Case Study in Communications Research Project Essay

Contextual investigation in Communications Research Project - Essay Example chime the social and political state of the general public but at the same time is mindful, if not totally yet in a significant extent, in acquiring a change the political situation of the nation. This report investigates the historical backdrop of the Chilean New Song Movement. After this, the personality of the development and the social colonialism are talked about. At last, we will have a look on the melodic commitment of the Chilean New Song Movement. . (Chanan, 1995) Chilean got autonomy on February 12, 1818, and the remainder of its region, Chiloã ©, was liberated from Spanish standard by 1826. The Chilean culture, since the early long periods of nineteenth century, was an impression of the defined pilgrim social structure, family legislative issues, and the impact of the Roman Catholic Church. By the mid 1960s, the way of life of Chile had just been under the incredible impact from different countries, particularly United States of America. During these years, numerous dramatizations, radio projects, music and well known magazines were either imitators of, or the fares from United States. For instance, as far as movies, the investigation of Movie Listing for theaters of Santiago uncovers that atleast 28 out of 41 movies being appeared on July 24, 1969 were from the unified Sates. Two Argentine, two soviet and two soviet movies can likewise be recognized. Such an impact of US culture in the Chilean culture was a disturbing circumstance for those Chileans having a feeling of nationalization in them. It was not simply the US films; the strength of US culture on the Chilean one was apparent in practically all the parts of the way of life of a general public. (Taffet, 2000) Such circumstance incited barely any youthful liberals to help redevelop an autonomous social character. Victor Jara turned into the author of this development. She was bolstered by Violeta Parra, Isabel and Angela Parra, Osvaldo Rodriuez, Patricio Manns, Ronaldo Alarcon and the gatherings Quilpayaun and Inti-Illimani. Their aggregate music endeavors are known as The Victor Parra, the author of the New Chilean

J. Robert Oppenheimer, Manhattan Project Director

J. Robert Oppenheimer, Manhattan Project Director J. Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904â€February 18, 1967) was a physicist and the chief of the Manhattan Project, the United States exertion during World War II to make a nuclear bomb. Oppenheimers battle after the war with the profound quality of building such a ruinous weapon embodied the ethical difficulty that confronted researchers who attempted to make the nuclear and nuclear bombs. Quick Facts: Robert J. Oppenheimer Known For: Leader of the Manhattan Project, which built up the nuclear bombAlso Known As: Father of the Atomic BombBorn: April 22, 1904 in New York City, New YorkParents: Julius Oppenheimer, Ella FriedmanDied: February 18, 1967 in Princeton, New JerseyEducation: Harvard College, Christs College, Cambridge, University of Gà ¶ttingenPublished Works: Science and the Common Understanding, The Open Mind, The Flying Trapeze: Three Crises for PhysicistsAwards and Honors: Enrico Fermi Award Spouse: Katherine Kitty PueningChildren: Peter, KatherineNotable Quote: If nuclear bombs are to be added as new weapons to the armories of a warring world, or to the munititions stockpiles of the countries getting ready for war, at that point the opportunity will come when humanity will revile the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima. The individuals of this world must join together or they will die. Early Life Julius Robert Oppenheimer was conceived in New York City on April 22, 1904, to Ella Friedman, a craftsman, and Julius S. Oppenheimer, a material dealer. The Oppenheimers were German-Jewish foreigners yet didn't keep strict conventions. Oppenheimer went to the Ethical Culture School in New York. Despite the fact that J. Robert Oppenheimer handily got a handle on both technical studies and humanities (and was particularly acceptable at dialects), he moved on from Harvard in 1925 with a degree in science. Oppenheimer proceeded with his investigations and moved on from the University of Gottingen in Germany with a Ph.D. In the wake of winning his doctorate, Oppenheimer ventured out back to the U.S. also, showed material science at the University of California at Berkeley. He turned out to be notable for being both a very much respected instructor and an examination physicist-not a typical mix. In 1940, Oppenheimer wedded Katherine Peuning Harrison and their oldest kid was conceived. Harrison, an extreme understudy at Berkeley, was one of numerous socialists in Oppenheimers friend network. The Manhattan Project During the start of World War II, news showed up in the U.S. that the Nazis were advancing toward the making of a nuclear bomb. Despite the fact that the Americans were at that point behind, they accepted they couldn't permit the Nazis to assemble such a ground-breaking weapon first. In June 1942, Oppenheimer was named the chief of the Manhattan Project, Americas group of researchers that would work to make a nuclear bomb. Oppenheimer dedicated himself completely to the task and substantiated himself a splendid researcher as well as a remarkable head. He acquired the best researchers the nation together at the examination office at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Following three years of research, issue solving,â and unique thoughts, the main little nuclear gadget was detonated on July 16, 1945, in the lab at Los Alamos. Having demonstrated their idea worked, a bigger scope bomb was constructed and detonated at the Trinity site. Not exactly a month later, nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. A Problem With His Conscience The monstrous decimation the bombs delivered pained Oppenheimer. He had been so up to speed in the test of making something new and the opposition between the U.S. what's more, Germany that he-and a large number of different researchers taking a shot at the undertaking had not considered the human cost that would be brought about by these bombs. After the finish of World War II, Oppenheimer started to voice his resistance to making progressively nuclear bombs and explicitly contradicted building up an all the more impressive bomb utilizing hydrogen, known as a nuclear bomb. Sadly, his restriction to the advancement of these bombs caused the United States Atomic Energy Commission to analyze his unwaveringness and scrutinized his connections to the Communist Party during the 1930s. The Commission chose to repudiate Oppenheimers exceptional status in 1954. Grant From 1947 to 1966, Oppenheimer filled in as the executive of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1963, the Atomic Energy Commission perceived Oppenheimers job in the improvement of nuclear research and granted him the renowned Enrico Fermi Award. Demise Oppenheimer spent his outstanding years inquiring about material science and looking at the ethical situations identified with researchers. Oppenheimer passed on in 1967 at age 62 from throat malignant growth. Heritage The creation of the nuclear bomb profoundly affected the result of World War II and on the following Cold War and weapons contest. Oppenheimers individual moral problem has become the focal point of bunch books and a few plays, remembering For the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Sources â€Å"J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904 - 1967).†Ã‚ Atomic Archive.â€Å"J. Robert Oppenheimer.†Ã‚ Atomic Heritage Foundation, 22 Apr 1904.â€Å"J. Robert Oppenheimer.†Ã‚ United States History.

Battle of the Bands

Battle of the Bands Hey-o prefrosh. Are you dying of anticipation yet? CPW starts tomorrow and its all for you. For four days MIT crams all the awesome stuff we do throughout the year into one gigantic weekend extravaganza with an event density so high, its like a neutron star of awesome! Theres ice cream made with liquid nitrogen, rock band, dance parties, and more food than youll know what to do with (hint: give it to a hungry upperclassmen or your favorite blogger, as long as theyre both me). But of all the people I polled about CPW, the one event they said meant more than anything to them was Battle of the Bands.* For an hour and a half one night youll see MIT kids like you never knew them before! Some of the most talented musicians on campus lay down their calculators, their voltmeters, and their soldering irons to strum their guitars; beat on their drums, and whatever the heck you do with a theremin to raise the potential difference from the stage to you to just nigh the electric breakdown of air! (for concerned parents, I can pretty much guarantee you there will be no lightning sparks involved in the playing of music, though its totally possible) Well be cranking the amps to 11 (plus or minus some /epsilon) and throwing together 7 all-MIT bands to answer the question thats been plaguing the ages: Will it Blend? Who is the greatest? Technicolor, The Guitar Knives, The Shallow Romantics, Supa Dupa, Circle of Lewis, Castle Bravo, and Crossroads meet in the proverbial octagon on the second floor of the student center to battle it out for a shot at glory! So how much would you be willing pay for such an event? A quick check on ticketmaster shows Lady Gaga tickets at TD Banknorth cost at least $200, but for you dear prefrosh its only $3! Thats 23 pico-percent of our GDP! And weve got kids just as weird as Lady Gaga, but much better at math. However, just in case youre the super self-aware type concerned about how your enjoyment of Battle of the Bands isnt doing much for charityâ€"it is! Half of the proceeds from the event will go to Camp Kesem, a student-run camp for children whose parents have or have had cancer. So enjoy it, for the children. Plus your admission to the event lets you grab the LMCs CD for only $5! But Chris you say, whos going to determine the winner? Who has an ear fine-tuned enough? Who is awesome enough? Who is brave enough? Who is free-on-a-saturday-night-from-7:30-9:00 enough? Well dear prefrosh, it is I! Yes I will be sitting on the panel of three judges along with Chris Peterson from the Admissions Office and a super secret MyStErY judge! (you can tell its mysterious because every other letter is capitalized). Plus, I heard a certain Tim Beaver is planning on being there to get his rock on. Hes been known to get a little crazy. See you there! For more information you can check out the website at http://lmc.mit.edu/battle. Battle of the Bands is put on by the MIT Live Music Connection ( http://lmc.mit.edu) in conjunction with Beta Theta Pi (really cool guys), Burton-Conner, and Camp Kesem. *I didnt poll anyone about CPW and I made up what they said. But they wouldve said it if Id asked. Totally.

Battle of the Bands

Battle of the Bands Hey-o prefrosh. Are you dying of anticipation yet? CPW starts tomorrow and its all for you. For four days MIT crams all the awesome stuff we do throughout the year into one gigantic weekend extravaganza with an event density so high, its like a neutron star of awesome! Theres ice cream made with liquid nitrogen, rock band, dance parties, and more food than youll know what to do with (hint: give it to a hungry upperclassmen or your favorite blogger, as long as theyre both me). But of all the people I polled about CPW, the one event they said meant more than anything to them was Battle of the Bands.* For an hour and a half one night youll see MIT kids like you never knew them before! Some of the most talented musicians on campus lay down their calculators, their voltmeters, and their soldering irons to strum their guitars; beat on their drums, and whatever the heck you do with a theremin to raise the potential difference from the stage to you to just nigh the electric breakdown of air! (for concerned parents, I can pretty much guarantee you there will be no lightning sparks involved in the playing of music, though its totally possible) Well be cranking the amps to 11 (plus or minus some /epsilon) and throwing together 7 all-MIT bands to answer the question thats been plaguing the ages: Will it Blend? Who is the greatest? Technicolor, The Guitar Knives, The Shallow Romantics, Supa Dupa, Circle of Lewis, Castle Bravo, and Crossroads meet in the proverbial octagon on the second floor of the student center to battle it out for a shot at glory! So how much would you be willing pay for such an event? A quick check on ticketmaster shows Lady Gaga tickets at TD Banknorth cost at least $200, but for you dear prefrosh its only $3! Thats 23 pico-percent of our GDP! And weve got kids just as weird as Lady Gaga, but much better at math. However, just in case youre the super self-aware type concerned about how your enjoyment of Battle of the Bands isnt doing much for charityâ€"it is! Half of the proceeds from the event will go to Camp Kesem, a student-run camp for children whose parents have or have had cancer. So enjoy it, for the children. Plus your admission to the event lets you grab the LMCs CD for only $5! But Chris you say, whos going to determine the winner? Who has an ear fine-tuned enough? Who is awesome enough? Who is brave enough? Who is free-on-a-saturday-night-from-7:30-9:00 enough? Well dear prefrosh, it is I! Yes I will be sitting on the panel of three judges along with Chris Peterson from the Admissions Office and a super secret MyStErY judge! (you can tell its mysterious because every other letter is capitalized). Plus, I heard a certain Tim Beaver is planning on being there to get his rock on. Hes been known to get a little crazy. See you there! For more information you can check out the website at http://lmc.mit.edu/battle. Battle of the Bands is put on by the MIT Live Music Connection ( http://lmc.mit.edu) in conjunction with Beta Theta Pi (really cool guys), Burton-Conner, and Camp Kesem. *I didnt poll anyone about CPW and I made up what they said. But they wouldve said it if Id asked. Totally.

Phobias What Do Spiders, Water, Elevators, Mice And...

What do spiders, water, elevators, mice and heights have in common? You might think nothing, but you would be very wrong. Those are just some of the most common types of phobias that people suffer from. It a nut shell, a phobia is a fear of an object or situation. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something dangerous. For example, a phobia I know a lot of us suffer from would be public speaking. See? Not very dangerous physically, but can be very stressful because of the extreme anxiety it can cause in some people. In this essay, we will cover a few of the key points and hopefully learn a little more generalized information on phobias, how they affect people, and some things maybe we can do to help minimize our fears. Without†¦show more content†¦Now we come to the third category. Fear of open spaces. In this writers opinion this one is the worst. It can severely impact how one lives their day to day life. Could you imagine not being able to step outside of your home? In over 12 years? Unfortunately that does happen to people. The term they use for this is Agoraphobia. This literally means â€Å"the fear of leaving home or a safe place†. While once again, no physical harm comes with this, the mental toll it can take on someone is not to be underestimated. Anxiety is bad as it is, but the extreme anxiety of one who suffers from Agoraphobia is even worse. It usually starts with a more mild panic attack which then makes the person fear having another type of panic attack while away from the home. This obviously leads them to not want to leave their home, constantly fearing another attack and avoiding anything that might trigger one. So now that we have covered a brief overview of the different categories of phobias, what are some tall tale signs you might be suffering from a phobia? Are there any classic signs or symptoms people suffer from? Yes, yes there is. Pretty much no matter what category or phobia you suffer f rom, you can expect everyone to share a few of the symptoms. Some of the most common are uncontrollable panic, doing everything you can do to avoid an object or situation you

Summer Internship Report on Madura Garments - 6439 Words

Project Report On Improving Service Level for Institutional Sales SUBMITTED FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT (PGDIM) By Puneet Verma Roll No. 105 PGDIM – 18 Under the guidance of [pic] National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Vihar Lake, P.O. NITIE, Mumbai 400 087 Date of Submission: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Certificate of Supervision This is to certify that Puneet Verma, student of PGDIM, Batch No. 18 has successfully completed the project titled – â€Å"Improving Service Level for Institutional Sales†, under the guidance of Mrs.†¦show more content†¦Methodology...........................................................................................................24 5.1: Understand the current market and business scenario......................................25 5.1.1: Market Scenario: ......................................................................................25 5.1.2: Agent Performance: ................................................................................. 29 5.1.3: Business processes: ................................................................................. 30 5.1.4: Key Points: .............................................................................................. 35 5.2: Ascertain the current service level of the system............................................ 36 5.3: Identifying and Defining Problems................................................................. 37 5.3.1: Fishbone Diagram: ................................... .............................................. 37 5.3.2: Cause and Effect Matrix: ........................................................................ 38 5.3.3: Failure Mode Effect Analysis:..................................................................39 5.3.4: PrincipalShow MoreRelatedSummer Internship Report on Madura Garments6431 Words   |  26 PagesProject Report On Improving Service Level for Institutional Sales SUBMITTED FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT (PGDIM) By Puneet Verma Roll No. 105 PGDIM – 18 Under the guidance of [pic] National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Vihar Lake, P.O. NITIE, Mumbai 400 087 Date of Submission: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Certificate of Supervision Read MoreInduction Training9712 Words   |  39 PagesSUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT ON STUDY OF EMPLOYEES PERCEPTION TOWARDS INDUCTION TRAINING AT MADURA FASHION AND LIFESTYLE, GURGAON TABLE OF CONTENT Serial No. | Topics | Page No. | 1. | Acknowledgement | 4 | 2. | Executive summary | 5 | 3. | Chapter 1- Industry profile * Indian retail industry * Growth of Indian retail * Major retailers in India * Retail formats in India * Challenges faced by Indian retail industry * The future

Analysis Of Death On The Pale Horse - 1097 Words

This paper is going to analyze the context within which the work of art, Death on the Pale Horse was created. In addition, the paper will also discuss the medium that the artist selected and highlight a number of the other fascinating aspects of this Benjamin West painting. Benjamin West first displayed his work of art in 1784 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, in conjunction with three different works that he had planned to paint. The artist used oil on canvas as his final medium and the painting measures twenty three by fifty inches. It is signed within the lower right corner B. West 1796 and is now displayed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Historians don t seem to be certain whether or not the creator was in need of cash and†¦show more content†¦The style that West used is described best through his choice of colors that are very warm, and thus, in all probability influenced other painters who were part of the Romantic era of the Nineteenth Century. What is distinctive regarding this specific painting is that it merges art with recreation. The theme is deep as a result of the many things that are happening within the background and the foreground. As an example, there are bodies with garments ripped of from the battle and a fallen hor se at the front center of the painting; however, the background also contains many winged demons and murderers who ride in from some distant place. As for the forms within the painting, they are realistic, and never flat. The horses are spherical and appear to be very strong; the lion s claws are immense and tear blood from the flesh of the person the lion attacks. The forms are well accomplished and reinforce the drama of the scene, which the artist meant to depict. All of the shapes are meant to be full to provide weight and seriousness to the piece. None of the forms are lightweight or ethereal, even the clouds are giant and full. Most of the figures have significant shadowing and strips of highlight to deepen the distinction between the dark and lightweight colors. With reference to the lines within the painting, every figure within the painting, including all of the ghosts that float in from heaven, are well carved. The lines are harshShow MoreRelatedEarly American Artist Benjamin West1763 Words   |  8 Pages â€Å"And I looked and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger and with death, and with beast of the earth.† [Rev. 6:8] Early American artist Benjamin West, details his conception of the scripture in his smaller study Death on the Pale Horse, in which the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse —Death, War, Famine and Pestilence waste the earth. Considered inRead MoreEthan Frome by Edith Wharton Setting Analysis Essay865 Words   |  4 PagesSetting Analysis of Ethan Frome By: Mary Thompson Ethan Frome Analysis In Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome, setting is an important element. The setting greatly influences the characters, transportation, and activities. The setting takes place in a small town called â€Å"Starkfield†. Starkfield is a town that is just like its name, it is boring, barren, severe, and harsh. Starkfield is known for its many harsh winters that leave the inhabitants bitter and in harsh condition. StarkfieldRead MoreA Poem from the Romantic Period, La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats711 Words   |  3 Pageshis horse together. They then spend time together frolicking lovingly in the meadow. This is the part of the story where the reader has a sense of mystery and suspense of whom exactly this woman is and where did she come from? 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Catherine Malasa free essay sample

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Psychology is a multifaceted discipline and includes many sub-fields of study areas such as human development, sports, health, clinical, social behavior and cognitive processes.  Because psychology is new a social science, it attempts to investigate the causes of behavior using systematic and objective procedures for observation, measurement and analysis, backed-up by theoretical interpretations, generalizations, explanations and predictions Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functions and behaviors[1] with the immediate goal of understanding individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases,[3][4] and by many accounts it ultimately aims to benefit society. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist and can be classified as a social, behavioral, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie certain cognitive functions and behaviors. Question: What Is Cognitive Psychology? Answer: Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, acquire knowledge, perceive, learn, remember or store information and then apply it. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy and linguistics. Cognitive psychology studies in areas of research such as, Perception, attention, reasoning, thinking, problem solving, memory, learning, language, and emotion are areas of research. Classical cognitive psychology is associated with a school of thought known as cognitivism, whose adherents argue for an information processing model of mental function, informed by functionalism and experimental psychology. On a broader level, cognitive science is an interdisciplinary enterprise of cognitive psychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, researchers in artificial intelligence, linguists, human–computer interaction, computational neuroscience, logicians and social scientists. Computational models are sometimes used to simulate phenomena of interest. Computational models provide a tool for studying the functional organization of the mind whereas neuroscience provides measures of brain activity. The core focus of cognitive psychology is on how people acquire, process and store information. There are numerous practical applications for cognitive research, such as improving memory, increasing decision-making accuracy and structuring educational curricula to enhance learning. Until the 1950s, behaviorism was the dominant school of thought in psychology. Between 1950 and 1970, the tide began to shift against behavioral psychology to focus on topics such as attention, memory and problem-solving. Often referred to as the cognitive revolution, this period generated considerable research on topics including processing models, cognitive research methods and the first use of the term cognitive psychology. The term cognitive psychology was first used in 1967 by American psychologist Ulric Neisser in his book Cognitive Psychology. According to Neisser, cognition involves all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. It is concerned with these processes even when they operate in the absence of relevant stimulation, as in images and hallucinations Given such a sweeping definition, it is apparent that cognition is involved in everything a human being might possibly do; that every psychological phenomenon is a ognitive phenomenon. Noam Chomsky helped to launch a cognitive revolution in psychology when he criticized the behaviorists notions of stimulus, response, and reinforcement. Chomsky argued that such ideas—which Skinner had borrowed from animal experiments in the laboratory—could be applied to complex human behavior, most notably language acquisition, in only a superficial and vague manner. The postulation that humans are born with the instinct or innate facility for acquiring lan [pic] [pic] The Muller-Lyer illusion. Psychologists make inferences about mental processes from shared phenomena such as optical illusions. helped to renew interest and belief in the mental states and representations—i. e. , the cognition—that had fallen out of favor with behaviorists. English neuroscientist Charles Sherrington and Canadian psychologist Donald O. Hebb used experimental methods to link psychological phenomena with the structure and function of the brain. With the rise of computer science and artificial intelligence, analogies were drawn between the processing of information by humans and information processing by machines. Research in cognition had proven practical since World War II, when it aided in the understanding of weapons operation. [47] By the late 20th century, though, cognitivism had become the dominant paradigm of psychology, and cognitive psychology emerged as a popular branch. Assuming both that the covert mind should be studied, and that the scientific method should be used to study it, cognitive psychologists set such concepts as subliminal processing and implicit memory in place of the psychoanalytic unconscious mind or the behavioristic contingency-shaped behaviors. Elements of behaviorism and cognitive psychology were synthesized to form the basis of cognitive behavioral therapy, a form of psychotherapy modified from techniques developed by American psychologist Albert Ellis and American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck. Cognitive psychology was subsumed along with other disciplines, such as philosophy of mind, computer science, and neuroscience, under the cover discipline of cognitive science. Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy and linguistics. The core focus of cognitive psychology is on how people acquire, process and store information. There are numerous practical applications for cognitive research, such as improving memory, increasing decision-making accuracy and structuring educational curricula to enhance learning. Until the 1950s, behaviorism was the dominant school of thought in psychology. Between 1950 and 1970, the tide began to shift against behavioral psychology to focus on topics such as attention, memory and problem-solving. Often referred to as the cognitive revolution, this period generated considerable research on topics including processing models, cognitive research methods and the first use of the term cognitive psychology. The term cognitive psychology was first used in 1967 by American psychologist Ulric Neisser in his book Cognitive Psychology. According to Neisser, cognition involves all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. It is concerned with these processes even when they operate in the absence of relevant stimulation, as in images and hallucinations Given such a sweeping definition, it is apparent that cognition is involved in everything a human being might possibly do; that every psychological phenomenon is a cognitive phenomenon. How is Cognitive Psychology Different? †¢ Unlike behaviorism, which focuses only on observable behaviors, cognitive psychology is concerned with internal mental states. Unlike psychoanalysis, which relies heavily on subjective perceptions, cognitive psychology uses scientific research methods to study mental processes. Who Should Study Cognitive Psychology? Because cognitive psychology touches on many other disciplines, this branch of psychology is frequently studied by people in a number of different fields. The following are just a few of those who may benefit from studying cognitive psychology a web site that should be useful if you are studying psychology †¢ PsychBLOG †¢ Course Content †¢ Themes †¢ Investigations Core Studies †¢ Home Top of Form [pic][pic][pic][pic] Bottom of Form Search Holah Top of Form [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] [pic][pic][pic] Bottom of Form [pic]Core Studies †¢ Cognitive Psychology †¢ Developmental Psychology †¢ Individual Differences †¢ Physiological Psychology †¢ Social Psychology Exam Help †¢ Course Structure †¢ Exam Questions †¢ Exam Technique A Bit More Stuff †¢ About †¢ Links †¢ Further Reading [pic][pic] [pic][pic]Home gt; Cognitive Psychology Cognitive Psychology masters in psychology Cognitive psychology studies our mental processes or cognitions. These mental processes that cognitive psychologists focus on include memory, perception, thinking and language. The main assumption of the cognitive approach is that information received from our senses is processed by the brain and that this processing directs how we behave or at least justifies how we behave the way that we do. Cognitive processes are examples of hypothetical constructs. That is, we cannot directly see processes such as thinking but we can infer what a person is thinking based on how they act. Cognitive psychology has been influenced by developments in computer science and analogies are often made between how a computer works and how we process information. Based on this computer analogy cognitive psychology is interested in how the brain inputs, stores and outputs information. However we are much more sophisticated than computer systems and an important criticism directed at the cognitive approach is that it often ignores the way in which other factors, such as past experiences and culture influence how we process information. Loftus and Palmers (1974) study of eyewitness testimony demonstrates how the cognitive process of memory can be distorted by other information supplied after an event. This highlights that memory is not merely a tape recording but is a dynamic process which can be influenced by many events such as leading questions. The study also shows that memory is a dynamic process and changes to make sense of experiences. When we behave in a particular way towards another person it is likely that we attempt to understand how the other person is thinking and feeling. Baron-Cohens (1997) study shows that our behaviour can be influenced by a cognitive process called a theory of mind. Having a theory of mind enables a person to appreciate that other people have thoughts and beliefs that are different from their own. Baron-Cohens study attempts to demonstrate that the central deficit of autism is a failure to fully develop this cognitive process of a theory of mind. It has been argued that humans are unique in possessing the ability to communicate with language which involves very sophisticated cognitive skills. However this argument is challenged by the study from Savage-Rumbaugh et al. (1986) who studied the language capabilities in pygmy chimpanzees. A main strength of cognitive psychology is that this approach has tended to use a scientific approach through the use of laboratory experiments. A strength of using laboratory experiments is that they are high in control therefore researchers are able to establish cause and effect. For example Loftus and Palmer were able to control the age of the participants, the use of video and the location of the experiment. All participants were asked the same questions (apart from changes in the critical words), and the position of the key question in the second was randomised. Furthermore, such standardised experiments are easy to test for reliability. However, as many cognitive studies are carried out in laboratory settings they can lack ecological validity. When cognitive processes such as memory and theory of mind are studied in artificial situations it may be difficult to generalise the findings to everyday life. A further strength of the cognitive approach is the useful contributions that have arisen from this approach. For example, many modern types of therapy are based on the cognitive approach. Understanding cognitive processes allows us to help people to improve their cognitive processes such as memory and language. The Baron-Cohen et al. study enables us to better understand the behaviour of people with autism, Loftus and Palmers’ study highlights the limitations of eye-witness testimonies and the ape research may offer strategies to help children with language difficulties to develop language or to use strategies such as the lexigram system. Furthermore the cognitive approach has become the dominant approach in psychology particularly since it has become allied with neurology. The cognitive approach nowadays is often called cognitive science and is able to provide a very sophisticated understanding of how the brain processes information. A weakness of the cognitive approach relates to the validity of measuring cognitive processes. We can only infer what a person is thinking and therefore the cognitive approach relies heavily on self report measures and observation. There are a number of reasons why we have to question the validity of self report measures and observation. For example we can only infer that adults with autism have theory of mind difficulties from the results of the Eyes Task or that pygmy chimps are really using language when they communicate through a Lexigram. However, because of the developments of brain scanning techniques we are able to record the active parts of the brain more accurately nowadays and cognitive science is providing a more and more detailed description of how cognitive processes work. For example, brain scanning techniques are giving great insights about how memory works. It has been argued that a weakness of the cognitive approaches reliance on the computer analogy leads to a reductionist and mechanistic description of experiences and behaviour. Reductionism is the idea that complex phenomena can be explained by simpler things. The cognitive approach often takes this narrow focus and ignores social and emotional factors which may impact on cognition. For example, the autism study investigated just one central cognitive deficit as an explanation for autism. However the reductionist approach does have strengths. An advantage of the reductionist view is that by breaking down a phenomenon to its constituent parts it may be possible to understand the whole. This type of single mindedness has lead to some great discoveries in psychology as it has in the natural sciences.

Keine Lazarovitch Essay Example

Keine Lazarovitch Essay Irving Layton was written about his mother, Kline, most likely as a eulogy after she died In 1959. The unusual yet astonishing thing about this poem Is during the first four paragraphs the mood is dark, almost evil like, and fierce, as he speaks of growing old and death, For her mouth was not water but a curse, (paragraph 2). We can see that the speaker, her son, is an honest and expressive man. The emotional effects of these four paragraphs makes us question why Irving would bother to write a eulogy for his mother if he only states readers things about her, it also makes the reader believe perhaps his mother was an unhappy miserable woman who only cursed Gods creatures. The final paragraph of the poem leaves the reader with a satisfying sense of peace, where he basically says that although his mother spoke her mind and was firm on her beliefs, and though the things did may have sometimes been a nuisance, she was his mother. The things she did made her the person she was. Her characteristics were the things that made her real. Though eulogies are usually spoken with a soft tone, and speak of all the great things the person did, the reality Is o one is perfect, and the flaws that people have make them who they are. The authors purpose was to show his true love for his mother. He loved her because she was, in fact, so fierce and outspoken, which is why the thought of this poem is so important. We will write a custom essay sample on Keine Lazarovitch specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Keine Lazarovitch specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Keine Lazarovitch specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The imagery is very powerful as we can see the picture of his deceased mothers head on the cold pillow, her white watermarking hair in the cheeks hollows, (paragraph 1). This immediately illustrates his mother in the casket at her funeral. Also, we can see the obvious look of the mother when he talks of her amber dads that she wore upon her breast so radiantly. (paragraph 4). These clear visual characteristics also show Layton observance and attention towards his mother. Although this poem does not include a uniform rhyme scheme, we notice the last word of every line (except the last line of each paragraph) has the same ending. For example, in the first paragraph the first line ends with the word pillow, the second line ends with the word hollows and the third line, the word how. Though these words do not necessarily rhyme, they make connections to each other through sound. Also, there are many literary devices in the poem that help emphasize the imagery and sound. For example, in the first paragraph, the alliteration of white watermarking hair really catches the readers attention and creates a greater visual image. Another example would be In the third paragraph when he says Till popularizing Death leaned down and took them for his mould. This line represents growing old and death as a reason for the loss of her rich, black eyebrows. Yet, death cannot physically lean down and take eyebrows, for that is only a human trait, thus making tons Ellen a Tort AT personalization.

Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves Dates: born September 22, 1515 (?), died July 16, 1557Married Henry VIII of England on January 6, 1540, divorced (annulled) July 9, 1540 Known for: safely divorcing from Henry and surviving Also known as: Anna von JÃ ¼lich-Kleve-Berg Ancestry: Like each of the wives of Henry VIII, as well as Henry himself, Anne could claim descent from Englands King Edward I. Father: John III the Peaceful, Duke of Cleves (died 1538) (he was a descendent of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy)Mother: Maria of JÃ ¼lich-BergBrother: William the Rich, Duke of JÃ ¼lich-Cleves-BergSister: Sybille, married to John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, Champion of the Reformation Anne was, as a young child, unofficially betrothed to Francis, heir to the Duke of Lorraine. About Anne of Cleves Jane Seymour, Henry VIIIs beloved third wife, had died. France and the Holy Roman Empire were forging an alliance. Though Jane Seymour had given birth to a son, Henry knew that he needed more sons to ensure the succession. His attention turned towards a small German state, Cleves, which might prove a solid Protestant ally. Henry sent his court painter Hans Holbein to paint the portraits of the princesses Anne and Amelia. Henry selected Anne as his next wife. Soon after the wedding, if not before, Henry was looking once again for a divorce. He was attracted to Catherine Howard, the political basis for the match was no longer as strong a motivation since France and the Holy Roman Empire were no longer allies, and he found Anne both uncultured and unattractive he is said to have called her Mare of Flanders. Anne, fully aware of Henrys marital history, cooperated in an annulment, and retired from court with the title Kings Sister. Henry gave her Hever Castle, where he had wooed Anne Boleyn, as her home. Her position and fortune made her a powerful independent woman, though there was little opportunity to exercise such power in any public sphere. Anne befriended Henrys children, riding in the coronation of Mary with Elizabeth. Bibliography: Anne of Cleves: Fourth Wife of Henry VIII, Mary Saaler, 1995. This book covers Annes years after her divorce, as one of the most powerful and wealthy women in the world.The Marrying of Anne of Cleves : Royal Protocol in Early Modern England, Retha Warnike. 2000.The Six Wives of Henry VIII, by Alison Weir, 1993.The Wives of Henry VIII, Antonia Fraser, 1993.Letters of the Queens of England 1100-1547, Anne Crawford, editor, 1997. Includes Anne of Cleves.Holbein and the Court of Henry VIII: Drawings and Miniatures from the Royal Library Windsor Castle, Reto Niggl and Jane Roberts, 1997. Religion: Protestant (Lutheran)

Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Microeconomics - Essay Example The worst thing about monopoly is that the seller gets market command by which he may exploit the customers either by charging high rate or sacrificing product quality. Though, monopoly is not a good thing in the market, it cannot be avoided from the market. Suppose, when the seller has a monopoly over certain resources which are used for producing a particular item such as oil, minerals etc. Sometimes, when a seller is equipped with a unique skill, which others in the same industry lack. In certain occasions, monopoly is legally attained for the patent or copy right for a product/service. Government also allows certain organisation to have sole power over certain product/service by legislation. One such organisation is what this paper is going to discuss about. Indian Railway comes under the department of Indian Government, which came into being in1853. It is the world’s second largest rail network. All the rail operations are managed by the state-owned Indian Railways, which fall under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Railways. Rail transport is one of the common modes of the transport for large population of the country. Its network spreads across 28 states and 3 union territories with limited services to places like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. (Indian Railways, para. 4) It is the second largest commercial employer in the world and has more than 1.54 million employees and runs as many as 11,000 trains daily. (Official web site of Indian Railway). It has been assisting the growth of Indian economy directly and indirectly since its inception. During the many ups and downs of the country’s economy in the past, railway has been an integrating force to stabilize the economy and maintain economic growth of the country. Indian Railway is not a private corporate body. It operates under the Railway Department of Ministry of Railways of Government of India. But, in the recent times it is striving to attain the professionalism in

International business DISCUSSION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

International business DISCUSSION - Essay Example While they are out, HR professionals should contemplate on how much the expatriates rely on them and the impact of their personal touch they have. Organizations should invest in global awareness training and educate employees who are involved in global operations at all levels. The HR should give achievable expectations and be clear about post-assignment obligations. The role of the HR professional is to make the expat understand what the assignment, he/she is going to undertake. Expatriates should get predeparture assistance and consultations for expats and their families. It will be a good practice if basic language skills and intercultural training be provided to the expatriates (Tyler 98). Providing good strategies for expatriates such as a reasonable budget and a selection of support services would be a good approach. It spends employers’ money intelligently, and their families would confide in the business as they think the company recognizes the challenges the families go through. HR professional ought to enable mentor relationships amongst expatriates and establish systems to give incentives to mentors. Carl says, "Some of the expats I worked with had terrible times coming back; there was nothing available to them" (2006). Getting an expatriate home safely is an important cause to the expatriate, his/her family and the sponsoring organization (Tyler 100). An expatriate will experience emotional and professional challenges that deter an unbroken return and can result to their resignation. HR professional(s) has a mandate to make the expats feel lucky to have their job at the

Effect of School Based Obesity Interventions

Effect of School Based Obesity Interventions ABSTRACT Introduction Background Obesity in both adult and children is fast becoming one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century in developed and developing countries alike. It is estimated that approximately 10% of school age children. The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity is ever on the increase in the UK as in the rest of the world. It is estimated that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among 2 10 year old children in the UK rose from 22.7%-27.7% and 9.9%-13.7% respectively between 1995 and 2003; these figures are set to increase unless something is done. School-based interventions offer a possible solution in halting obesity prevalence, because the school setting provides an avenue for reaching out to a high percentage of children (especially in the western world), opportunity for constant monitoring of children and the resources for anti-obesity interventions. Objectives To systematically review the evidence of the impact of school-based interventions to prevent childhood obesity on: Adiposity (primary objective) Knowledge, physical activity levels and diet (secondary objectives) Methods The review was done following the Cochrane collaboration guidelines. In addition to searching electronic databases, first authors of all included studies were contacted. A recognised critical appraisal tool was used to assess the quality of included studies. Results Three RCTs and one CCT met the inclusion criteria for the review. All four studies had a control and intervention group; with various study limitations. While none of the studies found statistically significant BMI changes in intervention groups when compared with control group post-intervention, all of them recorded either a significant change in diet, or an increase in physical activity levels. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Obesity is generally understood as abnormal accumulation of fat to the extent that presents health risk (Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004), and was added to the international classification of diseases for the first time in 1948 (Kipping, Jago et al. 2008). The worldwide clinical definition of adult obesity by the WHO is body mass index (BMI) ≠¥ 30kg/m2 (WHO 2006). In children however, because of the significant changes in their BMI with age (Cole, Bellizzi et al. 2000), there is no universally accepted definition of obesity (Parizkova and Hills 2004; Bessesen 2008) and it therefore varies from country-to-country. The most commonly used definition of childhood obesity is the US definition which measures overweight and obesity in a reference population using the cut off points of 85th and 95th centiles of BMI for age (Ogden, Yanovski et al. 2007). In the UK, overweight and obesity are diagnosed using a national reference data from a 1990 BMI survey of British children (Stamatakis, Prima testa et al. 2005). Children whose weights are above the 85th centile are classed as overweight and over the 95th centile are considered obese (Reilly, Wilson et al. 2002). Recent estimates suggest that obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally with about 400 million adults being clinically obese, a figure projected to rise to about 700 million by 2015 (WHO 2006). In children, the current WHO estimates are that about 22 million children globally under age 5 are overweight (WHO 2008). In the UK, evidence suggests that obesity is set to be the number one preventable cause of disease in a matter of time (Simon, Everitt et al. 2005). In the last three decades, the scale as well as the prevalence of obesity have grown rapidly amongst all age, social and ethnic groups in the UK, as well as globally (Table 1)(Kipping, Jago et al. 2008). Estimates suggest that in the UK, between 1984 and 2002/2003, the prevalence of obesity in boys aged 5-10 rose by 4.16%, and by 4.8% in girls (Stamatakis, Primatesta et al. 2005). There is therefore there is an urgent need for the development and implementation of effective intervention strategies to halt the ever increasing obesity prevalence (Summerbell Carolyn, Waters et al. 2005). OBESITY CAUSATION The primary risk factors associated with the increase in prevalence of childhood obesity are ever increasing involvement in sedentary lifestyles and an increase also in the consumption of high energy dense food and drink (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Sekine, Yamagami et al. 2002; Speiser, Rudolf et al. 2005; Topp, Jacks et al. 2009). The underlying mechanism of obesity formation is an imbalance between energy input and expenditure (Moran 1999; Kipping, Jago et al. 2008) Genetic and environmental factors greatly influence the bodys energy balance. Nevertheless, genetic conditions which either cause production of excessive fat in the body or reduce the rate at which it is broken down, of which Prader-Willi syndrome is an example account for less than 5% of obese individuals (Speiser, Rudolf et al. 2005), with environmental factors accounting for a very high percentage (French, Story et al. 2001). The major cause of the rising obesity problem is arguably changes in physical and social environments (French, Story et al. 2001). In recent times, there has been a remarkable shift towards activities that do not promote energy expenditure, for example, most children would travel to school in cars rather walk, in contrast to what obtained in the 1970s (Popkin, Duffey et al. 2005; Anderson and Butcher 2006). There is evidence to suggest that obese children are less active than their non-obese counterparts, hence promoting physical activity such as walking or exercising will help prevent obesity in children (Hughes, Henderson et al. 2006). Media time (television viewing, playing video games and using the computer) has been identified as one of the significant environmental changes responsible for the surge in childhood obesity. Besides promoting physical inactivity, it encourages energy input via excessive snacking and inappropriate food choices as a result of television advertisements (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Speiser, Rudolf et al. 2005). Robinson in his study reveals that â€Å"between ages 2 and 17, children spend an average of 3 years of their waking lifetime watching television alone† (Robinson 1998). Parents play a significant role in where, what and how much their children eat and to an extent, how physically active their children are. In most homes, children make their food choices based on the options they are presented with by their parents, and they characteristically would go for wrong option, more so if they have an obese parent (Strauss and Knight 1999). Other changes within the family such as physical inactivity and working patterns of parents have contributed somewhat to the obesity epidemic. In a family where the parents work full-time, there tends to be very little time for them to prepare wholesome home-made meals and this could possibly explain the increasing demand for eating out (Anderson and Butcher 2006) thereby increasing intake of high energy dense food. Childrens attitude to and participation in physical activities depends largely on how physically active their parents are. Thus children of sporty parents embrace exercise heartily and are therefore less prone to becoming obese.(Sallis, Prochaska et al. 2000). In addition to these family factors, societal factors such as high crime rate, access to safe sports/recreational facilities, transportation and fewer physical education programs in schools significantly impact on energy balance (Koplan, Liverman et al. 2005; Popkin, Duffey et al. 2005; Topp, Jacks et al. 2009). French summarizes the environmental influence on obesity by opining that â€Å"The current epidemic of obesity is caused largely by an environment that promotes excessive food intake and discourages physical activity† (French, Story et al. 2001) CONSEQUENCES OF OBESITY Evidence suggests that childhood obesity and/or overweight has a great impact on both physical and psychological health; causing effects such as behavioral problems and low self esteem, with a higher risk in girls than in boys (Reilly, Methven et al. 2003). Although most of the serious consequences do not become evident until adulthood, research has shown childhood obesity to be linked to metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart attacks, sleep apnea, nonalchoholic fatty liver disease, higher incidence of cancers, depression, dyslipidaemia, increased blood clotting tendency, etc (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Reilly, Methven et al. 2003; Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004; D. A. Lawlor, C. J. Riddoch et al. 2005; Daniels 2006; WHO 2006). One of the long-term serious consequences of childhood obesity is that obese children are twice more likely to grow into obese adults than their non-obese counterparts (Moran 1999); however, this largely depends on factors such as age of onset, severity of the disease and the presence of the disease in one parent (Moran 1999; Campbell, Waters et al. 2001; Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004; WHO 2006). Other long term consequences include early death and adverse socio-economic consequences such as poor educational attainment and low/no income in adulthood (Reilly, Methven et al. 2003; Fowler-Brown and Kahwati 2004; Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004). Obesity-related morbidity places a huge and growing financial demand on governments. In the UK alone, the Department of Health has reported that obesity costs the NHS and the UK economy as a whole about  £1b and between  £2.3b  £2.6b annually respectively, with the cost to the NHS projected to rise to  £3.6b by 2010 (DH 2007). TREATMENT AND PREVENTION The treatment of obesity requires a multidisciplinary approach due to the multi-faceted nature of the condition (Parizkova and Hills 2004). This is aimed at reducing caloric intake and increasing energy expenditure through physical activity (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002). These interventions are more likely to be successful if the patients family is involved and the treatment tailored to individual needs and circumstances (Fowler-Brown and Kahwati 2004). In extreme cases, options such as surgical and pharmacological treatments could be exploited. These options are very unpopular and usually not recommended because the associated health risks outweigh the benefits by far (Epstein, Myers et al. 1998; Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002). Considering the huge costs and high levels of treatment failure associated with obesity treatment (Stewart, Chapple et al. 2008), the axiom by Benjamin Franklin cannot describe any other condition better than it describes obesity management. â€Å"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure† Dietz et al confirm this by saying that prevention remains the best and most effective management of obesity (Dietz and Gortmaker 2001). Obesity prevention interventions are usually set either in the home or at school with an objective of eliminating peer pressure and, by so doing effect behavioral change (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002). Literature suggests that the school has so far remained the choice setting for these preventive interventions despite the very limited evidence on its effectiveness (Birch and Ventura 2009). Why is the school setting a good focus of intervention? Approximately 90% of children are enrolled in schools in developed countries (Baranowsk, Cullen et al. 2002) Children spend a substantial amount of time in school and therefore consume a considerable proportion of their daily calories at school (Katz, OConnell et al. 2005) School related activities present an opportunity to educate children on the concept of energy balance, healthy living and how to make appropriate food choices (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Koplan, Liverman et al. 2005) It offers opportunity for continuity and constant monitoring via frequent contact (Baranowski T 2002) Schools have an availability of existing manpower and facilities needed for anti-obesity interventions (Kropski, Keckley et al. 2008) In a nut shell, â€Å"Schools offer many other opportunities for learning and practicing healthful eating and physical activity behaviors. Coordinated changes in the curriculum, the in-school advertising environment, school health services, and after-school programs all offer the potential to advance obesity prevention† (Koplan, Liverman et al. 2005). PREVIOUS SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS Systematic reviews have been conducted on the effectiveness of school-based interventions in the prevention of childhood obesity. Campbell et al (2001), conducted a systematic review of 7 randomised control trials (RCTs) (6 were school-based, varying in length of time, target population, quality of study and intervention approach). The review found that dietary and physical education interventions have an effect on childhood obesity prevalence. However, success varied with different interventions amongst different age groups. Two of the three long term studies that focused on a combination of dietary education and physical activity, and dietary education respectively reported an effect on obesity prevalence reduction. Similarly, 1 out of the 3 school based short-term interventions that focused only on reducing sedentary activity also found an effect on obesity prevalence. While this review shows that dietary and physical activity interventions based at school are effective against th e risk factors of obesity, the question of generalisability and reproducibility arises as the review reports the majority of the included primary studies were carried out in the US. Most of the studies used BMI as a measure of adiposity, and BMI as has been documented varies across ethnic and racial groups (Rush, Goedecke et al. 2007), thus, it will be inappropriate to apply the findings of US-based obesity prevention interventions to children in middle and low income countries where conditions are different. There are also concerns about the methodology and study design. For example the school-based study by Gotmaker et al (1999) had limitations such as low participation rate (65%) and the researchers were unable to adjust for maturity in boys and there was also poor assessment of dietary intake. All these limitations could have been responsible for a high percentage of the reported intervention effect thus affecting the validity of the results of the study (Gortmaker, Peterson et al. 1999). The authors of the review however concluded that there is currently very limited high quality evidence on which to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of anti-obesity programmes. A Cochrane review which is an update of the Campbell et al (2001) study by Summerbell et al (2005) has examined the impact of diet, physical activity and/or lifestyle and social support on childhood obesity prevention. Their review examined the effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention interventions which included school based interventions. Their study included 10 long-term (a minimum duration of 12 months) and 12 short-term (12weeks 12 months) clinical trials (randomised and controlled). 19 out of the 22 studies that met their inclusion criteria were school/pre-school based. The study chose the appropriate study type; more than one reviewer was involved in the entire process of data collection, extraction and selection of included studies. In general, the study found that most of the school-based interventions (dietary and/or physical activity) reported some positive changes in targeted behaviours, but however had very little or no statistically significant impact on BMI. The reviewers stated that none of the 22 studies fulfilled the quality criteria because of some form of methodological weakness which includes measurement errors. For instance, the study by Jenner et al (1989) had no valid method of measuring food intake. The studies by Crawford et al (1994), Lannotti et al (1994) and Sallis et al (2000) had similar measurement errors. Reporting error was identified in studies by Little et al (1999) and Macdiarmid et al (1998). There were also reliability concerns about the secondary outcomes measurement in some of the included studies. The reviewers therefore expressed the need for further high quality research on effectiveness. Kropski et al (2008) reviewed 14 school-based studies that were designed to effect a life style change, a change in BMI, decrease overweight prevalence through a change in nutrition, physical activity or a combination of both. Of the 14 studies, three were done in the UK, one in Germany and 10 in the US. The right type of studies were chosen for this review and the whole process was done by more than one reviewer, however they were unable to draw strong conclusions on the efficacy of school-based interventions because of the limited number of primary studies available and methodological or design concerns which include: small sample size (Luepker, Perry et al. 1996; Mo-suwan, Pongprapai et al. 1998; Nader, Stone et al. 1999; Warren, Henry et al. 2003), no intention-to treat analysis (Danielzik, Pust et al.; Sallis, McKenzie et al. 1993; Sahota, Rudolf et al. 2001; Warren, Henry et al. 2003), possibility of type I (Coleman, Tiller et al. 2005) and type II errors (Warren, Henry et al. 2003), unit of analysis errors (Sallis, McKenzie et al. 1993) and inconsistent results (Mo-suwan, Pongprapai et al. 1998; Caballero, Clay et al. 2003; Coleman, Tiller et al. 2005). Despite their inability to draw a conclusion on effectiveness, overall, the review found that a combination of nutritional and physical activity interventions had the most effect on BMI and prevalence of overweight, with the result largely varying from community-to-community. The nutrition only and physical activity only interventions appeared to have had a change on lifestyles of participants but either had no significant effect on the measures of overweight or no BMI outcomes were measured. Another systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based interventions among Chinese school children was carried out by M.Li et al (2008). The authors included 22 primary studies in their review. The review reported that the primary studies showed that there are some beneficial effects of school-based interventions for obesity prevention; the reviewers however expressed their concerns that most of the studies included in the review had what they considered to be serious to moderate methodological weaknesses. Sixteen of the 22 studies included studies were cluster control trials, and there was no mention by any of the researchers that cluster analysis was applied to any of the 16 studies. In addition to lack of cluster analysis, no process evaluation was conducted in any of the studies. Only one study performed an intention to treat analysis. Twelve studies experienced dropouts, but there was incomplete information on the study population at the end of the trial and the reason f or the dropouts. Additionally, none of the studies explained the theory upon which they based their intervention. There was also potential recruitment and selection bias in all the primary studies as identified by the reviewers. They stated that none of the studies reported the number of subjects that were approached for recruitment into the study. As none of the RCTs included described the method they used in randomization, neither did they state if the studies were blinded or not. The methodological flaws in a high percentage of the included primary studies could impact on the validity of the findings of the review. Again, the authors failed to reach a conclusion on the effectiveness of the interventions because of the intrinsic weaknesses found in the primary studies, and as a result state the need for more primary studies that would address the methodological weaknesses that is highly present in nearly all existing primary studies conducted on this topic so far. The study of the efficacy of school-based interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity or reducing the risk factors is a rather complex one. Pertinent issues on effectiveness of school-based interventions to prevent the risk factors of obesity remain that there is very limited/weak evidence on which to base policies on. Heterogeneity of primary research (in terms if age of study population, duration of intervention, measurement of outcomes and outcomes measured) makes further statistical analysis nearly impossible. BMI is currently the most widely used measure of overweight and obesity in children. However, BMI has no way of distinguishing between fat mass and muscle mass in the body and might therefore misdiagnose children with bigger muscles as obese. Another disadvantage of using BMI in overweight measurement is its inability of depicting the body fat composition (Committee on Nutrition 2003), other surrogate indicators of adiposity may be needed. Most authors that have carried out a review on this topic so far have expressed the need for further research on this topic to add to the existing body of evidence. RATIONALE FOR THIS STUDY All the systematic reviews on this subject so far have focused mainly on the United States. Lifestyle differences such as eating habits between American and British children possibly affect generalisability and reproducibility of US findings to the UK. For example, in the US, research has shown that 0.5% of all television advertisements promote food, and that about 72% of these food advertisements promote unhealthy food such as candy and fast food (Darwin 2009). In the UK paradoxically, the government in 2007 enforced regulations banning television advertisement of unhealthy foods (foods with high fat, salt, and sugar content) during television programmes aimed at children below 16 years of age (Darwin 2009). Thus US children are at a higher risk of becoming obese than their UK counterparts as a result of higher rate of exposure to TV junk food advertisements. Another lifestyle difference between American and British children is physical activity. In the UK, a high percentage of children aged 2 to 15 achieve at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily (about 70% of males and 60% of females) (DoH 2004), as opposed to the US where only about 34% of school pupils achieve the daily recommended levels of physical activity daily (CDC 2008). These differences highlight the importance of public health policies being based on the local population characteristics rather than on imported overseas figures. There is therefore need to review the evidence of UK school-based obesity interventions to inform policy relevant to the UK population. To the best of my knowledge following an extensive literature search, no systematic review has been conducted on the effectiveness of school-based intervention in preventing childhood obesity in the UK, despite the high prevalence of the condition and its public health significance in this country. This research aims to bridge this gap in knowledge by focusing on UK based studies to evaluate the efficacy of school-based interventions in the UK population. This study therefore stands out insofar as it will be assessing the effectiveness of school-based interventions in the reducing the risk factors of obesity in the UK, with a hope of providing specific local recommendations based on UK evidence. This type of review is long overdue in the UK, considering that the governments target to reduce childhood obesity to its pre-2000 levels by the year 2020 (DoH 2007) will require local evidence of effective interventions to succeed. The next stage of this review will describe in detail the research methodology to be used to conduct the proposed systematic review. Also included will be research strategy details to be adopted, study selection criteria, data collection and analysis. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this research is to: Systematically review school-based intervention studies in the UK aimed at reducing the risk factors of childhood obesity among school children. Objectives are: To assess the efficacy of school-based anti-obesity interventions in the UK. To identify the most effective form of school-based interventions in the prevention of childhood obesity amongst school children in the UK. CRITERIA FOR INCLUDING STUDIES IN THIS REVIEW METHODS This review was performed as a Cochrane review. The Cochrane guidance on systematic reviews and reporting format were as far as possible adhered to by the author (Green, Higgins et al. 2008). The entire review process was guided by a tool for assessing the quality of systematic reviews, alongside the accompanying guidance (health-evidence.ca 2007a; health-evidence.ca 2007b). TYPES OF STUDY In the search for the effectiveness of an intervention, well conducted randomised control trials (which are the best and most credible sources of evidence) will be the preferred source of studies for this review. However, because of the limited number of RCTs conducted on this topic so far, this study will include controlled clinical trials if there is insufficient availability of RCTs. TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS School children under 18 years of age TYPES OF INTERVENTIONS Interventions being evaluated are those that aim to: Reduce sedentary lifestyle Effect nutritional change Combine the two outcomes above Reduce obesity prevalence Effect an attitude change towards physical activity and diet Studies that present a baseline and post intervention measure of primary outcome. Interventions not included in this study are: Those with no specified weight-related outcomes Those that involved school-age children but were delivered outside of the school setting, as our focus is based on school-based interventions aimed at obesity prevention. Studies done outside the UK Studies with no specified interventions Non-RCTs or CCTs For each intervention, the control group will be school children not receiving the intervention(s). TYPES OF OUTCOMES MEASURED Primary outcomes Change in adiposity measured as BMI and/or skin fold thickness Secondary outcomes Knowledge Physical activity levels Diet SEARCH METHODS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF STUDIES Electronic searches The electronic databases OVID MEDLINE ® (1950-2009), PsycINFO (1982-2009), EMBASE (1980-2009) and the British Nursing Index (1994-2009) were all searched using the OVID SP interface. The Wiley Interscience interface was used to search the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects. There was also a general search of internet using Google search engine, in an attempt to identify any ongoing studies or unpublished reports before proceeding to search grey literature sources. Grey literature For references to childhood obesity prevention in schools, the following grey literature sources were searched: British Library Integrated Catalogue (http://catalogue.bl.uk/F/?func=filefile_name=login-bl-list) ISI index of Conference Proceedings (http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/) SCIRUS (http://www.scirus.com/) System for Information on Grey Literature (http://opensigle.inist.fr/) ZETOC (http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk) Additionally, current control trials database at http://www.controlled-trials.com/ was searched for any ongoing research. The UK national research register was also searched at https://portal.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/NRRArchive.aspx. All the links to the grey literature databases were tested at the time of this review and found to be working. Hand searches It was not possible to conduct a hand search of journals due to pragmatic reasons. Reference lists Reference lists of retrieved studies were searched for other potential relevant studies that might have been omitted in the earlier search. Correspondence First author of all included studies were contacted with a view to seeking more references. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Selection of studies The abstracts and titles of the hits from the electronic databases searched were screened for relevance by a single assessor. Those that were thought to be potentially relevant were retrieved and downloaded unto EndnoteTM to make the results manageable and also avoid loss of data. At the end of the search, all databases were merged into one single database and duplicated records of the same study were removed. Subsequently, the assessor then sought and obtained the full text of, and reviewed the relevant studies that were considered eligible for inclusion. Multiple reports of same study were linked together. No further data were sought for studies not included in the review. Data extraction Data extraction from included studies was done by a single reviewer and the data recorded on a data extraction form. A summary of each included study was described according to these characteristics: Participants (age, ethnicity etc.), study design, description of school-based interventions, study quality and details such as follow-ups and date, location, outcomes measured, theoretical framework, baseline comparability and results Assessment of methodological quality of included studies A number of researchers (Jackson, Waters et al. 2005) and the Cochrane guidelines for systematic reviews of health promotion and public health interventions (Rebecca Armstrong, Waters et al. 2007) strongly advise using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies (2008a) developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project in Canada and the accompanying dictionary (to act as a guideline) (2008b) in assessing methodological quality. Based on criteria such as selection bias, study design, blinding, cofounders, data collection methods, withdrawals and drop-outs and intervention integrity, the tool which is designed to cover any quantitative study employs the use of a scale (strong, moderate or weak) to assess the quality of each study included in the review. Analysis Considering the small number of studies included in the review and heterogeneity in terms of interventions, delivery methods, intensity of interventions, age of participants, duration of intervention and outcomes measured, it was not statistically appropriate to undertake a Meta analysis, which admittedly would have been the preferred method of analysing and summarising the results of the studies. A narrative synthesis of the results was done instead. RESULT DESCRIPTION OF STUDIES Results of the search The search of electronic sources identified 811 citations out of which 97 potential studies were retrieved. A reference management software EndnoteTM was used to search for and remove duplicate citations. Further screening of title and abstract reduced the number of citations to 17 potential studies. Full texts of the 17 studies were sought, 13 were excluded, and four met the inclusion criteria and were therefore included in the review. Authors of the four studies were then conta Effect of School Based Obesity Interventions Effect of School Based Obesity Interventions ABSTRACT Introduction Background Obesity in both adult and children is fast becoming one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century in developed and developing countries alike. It is estimated that approximately 10% of school age children. The prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity is ever on the increase in the UK as in the rest of the world. It is estimated that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among 2 10 year old children in the UK rose from 22.7%-27.7% and 9.9%-13.7% respectively between 1995 and 2003; these figures are set to increase unless something is done. School-based interventions offer a possible solution in halting obesity prevalence, because the school setting provides an avenue for reaching out to a high percentage of children (especially in the western world), opportunity for constant monitoring of children and the resources for anti-obesity interventions. Objectives To systematically review the evidence of the impact of school-based interventions to prevent childhood obesity on: Adiposity (primary objective) Knowledge, physical activity levels and diet (secondary objectives) Methods The review was done following the Cochrane collaboration guidelines. In addition to searching electronic databases, first authors of all included studies were contacted. A recognised critical appraisal tool was used to assess the quality of included studies. Results Three RCTs and one CCT met the inclusion criteria for the review. All four studies had a control and intervention group; with various study limitations. While none of the studies found statistically significant BMI changes in intervention groups when compared with control group post-intervention, all of them recorded either a significant change in diet, or an increase in physical activity levels. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Obesity is generally understood as abnormal accumulation of fat to the extent that presents health risk (Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004), and was added to the international classification of diseases for the first time in 1948 (Kipping, Jago et al. 2008). The worldwide clinical definition of adult obesity by the WHO is body mass index (BMI) ≠¥ 30kg/m2 (WHO 2006). In children however, because of the significant changes in their BMI with age (Cole, Bellizzi et al. 2000), there is no universally accepted definition of obesity (Parizkova and Hills 2004; Bessesen 2008) and it therefore varies from country-to-country. The most commonly used definition of childhood obesity is the US definition which measures overweight and obesity in a reference population using the cut off points of 85th and 95th centiles of BMI for age (Ogden, Yanovski et al. 2007). In the UK, overweight and obesity are diagnosed using a national reference data from a 1990 BMI survey of British children (Stamatakis, Prima testa et al. 2005). Children whose weights are above the 85th centile are classed as overweight and over the 95th centile are considered obese (Reilly, Wilson et al. 2002). Recent estimates suggest that obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally with about 400 million adults being clinically obese, a figure projected to rise to about 700 million by 2015 (WHO 2006). In children, the current WHO estimates are that about 22 million children globally under age 5 are overweight (WHO 2008). In the UK, evidence suggests that obesity is set to be the number one preventable cause of disease in a matter of time (Simon, Everitt et al. 2005). In the last three decades, the scale as well as the prevalence of obesity have grown rapidly amongst all age, social and ethnic groups in the UK, as well as globally (Table 1)(Kipping, Jago et al. 2008). Estimates suggest that in the UK, between 1984 and 2002/2003, the prevalence of obesity in boys aged 5-10 rose by 4.16%, and by 4.8% in girls (Stamatakis, Primatesta et al. 2005). There is therefore there is an urgent need for the development and implementation of effective intervention strategies to halt the ever increasing obesity prevalence (Summerbell Carolyn, Waters et al. 2005). OBESITY CAUSATION The primary risk factors associated with the increase in prevalence of childhood obesity are ever increasing involvement in sedentary lifestyles and an increase also in the consumption of high energy dense food and drink (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Sekine, Yamagami et al. 2002; Speiser, Rudolf et al. 2005; Topp, Jacks et al. 2009). The underlying mechanism of obesity formation is an imbalance between energy input and expenditure (Moran 1999; Kipping, Jago et al. 2008) Genetic and environmental factors greatly influence the bodys energy balance. Nevertheless, genetic conditions which either cause production of excessive fat in the body or reduce the rate at which it is broken down, of which Prader-Willi syndrome is an example account for less than 5% of obese individuals (Speiser, Rudolf et al. 2005), with environmental factors accounting for a very high percentage (French, Story et al. 2001). The major cause of the rising obesity problem is arguably changes in physical and social environments (French, Story et al. 2001). In recent times, there has been a remarkable shift towards activities that do not promote energy expenditure, for example, most children would travel to school in cars rather walk, in contrast to what obtained in the 1970s (Popkin, Duffey et al. 2005; Anderson and Butcher 2006). There is evidence to suggest that obese children are less active than their non-obese counterparts, hence promoting physical activity such as walking or exercising will help prevent obesity in children (Hughes, Henderson et al. 2006). Media time (television viewing, playing video games and using the computer) has been identified as one of the significant environmental changes responsible for the surge in childhood obesity. Besides promoting physical inactivity, it encourages energy input via excessive snacking and inappropriate food choices as a result of television advertisements (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Speiser, Rudolf et al. 2005). Robinson in his study reveals that â€Å"between ages 2 and 17, children spend an average of 3 years of their waking lifetime watching television alone† (Robinson 1998). Parents play a significant role in where, what and how much their children eat and to an extent, how physically active their children are. In most homes, children make their food choices based on the options they are presented with by their parents, and they characteristically would go for wrong option, more so if they have an obese parent (Strauss and Knight 1999). Other changes within the family such as physical inactivity and working patterns of parents have contributed somewhat to the obesity epidemic. In a family where the parents work full-time, there tends to be very little time for them to prepare wholesome home-made meals and this could possibly explain the increasing demand for eating out (Anderson and Butcher 2006) thereby increasing intake of high energy dense food. Childrens attitude to and participation in physical activities depends largely on how physically active their parents are. Thus children of sporty parents embrace exercise heartily and are therefore less prone to becoming obese.(Sallis, Prochaska et al. 2000). In addition to these family factors, societal factors such as high crime rate, access to safe sports/recreational facilities, transportation and fewer physical education programs in schools significantly impact on energy balance (Koplan, Liverman et al. 2005; Popkin, Duffey et al. 2005; Topp, Jacks et al. 2009). French summarizes the environmental influence on obesity by opining that â€Å"The current epidemic of obesity is caused largely by an environment that promotes excessive food intake and discourages physical activity† (French, Story et al. 2001) CONSEQUENCES OF OBESITY Evidence suggests that childhood obesity and/or overweight has a great impact on both physical and psychological health; causing effects such as behavioral problems and low self esteem, with a higher risk in girls than in boys (Reilly, Methven et al. 2003). Although most of the serious consequences do not become evident until adulthood, research has shown childhood obesity to be linked to metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart attacks, sleep apnea, nonalchoholic fatty liver disease, higher incidence of cancers, depression, dyslipidaemia, increased blood clotting tendency, etc (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Reilly, Methven et al. 2003; Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004; D. A. Lawlor, C. J. Riddoch et al. 2005; Daniels 2006; WHO 2006). One of the long-term serious consequences of childhood obesity is that obese children are twice more likely to grow into obese adults than their non-obese counterparts (Moran 1999); however, this largely depends on factors such as age of onset, severity of the disease and the presence of the disease in one parent (Moran 1999; Campbell, Waters et al. 2001; Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004; WHO 2006). Other long term consequences include early death and adverse socio-economic consequences such as poor educational attainment and low/no income in adulthood (Reilly, Methven et al. 2003; Fowler-Brown and Kahwati 2004; Kiess, Marcus et al. 2004). Obesity-related morbidity places a huge and growing financial demand on governments. In the UK alone, the Department of Health has reported that obesity costs the NHS and the UK economy as a whole about  £1b and between  £2.3b  £2.6b annually respectively, with the cost to the NHS projected to rise to  £3.6b by 2010 (DH 2007). TREATMENT AND PREVENTION The treatment of obesity requires a multidisciplinary approach due to the multi-faceted nature of the condition (Parizkova and Hills 2004). This is aimed at reducing caloric intake and increasing energy expenditure through physical activity (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002). These interventions are more likely to be successful if the patients family is involved and the treatment tailored to individual needs and circumstances (Fowler-Brown and Kahwati 2004). In extreme cases, options such as surgical and pharmacological treatments could be exploited. These options are very unpopular and usually not recommended because the associated health risks outweigh the benefits by far (Epstein, Myers et al. 1998; Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002). Considering the huge costs and high levels of treatment failure associated with obesity treatment (Stewart, Chapple et al. 2008), the axiom by Benjamin Franklin cannot describe any other condition better than it describes obesity management. â€Å"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure† Dietz et al confirm this by saying that prevention remains the best and most effective management of obesity (Dietz and Gortmaker 2001). Obesity prevention interventions are usually set either in the home or at school with an objective of eliminating peer pressure and, by so doing effect behavioral change (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002). Literature suggests that the school has so far remained the choice setting for these preventive interventions despite the very limited evidence on its effectiveness (Birch and Ventura 2009). Why is the school setting a good focus of intervention? Approximately 90% of children are enrolled in schools in developed countries (Baranowsk, Cullen et al. 2002) Children spend a substantial amount of time in school and therefore consume a considerable proportion of their daily calories at school (Katz, OConnell et al. 2005) School related activities present an opportunity to educate children on the concept of energy balance, healthy living and how to make appropriate food choices (Ebbeling, Pawlak et al. 2002; Koplan, Liverman et al. 2005) It offers opportunity for continuity and constant monitoring via frequent contact (Baranowski T 2002) Schools have an availability of existing manpower and facilities needed for anti-obesity interventions (Kropski, Keckley et al. 2008) In a nut shell, â€Å"Schools offer many other opportunities for learning and practicing healthful eating and physical activity behaviors. Coordinated changes in the curriculum, the in-school advertising environment, school health services, and after-school programs all offer the potential to advance obesity prevention† (Koplan, Liverman et al. 2005). PREVIOUS SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS Systematic reviews have been conducted on the effectiveness of school-based interventions in the prevention of childhood obesity. Campbell et al (2001), conducted a systematic review of 7 randomised control trials (RCTs) (6 were school-based, varying in length of time, target population, quality of study and intervention approach). The review found that dietary and physical education interventions have an effect on childhood obesity prevalence. However, success varied with different interventions amongst different age groups. Two of the three long term studies that focused on a combination of dietary education and physical activity, and dietary education respectively reported an effect on obesity prevalence reduction. Similarly, 1 out of the 3 school based short-term interventions that focused only on reducing sedentary activity also found an effect on obesity prevalence. While this review shows that dietary and physical activity interventions based at school are effective against th e risk factors of obesity, the question of generalisability and reproducibility arises as the review reports the majority of the included primary studies were carried out in the US. Most of the studies used BMI as a measure of adiposity, and BMI as has been documented varies across ethnic and racial groups (Rush, Goedecke et al. 2007), thus, it will be inappropriate to apply the findings of US-based obesity prevention interventions to children in middle and low income countries where conditions are different. There are also concerns about the methodology and study design. For example the school-based study by Gotmaker et al (1999) had limitations such as low participation rate (65%) and the researchers were unable to adjust for maturity in boys and there was also poor assessment of dietary intake. All these limitations could have been responsible for a high percentage of the reported intervention effect thus affecting the validity of the results of the study (Gortmaker, Peterson et al. 1999). The authors of the review however concluded that there is currently very limited high quality evidence on which to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of anti-obesity programmes. A Cochrane review which is an update of the Campbell et al (2001) study by Summerbell et al (2005) has examined the impact of diet, physical activity and/or lifestyle and social support on childhood obesity prevention. Their review examined the effectiveness of childhood obesity prevention interventions which included school based interventions. Their study included 10 long-term (a minimum duration of 12 months) and 12 short-term (12weeks 12 months) clinical trials (randomised and controlled). 19 out of the 22 studies that met their inclusion criteria were school/pre-school based. The study chose the appropriate study type; more than one reviewer was involved in the entire process of data collection, extraction and selection of included studies. In general, the study found that most of the school-based interventions (dietary and/or physical activity) reported some positive changes in targeted behaviours, but however had very little or no statistically significant impact on BMI. The reviewers stated that none of the 22 studies fulfilled the quality criteria because of some form of methodological weakness which includes measurement errors. For instance, the study by Jenner et al (1989) had no valid method of measuring food intake. The studies by Crawford et al (1994), Lannotti et al (1994) and Sallis et al (2000) had similar measurement errors. Reporting error was identified in studies by Little et al (1999) and Macdiarmid et al (1998). There were also reliability concerns about the secondary outcomes measurement in some of the included studies. The reviewers therefore expressed the need for further high quality research on effectiveness. Kropski et al (2008) reviewed 14 school-based studies that were designed to effect a life style change, a change in BMI, decrease overweight prevalence through a change in nutrition, physical activity or a combination of both. Of the 14 studies, three were done in the UK, one in Germany and 10 in the US. The right type of studies were chosen for this review and the whole process was done by more than one reviewer, however they were unable to draw strong conclusions on the efficacy of school-based interventions because of the limited number of primary studies available and methodological or design concerns which include: small sample size (Luepker, Perry et al. 1996; Mo-suwan, Pongprapai et al. 1998; Nader, Stone et al. 1999; Warren, Henry et al. 2003), no intention-to treat analysis (Danielzik, Pust et al.; Sallis, McKenzie et al. 1993; Sahota, Rudolf et al. 2001; Warren, Henry et al. 2003), possibility of type I (Coleman, Tiller et al. 2005) and type II errors (Warren, Henry et al. 2003), unit of analysis errors (Sallis, McKenzie et al. 1993) and inconsistent results (Mo-suwan, Pongprapai et al. 1998; Caballero, Clay et al. 2003; Coleman, Tiller et al. 2005). Despite their inability to draw a conclusion on effectiveness, overall, the review found that a combination of nutritional and physical activity interventions had the most effect on BMI and prevalence of overweight, with the result largely varying from community-to-community. The nutrition only and physical activity only interventions appeared to have had a change on lifestyles of participants but either had no significant effect on the measures of overweight or no BMI outcomes were measured. Another systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based interventions among Chinese school children was carried out by M.Li et al (2008). The authors included 22 primary studies in their review. The review reported that the primary studies showed that there are some beneficial effects of school-based interventions for obesity prevention; the reviewers however expressed their concerns that most of the studies included in the review had what they considered to be serious to moderate methodological weaknesses. Sixteen of the 22 studies included studies were cluster control trials, and there was no mention by any of the researchers that cluster analysis was applied to any of the 16 studies. In addition to lack of cluster analysis, no process evaluation was conducted in any of the studies. Only one study performed an intention to treat analysis. Twelve studies experienced dropouts, but there was incomplete information on the study population at the end of the trial and the reason f or the dropouts. Additionally, none of the studies explained the theory upon which they based their intervention. There was also potential recruitment and selection bias in all the primary studies as identified by the reviewers. They stated that none of the studies reported the number of subjects that were approached for recruitment into the study. As none of the RCTs included described the method they used in randomization, neither did they state if the studies were blinded or not. The methodological flaws in a high percentage of the included primary studies could impact on the validity of the findings of the review. Again, the authors failed to reach a conclusion on the effectiveness of the interventions because of the intrinsic weaknesses found in the primary studies, and as a result state the need for more primary studies that would address the methodological weaknesses that is highly present in nearly all existing primary studies conducted on this topic so far. The study of the efficacy of school-based interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity or reducing the risk factors is a rather complex one. Pertinent issues on effectiveness of school-based interventions to prevent the risk factors of obesity remain that there is very limited/weak evidence on which to base policies on. Heterogeneity of primary research (in terms if age of study population, duration of intervention, measurement of outcomes and outcomes measured) makes further statistical analysis nearly impossible. BMI is currently the most widely used measure of overweight and obesity in children. However, BMI has no way of distinguishing between fat mass and muscle mass in the body and might therefore misdiagnose children with bigger muscles as obese. Another disadvantage of using BMI in overweight measurement is its inability of depicting the body fat composition (Committee on Nutrition 2003), other surrogate indicators of adiposity may be needed. Most authors that have carried out a review on this topic so far have expressed the need for further research on this topic to add to the existing body of evidence. RATIONALE FOR THIS STUDY All the systematic reviews on this subject so far have focused mainly on the United States. Lifestyle differences such as eating habits between American and British children possibly affect generalisability and reproducibility of US findings to the UK. For example, in the US, research has shown that 0.5% of all television advertisements promote food, and that about 72% of these food advertisements promote unhealthy food such as candy and fast food (Darwin 2009). In the UK paradoxically, the government in 2007 enforced regulations banning television advertisement of unhealthy foods (foods with high fat, salt, and sugar content) during television programmes aimed at children below 16 years of age (Darwin 2009). Thus US children are at a higher risk of becoming obese than their UK counterparts as a result of higher rate of exposure to TV junk food advertisements. Another lifestyle difference between American and British children is physical activity. In the UK, a high percentage of children aged 2 to 15 achieve at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily (about 70% of males and 60% of females) (DoH 2004), as opposed to the US where only about 34% of school pupils achieve the daily recommended levels of physical activity daily (CDC 2008). These differences highlight the importance of public health policies being based on the local population characteristics rather than on imported overseas figures. There is therefore need to review the evidence of UK school-based obesity interventions to inform policy relevant to the UK population. To the best of my knowledge following an extensive literature search, no systematic review has been conducted on the effectiveness of school-based intervention in preventing childhood obesity in the UK, despite the high prevalence of the condition and its public health significance in this country. This research aims to bridge this gap in knowledge by focusing on UK based studies to evaluate the efficacy of school-based interventions in the UK population. This study therefore stands out insofar as it will be assessing the effectiveness of school-based interventions in the reducing the risk factors of obesity in the UK, with a hope of providing specific local recommendations based on UK evidence. This type of review is long overdue in the UK, considering that the governments target to reduce childhood obesity to its pre-2000 levels by the year 2020 (DoH 2007) will require local evidence of effective interventions to succeed. The next stage of this review will describe in detail the research methodology to be used to conduct the proposed systematic review. Also included will be research strategy details to be adopted, study selection criteria, data collection and analysis. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this research is to: Systematically review school-based intervention studies in the UK aimed at reducing the risk factors of childhood obesity among school children. Objectives are: To assess the efficacy of school-based anti-obesity interventions in the UK. To identify the most effective form of school-based interventions in the prevention of childhood obesity amongst school children in the UK. CRITERIA FOR INCLUDING STUDIES IN THIS REVIEW METHODS This review was performed as a Cochrane review. The Cochrane guidance on systematic reviews and reporting format were as far as possible adhered to by the author (Green, Higgins et al. 2008). The entire review process was guided by a tool for assessing the quality of systematic reviews, alongside the accompanying guidance (health-evidence.ca 2007a; health-evidence.ca 2007b). TYPES OF STUDY In the search for the effectiveness of an intervention, well conducted randomised control trials (which are the best and most credible sources of evidence) will be the preferred source of studies for this review. However, because of the limited number of RCTs conducted on this topic so far, this study will include controlled clinical trials if there is insufficient availability of RCTs. TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS School children under 18 years of age TYPES OF INTERVENTIONS Interventions being evaluated are those that aim to: Reduce sedentary lifestyle Effect nutritional change Combine the two outcomes above Reduce obesity prevalence Effect an attitude change towards physical activity and diet Studies that present a baseline and post intervention measure of primary outcome. Interventions not included in this study are: Those with no specified weight-related outcomes Those that involved school-age children but were delivered outside of the school setting, as our focus is based on school-based interventions aimed at obesity prevention. Studies done outside the UK Studies with no specified interventions Non-RCTs or CCTs For each intervention, the control group will be school children not receiving the intervention(s). TYPES OF OUTCOMES MEASURED Primary outcomes Change in adiposity measured as BMI and/or skin fold thickness Secondary outcomes Knowledge Physical activity levels Diet SEARCH METHODS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF STUDIES Electronic searches The electronic databases OVID MEDLINE ® (1950-2009), PsycINFO (1982-2009), EMBASE (1980-2009) and the British Nursing Index (1994-2009) were all searched using the OVID SP interface. The Wiley Interscience interface was used to search the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects. There was also a general search of internet using Google search engine, in an attempt to identify any ongoing studies or unpublished reports before proceeding to search grey literature sources. Grey literature For references to childhood obesity prevention in schools, the following grey literature sources were searched: British Library Integrated Catalogue (http://catalogue.bl.uk/F/?func=filefile_name=login-bl-list) ISI index of Conference Proceedings (http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/) SCIRUS (http://www.scirus.com/) System for Information on Grey Literature (http://opensigle.inist.fr/) ZETOC (http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk) Additionally, current control trials database at http://www.controlled-trials.com/ was searched for any ongoing research. The UK national research register was also searched at https://portal.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/NRRArchive.aspx. All the links to the grey literature databases were tested at the time of this review and found to be working. Hand searches It was not possible to conduct a hand search of journals due to pragmatic reasons. Reference lists Reference lists of retrieved studies were searched for other potential relevant studies that might have been omitted in the earlier search. Correspondence First author of all included studies were contacted with a view to seeking more references. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Selection of studies The abstracts and titles of the hits from the electronic databases searched were screened for relevance by a single assessor. Those that were thought to be potentially relevant were retrieved and downloaded unto EndnoteTM to make the results manageable and also avoid loss of data. At the end of the search, all databases were merged into one single database and duplicated records of the same study were removed. Subsequently, the assessor then sought and obtained the full text of, and reviewed the relevant studies that were considered eligible for inclusion. Multiple reports of same study were linked together. No further data were sought for studies not included in the review. Data extraction Data extraction from included studies was done by a single reviewer and the data recorded on a data extraction form. A summary of each included study was described according to these characteristics: Participants (age, ethnicity etc.), study design, description of school-based interventions, study quality and details such as follow-ups and date, location, outcomes measured, theoretical framework, baseline comparability and results Assessment of methodological quality of included studies A number of researchers (Jackson, Waters et al. 2005) and the Cochrane guidelines for systematic reviews of health promotion and public health interventions (Rebecca Armstrong, Waters et al. 2007) strongly advise using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies (2008a) developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project in Canada and the accompanying dictionary (to act as a guideline) (2008b) in assessing methodological quality. Based on criteria such as selection bias, study design, blinding, cofounders, data collection methods, withdrawals and drop-outs and intervention integrity, the tool which is designed to cover any quantitative study employs the use of a scale (strong, moderate or weak) to assess the quality of each study included in the review. Analysis Considering the small number of studies included in the review and heterogeneity in terms of interventions, delivery methods, intensity of interventions, age of participants, duration of intervention and outcomes measured, it was not statistically appropriate to undertake a Meta analysis, which admittedly would have been the preferred method of analysing and summarising the results of the studies. A narrative synthesis of the results was done instead. RESULT DESCRIPTION OF STUDIES Results of the search The search of electronic sources identified 811 citations out of which 97 potential studies were retrieved. A reference management software EndnoteTM was used to search for and remove duplicate citations. Further screening of title and abstract reduced the number of citations to 17 potential studies. Full texts of the 17 studies were sought, 13 were excluded, and four met the inclusion criteria and were therefore included in the review. Authors of the four studies were then conta