Within the United States, obesity accounts for over 300,000 deaths a year and prevalence rates have been increasing over the past decade (Maddock, 2004). For example, more than 22 percent of Latino children are considered Obese compared to 14 percent of Caucasian children. The reasons for this disparity is not clear. Recent work suggests that the amount of time spent eating plays an important role in a child’s future with obesity (Berge, 2014). The present study investigated the possible differences in time spent eating. In line with Latinos having high national obesity rates, it was hypothesized that the Spanishspeaking families would spend less time eating than the Englishspeaking families. For the present study families were observed in McDonald’s restaurants in Pacific Grove, CA and Salinas, CA. This was a direct observation study in which there was no contact between the families and the observers. Observers sat at such a distance to be undetected but yet were able to discern the language spoken by the family. Results revealed that as hypothesized Englishspeaking families spent more time eating than the Spanishspeaking families. More research in the future can help with education for those families with higher obesity rates in the hopes of reducing the obesity endemic.
Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.
Sustainable City Years Program Contact Info
University Faculty Contact
Jennifer Dyer-Seymour
Psychology
Professor, Department of Psychology
jdyer-seymour@csumb.edu
Local Government / Community Contact
Gary Petersen