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