Media Power and Media Bias Essay - 995 Words

The powerful media barons have always altered broadcasts to achieve their personal or corporate agenda. What purpose does the media serve now? Measuring Bias on Television by Barrie Gunter has elaborated on the idea that news was originally set up to act as a national tool to stir thoughts. But is it? No! Is the media even enlightening the public now? After careful speculation of mass media and the communication world, I am under the impression that broadcasts have been used to entertain, frighten and cause controversy as a means to keep people watching. First off, the media serves as an authoritative power. It strikes the public as informative, knowledgeable and some may even go as far to say that to audiences, the media is omniscient.†¦show more content†¦Consequently, although the media does hold a strong power over public ears and eyes, there is a higher power in which the media assists. In terms of interests that the media serves, Kallen’s At Issue: Media Bias in troduces a term that’s new and also striking to me. Not only is the public concerned with the political, economic and religious aspects of the news, but At Issue: Media Bias also explains that audiences crave more â€Å"infotainment†. Infotainment is engaging to viewers/listeners because it often deals with sex scandals, murders, celebrities, etc. â€Å"In a world where people are surrounded by innumerable media options†¦ sex and violence are proven attention getters† (Kallen, McChesney 34). McChesney seems disheartened and disappointed when he says that political coverage in American media is â€Å"empty and meaningless†. The tough questions on important issues, such as the War on Terror, are being ignored and there is less and less of political coverage these days (McChesney 55). In opposition to this idea, David Niven’s novel, Tilt? The Search for Media Bias, claims that the â€Å"media becomes even more important in times of crises† (Niven 129), suggesting that viewers are still interested in current events and worldly happenings, such as September 11, 2001 or political elections. Another important thing to consider when it comes to the media is fairness, objectivity and bias. There is a fine line betweenShow MoreRelatedMedia Bias Law And Legal Definition976 Words   |  4 Pages This first venture into media did not end well: the authors ran afoul of the ruling government and it was shut down a stunningly short four days later. It was not until the end of the 18th century that newspapers became fully established as the source of news in the country (Early American Newspapering, 2003). However, it was not until the 1920’s that the idea of objectivity was applied to journalism in response to â€Å"growing recognition that journalists were full of bias† (The Lost Meaning of ‘Objectivity’Read More media Essay examples1407 Words   |  6 Pages The ‘media’ as a whole plays a major part in one’s life. Media messages can be presented in many ways from reading newspapers to watching news on television from the comfort of your own home. However, the most important factors are how the news is retrieved and portrayed by an individual or a group of individuals as each individual has the right to accept what they believe not what they are manipulated to believe or to accept. There are various issues that can be looked at to conclude whether orRead MoreAnalysis Of Donald Trump Won The 2016 U.s. President s Election1450 Words   |  6 Pagescitizens vote to exit the European Union successfully, the major news media there foretell this event correctly while opposite claims are still remarkable. For example, according to Fortune’s report, it is unbelievable that most mainstream media got the wrong election’s prediction because they simply couldn’t trust most people would choose Trump (Ingram, 2016). Additionally, before the event of â€Å"Brexit†, many major British news media including BBC, ITV and the Sky all had predicted that the exit wouldRead MoreThe 8 Violations Of Media Objectivity Essay1051 Words   |  5 PagesThe 8 Violations of Media Objectivity 1. Misleading definitions: Prejudicing readers through language. Language is too often used to promote an agenda. The media must exercise caution when consciously choosing to adopt (or avoid) certain terms, proper nouns, or foreign words. George Orwell articulated the potential problems: â€Å"But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.† 2. Imbalanced reporting: Distorting news through disproportionate coverage. Journalism distorts news throughRead MoreMedia Bias And The Civil Rights Era1286 Words   |  6 PagesMedia bias is a topic that has been in great focus of many political leaders over the past few presidential elections. However, what many people fail to see is that media bias has been around since the beginning of major news companies. Most Americans do not know what media bias is or how to identify it. That stated many people have noticed that most news stations are biased towards one religion, political party or even gender. This has been like this for decades however has become much more prominentRead MoreMedia Bias And The Media1365 Words   |  6 PagesMedia Bias In today’s society, remaining connected and knowledgeable of current events and the newest trends is vital to staying ahead in business, education, and social standing. This information is supplied to everyone through the internet, newspapers, television, and radio. One can tune into stations such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, Al-Jazeera, and many others (â€Å"SQs of Media Outlets†). In order to meet the needs of viewers, readers, and listeners, the ideal media system would contain accurate, quickRead MoreThe Values Of The Textbook1158 Words   |  5 PagesThe Values of the Textbook Description: What media outlets do Why they do it What they should do 1 Worry about file swappers illegally downloading songs (p.72) Sales decrease for recording labels (p.72) Use internet to post music/videos to gain larger audience at less of a cost (p.72) 2 Homogenized radio industry (p.108) Saves money (p.108) Let there be interaction between Deejays and the audience. Live vs. voice tracking (p.108) 3 Introduced VOD-DVRs, iPods, Netflix (p.155) Enables customersRead MoreMedia Bias Essay1173 Words   |  5 PagesIs the Media Bias? One problem that plagues us every day without us even realizing is media bias. We see it in the news, our favorite sitcoms and even in the newspapers. Yet, we really dont recognize it when we hear or see it. Media bias is evident in every aspect of the media. The problem is that we dont recognize it when its in our faces. Are the impressions that we form about individuals a product of the media? In my opinion, the media plays an important and powerful part in some of our livesRead MoreElections, Campaigns, and Politics619 Words   |  3 Pagesand the media plays a significant role on informing the public on elections and campaigns and politics; although, the public is in constant need of new information from the media, there is an underlying distrust in the American population on the media for false campaigning covered and which can be perceived as media bias. There are countless of misconceptions on how the government can and does influence the media and equally how the influence media has on the government. Moreover, the media aids inRead MoreMedia Bias on Women’s Issues700 Words   |  3 PagesMedia Bias on Women’s Issues Detecting bias in news media is a challenge that every person who watches, reads, or listens to the news should accept. Subtle changes in the details of a story can change the entire focus of an event and affect all members of the audience. Applying the gender-based critique analysis process to the media coverage of the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C. provides an excellent exercise in identifying news bias. The article, â€Å"Muting the Women’s March: Media

The Outcomes Of The Adoption Of Children With Special Needs

The outcomes of the adoption of children with special needs, Rosenthal stated,† â€Å"that Barth and Berry concluded,† that adoption offers far more stability and benefits than long-term foster care replacement.’ â€Å"Indeed, stability may be the greatest advantage of adoption.† â€Å"Risks increase with age.† The Colorado Department of Social Service from 1981 to 1984, the mean age of children whose adoption were disrupted was 8.8 years, while that for children whose adoptions remained intact was 4.4 years. Rosenthal says,† Urban Systems Research estimated the national disruption rate for special needs children being between six percent and twenty percent. Rosenthal stated, â€Å"that Kadushin and Martin studies of disruptions of infant, 34,499 placements†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Even children adopted in infancy have been found to have moderately higher risks for having a disruptive behavior disorder as adolescents† (Keyes, Sharma, Elkins, Iacono and McGue, 2008). â€Å"Clinics specializing in the physical health needs of adopted children have been established in many large cities, making adoption medicine a new specialty† (Nicholson, 2002; Tuller, 2001). Analysis of the 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health found that adopted children are more likely than biological children (i.e., children living with at least one biological parent) to have special health care needs, moderate or severe health problems, developmental delay or physical impairment, learning disability, and other mental health difficulties. Parents of adopted children were more than five times more likely than parents of biological children to report ever being told that their child had a developmental delay or physical impairment (16% versus 3%). Rosenthal states, that Bramlett, Radel, and Blumberg in 2007 study says, â€Å"nearly 20% of adopted children were reported by their parents to have moderate to severe current health problems compared with 7% of bi ological children, and 37% of adopted children had special health care needs as compared with 17% of biologicalShow MoreRelatedAdoption Essay 151044 Words   |  5 PagesAdoption When a person decides to adopt, he takes the responsibility of raising a child who is not biologically his own. There are various reasons why people decide to adopt. Some say adoption is the best thing for certain children and many successful stories prove it to be true. However, there are also numerous tragic reports of adopted children being abused. Basically, what adoption meant, and still means, is that someone (the adoptive couple) is promising to assume all responsibilitiesRead MoreChild Welfare And The Foster Care System Essay1623 Words   |  7 Pages000 children were in foster care, but a series of successful reforms, began with that year s Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, dramatically decreased the number of children in foster care. But in the early 1990s, with the advent of crack cocaine and an economic recession numbers went back up. Child welfare advocates say the foster care system is in need of changes so that children spend less time in foster placement s America’s child welfare systems needs an improvement. Some children inRead MoreAdoption For Children And Families1734 Words   |  7 PagesBethany for Children and Families offers a variety of programs, but adoption is one of the most beneficial to those in the community in both Iowa and Illinois. Bethany offers infant, special needs, domestic, and international adoption services to families. Other services offered with adoption include; recruitment, screening, licensing, placement, case management, counseling and support services to birth parents placing a child for adoption, and post-adoptive services for adoptees, adoptive parentsRead MoreBest Practices for Implementing Post-Adoption and Wrap Services for International Adoptive Families680 Words   |  3 PagesAdoptive Families are special; they have a desire to grow their families by reaching out to children that need homes. These families face many unique challenges, but also receive many rewards, associated with the decision to adopt. These challenges continue for many families, through the process of adoption, legal finalization, and for many years post-adoption. The challenges are different in many ways from those faced by biological parents. Adoptive parents not only face the normal challenges facedRead MoreExamples Of Persuasive Speech On Adoption882 Words   |  4 Pagesmeeting that special someone, fall in love, and get married. Now you and your spouse decide that your ready to start a family. After multiple times of trying and help with many medications prescribed by your doctor or specialist there is still no children. You become discouraged and start to feel like your marriage is being strained because of stress and pressure to get pregnant. A few years pass but your constantly reminded of your infertility when you see friends and family with their children. And thenRead MoreThe Ethical Dilemm Abortion Essay1233 Words   |  5 Pagesof the fetus, or give birth to a baby that will ne ed special care for his/her entire life. Therefore, in this case scenario there are limited solutions; other than choosing to abort or keep the baby, the mother could also consider giving the baby for adoption as a plan. These three alternatives may be subjected to moral judgements since abortion is a form of killing, bring life to the world without the proper care is a form of negligence, and adoption could be seen as form of abandonment. Core BeliefsRead MoreAdoption For A Child s Life1609 Words   |  7 Pagesattend about any adoption agency as well as seminar of professionals or child-seeking parents and normally the attendees present are female. The ideal question focuses on the adoptive fathers’ role in the child’s life and if his role should be overlooked. In order to understand a fathers’ role whether birth or adoptive, one must understand each man’s route to adoption, unique circumstances, and characteristics (Siegal, 2003). Nonetheless, there are many different routes to adoption as well as thereRead MoreThe Center For Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Essay936 Words   |  4 Pagesself-esteem (â€Å"Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of Adolescents With Same-Sex Parents†, 2004). â€Å"As expected, multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) revealed no differences in adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment, which included depressive symptoms, anxiety, and self-esteem, between off- spring of same-sex couples and offspring of comparison families headed by opposite-sex couples† (â€Å"Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of AdolescentsRead MoreBaby Girl versus Adoptive Couple Essay1552 Words   |  7 PagesThere was a court case, Baby Girl v. Adoptive Couple, in which a child who was partially Cherokee Indian, because of her father, and Hispanic, because of her mother. The adoption of Baby Girl was a difficult one due to the fact that she has an ancestry of Cherokee Indian. Therefore, under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the adoption of Baby Girl seemed impossible because Biological Father had the right to have custody of his child, Baby Girl, if he chose to. So, the court greatly sees that by givingRead MoreFe deral Law That Mandates Special Education For Children With Disabilities972 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1975, congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Kritzer, 2012, p. 53), which was later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a federal law that mandates special education for children with disabilities. IDEA requires public schools to provide students with disabilities a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). LRE requires school districts to educate

Algeria and Libya Free Essays

The entire world is aware of the fact that Italy, France, England, and many others of European and Western origins were settlers in various places around the world, and these people established colonies in these nations, thereby influencing and impacting the nations’ people greatly. Take Italy, for example. This was a country that was among the last in Europe to start imperial expansion, probably because of the fact that the city-states were not united until the second half of the nineteenth century. We will write a custom essay sample on Algeria and Libya or any similar topic only for you Order Now Libya was one of the last few African territories that escaped colonization until the end of the nineteenth century, but its very proximity to Italy made sure that Libya was influenced in three major areas, like state formation, the modes of popular resistance, and the types of regimes that emerged after independence. (Bruce St John, Ronald (2004) Algeria was one of the countries that was subjected to heavy colonial influence. Areas like education, business, and so on were controlled by the French for almost a hundred years, and the impact is felt in the country even today, in certain aspects of life in Algeria. (Algeria, Arabization 1993) It is important to remember that in Algeria and in Libya, colonial policies were shaped by the specific politics and economics prevalent in each European colonial state at the time, like for example in Italy, the colonial policy was a liberal one, recognizing local states of resistance. This factor enabled Libya to follow different modes of resistance. As far as Algeria was concerned, the French colonial policies were different, and in essence, it can safely be said that French colonization managed to destroy the pre-colonial state of Algeria (Ahmida, Abdullathif Ali 1994) Now, one can examine the state formation of Libya and Algeria, so that one can understand better how Italy and France influenced these two states in this aspect. State formation in these states is an issue of national consciousness. France encouraged European colonization in Algeria from 1834 onwards, and Muslim lands were confiscated and in their place, a flourishing colony was created, completely separate from the Muslim majority. Muslims of the state emulated the popular form of resistance to European influence by proclaiming a war of independence, launching terrorist attacks against the French in the process. It was in 1962 that Charles de Gaulle was able to successfully proclaim independence for Algeria, and the Islamic Salvation Front enjoyed great popularity at the time because of its populist appeal. Violence, however, continues in Algeria to this day, and the majority of perpetrators are Muslim extremists. There is no peace in Algeria, and many experts feel that the European colonization, the subsequent fight for independence, the formation of the state, and eventually the regimes that emerged after independence may have influenced the state in an adverse manner. (Naylor C Phillip 2001) Most Libyans today would remember the fierce fight for independence from colonization and escape from the all pervasive Italian influence. In 1970, Colonel Qaddafi managed to expel more than twenty thousand Italians who were living in Libya at the time, but today, Italy is one of Libya’s largest partners in trade. In 1988, Libya was implicated in an air crash in Lockerbie, Scotland, and subsequently, the UN has imposed sanctions on the country. When Qaddafi refused to comply with the sanctions, Libya became politically and economically isolated during the 1990’s. Illegal migration continues to this day, and recently, Italy had to pass an order to curb the phenomenon, but apparently, Libya has done nothing to implement it. Saif al-Islam, the son of Qaddafi, announced that he would sign a deal to compensate Libyans for thirty two years of Italian colonization. (Undoing the Damage 2008) In 2003, Libya showed its willingness to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction, and also of its missile program ‘Missile Technology Control regime. ’ (Background note, Libya 2007) Today, it can be said that although Libya and Algeria revolted against colonization, they did learn a few lessons from the Europeans, and their influence has lasted to this day. The countries maintain amicable relations with each other to this day, although rivalry and opposition does exist at all levels. European influence at several different levels and in different aspects of life cannot be denied, however, and perhaps this is the reason why leaders in Algeria and Libya tend to try their best even today to deny any allegiance to the people who were once the leaders of their countries. References Ahmida, Abdullathif Ali (1994) The Making of Modern Libya, State Formation, Colonization Google Book Search Retrieved August 20, 2008 from http://books. google. co. in/books? id=eUM2phcxIFICpg=PA141lpg=PA141dq=settler+colonial+policies+of+Italy+and+Francesource=webots=yVOfYhDdLTsig=SMwjAMfMXLNufvTXCUK9BZ_RHQUhl=ensa=Xoi=book_resultresnum=1ct=result Algeria, Arabization (1993) Country Data. com Retrieved August 20, 2008 from http://www. country-data. com/cgi-bin/query/r-365. html Background note, Libya (2007) Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Retrieved on August 20, 2008 from http://africanhistory. about. com/gi/dynamic/offsite. htm? zi=1/XJ/Yasdn=africanhistorycdn=educationtm=120gps=322_421_796_420f=10tt=14bt=0bts=1zu=http%3A//www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5425. htm Naylor C Phillip (2001) History Algeria Part 3 Retrieved August 20, 2008 from http://www. discoverfrance. net/Colonies/Algeria3. shtml Undoing the Damage (2008) The Economist July 31 retrieved on August 20, 2008 from http://www. annoticoreport. com/2008/08/italy-and-libya-continue-reconciliation. html Bruce St John, Ronald (2004) Libya’s Former Colonial Master The Globalist Retrieved August 20, 2008 from http://www. theglobalist. com/DBWeb/StoryId. aspx? StoryId=3813 How to cite Algeria and Libya, Papers

Accounting Development International Company-Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Accounting Development International Company? Answer: Introduction The report will be presented in a form of reflective journal associated to the personal level learning. This will include the diversified issues that are related to the accounting and development in the international company. As per the research, it has become important to focus on the different advancement of the technologies with varied changes and administering cost. Evaluate the efficiency and the usefulness of the learning experience The accounting based functions generally impact the system functioning and the concepts which are related to the finances and the other associated stabilization of the financial systems. (Schaffartzik et al., 2015). The constant transformation in environment also impact the management based accounting function which further leads to so many issues faced by accounting managers in the current time. Apart from that, the overall rise in scandals associated with accounting like failure of the auditing or accounting further leads to the transforming of the regulations of government. It is based on the coordination issues, competitor analysis and the resource allocation, where the adamant governance focus on the financial based reporting systems. The research will study about the challenges through different books as well as studies based on selecting accounting functions. The main reason for the same is that there is no kind of setup as per regulatory laws and anybody has the freedom to become an accountant without any formal training or learning. The rule is not particular and many countries pass a kind of exam and join a professional base which helps in making the subject to kind of professional standards (Richardson, 2017). It is very crucial to be clearer about the restricted knowledge of the accountants as well as people that are same in the field of accounting and yet functioning as per the business and there are organization that are turning toward them for assistance or as a guide for different reasons. There is also some kind of risk that a type of busi ness must base and accomplish number of bad advices that can harm the goodwill of the profession and its influence on negative growth. How learning process will be useful? The learning process is important and helpful based on the financial reporting frameworks which includes how the lower level of the costs are related to handle the cost effective capitals with the easy allocation of the resources. This further can be transformed with the release of proposed level of accounting based on international management which is specifically designed particularly to grow or establish a proper framework to bring more consistency in many management accounting practices across the world (Akroush et al., 2016). The principle is also associated with America Institute of CPS and is further practiced in UK. It is termed as Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. In addition to it, it is also subjected to the whole ninety days of consultation period which finally ended in past few time as well as also assisted with management based accounting to take into consideration about international platforms. As per the global perspective, it is also crucial to discuss in detail about the proper blueprint for different prediction and it is also able to meet the demand of the company. The main goal here is to assist the professionals of management accounting as well as also build based on so many high-performance companies. In number of countries like Hong Kong there is rising importance of management accounting that mainly addresses as per the institute which is based on a module presented in finance based controllership programs but it is under in development process right now (Rubiano et al., 2015). The study also helped in understanding that concept of management accounting as part of developing trend and there will be different transformation when it is related to work. There are different types of professionals working in accounting field and they are also an important part of the market and need having knowledge in the field. Here it is also important to try and have control on the different programs as a procedure to address the need for high amount of education along with management accounting. The management proposal is based on already practiced accounting principles which are becoming a standard for different kind of accountants that are able or can adopt varied training objectives (Rubiano et al., 2015). Discuss objectively about what happens in the learning process It is important to understand here the overall expansion on international level of platform can be perceived as the business in the present time that are trying to grab the attention of potential customers since there is a rise in level of profitability as well. All type of uncertainty in the coming future as well as with all the challenges that yet can see themselves as a part of so many rules that are conducting the business on global level. It is important to understand here that as a professional I must base my knowledge new international practices. Also, there will be number of different issues in the form of challenges as faced by the current accounting sector and as per different experts. It is also based on local level trends for number of consolidated organizations (Chandramohan et al., 2015). Because the overall enhancement in the level of cost at every industry, there is decrease in so many overheads along with expenses as a part of sharing the resources with the help of expansion that offers and provides different kind of selection of services for consumers that are more sensible in approach. In addition, there are also so many kinds of accounting practices entirely dependent on people that usually discusses about the company and the necessity to consolidate and provide a solution to the problem faced by different accountants (Chang et al., 2014). In addition, it is also crucial to aim on the actual challenge and identify the type of service that customer can be interested in. at the time of providing any sort of thing and further getting a step closer since it is not very crucial to encourage. When I as a profession try to become significant in terms of work, the aim is always on the increasing the overall value of the current management accounting because it helps in providing a secure or safe future to the company. Evaluation of overall learning The case research also throws some light on examples like Phil Knight; founder of Nike had initiated his career as a professional accountant. It is very crucial to understand the subject accounting is foundation of his career and unlike peoples perception that accountants have a sitting job and they just must play with numbers. But, it is a big misconception or myth about this profession. The profession in accountancy is based on working all the time with different set of people and addresses the challenges of the business (Nigam and Maheshwari, 2015). Therefore, it needs a very strong foundation for analysis of skills and it is also crucial to be able to evaluate all finance related data since it is crucial to work in an impactful manner with peers. In addition to this, it is also crucial to have an effective set of interpersonal skills and therefore it is also crucial to discuss as well as write and speak in right manner. Also, it is important to present all types of financial data which is in term of people that can be completely clear about the need of effective communication skills. Explanation of learning process The previous discussion explained number of challenges along with number of companies that are dealing with accounting practices as well as its overall application in the global business. But it has also become important to develop them and it is also possible that people are aware of such challenges and it becomes further crucial to take all necessary or required steps to help or support the customers with newer type of demand or requirement that people will have to face (Prencipe et al., 2014). The best part is that the current industry in accounting is still perceived as a most trusted as well as continuously developing industry where the professional with diverse sectors provides a support to newer type of businesses with future looking bright. Explain plan on how the learning will be applied There is different number of public companies that helps in providing clients with right kind of accounting as well as tax related services for the sake of fees. It is crucial to form a plan based on learning about different members of the company that are a certified and professional accountant and who also have taken the right education. It is important that the work requires establishing as per the state and gain clarity about the complicated exams. There are number of public accounting based organizations that are offering consulting or advices related to tax services as well as there is also a hallmark in the profession which is based on performing properly as an adult in external environment (Verburg et al., 2013). An accountant in public company must test the financial statement of the company as well as submit views on their preparation related to GAAP. The encouragement in the level of confidence and reliability of people, the plan is to properly invest all the hard work and efforts in gaining clarity related to learning about diverse subjects. Conclusion The overall understanding is associated with the fact there are number of challenges or issues in accounting sectors especially when it is practiced on international platform but with advancement of number of new technologies and the continuous development based on the rules and different set of rules and regulation related to changes and when there is rise in cost, so many kinds of accountant along with future professionals will be more concerned about the future (Budding et al., 2014). Belief in a traditional base which is dependent on number finance based organization will remain as it is and for most of the time. However, the accounting profession is still one of the trusted professions for any type of advice for types of businesses. Reference Akroush, S.N., Dhehibi, B. and Aw-Hassan, A., 2016. Agricultural Growth Accounting and Total Factor Productivity in Jordan: Trends, Determinants, and Future Challenges.International Journal of Productivity Management and Assessment Technologies (IJPMAT),4(1), pp.1-14. Budding, T., Grossi, G. and Tagesson, T., 2014.Public sector accounting. Routledge. Chandramohan, A., Agrawal, A., Subramani, P. and Munipalle, P., 2015. The Impact of Globalization ACIS 5034 Global Issues in Accounting and Information Systems Spring 2015. Chang, H., Ittner, C.D. and Paz, M.T., 2014. The multiple roles of the finance organization: Determinants, effectiveness, and the moderating influence of information system integration.Journal of Management Accounting Research,26(2), pp.1-32. Nigam, N. and Maheshwari, D., 2015. A Study on Environmental Accounting with Reference to Manufacturing Industries in India. Prencipe, A., Bar-Yosef, S. and Dekker, H.C., 2014. Accounting research in family firms: Theoretical and empirical challenges.European Accounting Review,23(3), pp.361-385. Richardson, A.J., 2017. The Relationship between Management and Financial Accounting as Professions and Technologies of Practice. Rubiano, A.M., Carney, N., Chesnut, R. and Puyana, J.C., 2015. Global neurotrauma research challenges and opportunities.Nature,527(7578), p.S193. Schaffartzik, A., Haberl, H., Kastner, T., Wiedenhofer, D., Eisenmenger, N. and Erb, K.H., 2015. Trading land: a review of approaches to accounting for upstream land requirements of traded products.Journal of industrial ecology,19(5), pp.703-714. Verburg, P.H., Erb, K.H., Mertz, O. and Espindola, G., 2013. Land System Science: between global challenges and local realities.

Investigation into Enthalpy of Neutralisation Essay Example

Investigation into Enthalpy of Neutralisation Essay The aim of this investigation is to show that heat of neutralisation is an exothermic reaction which produces water. The amount of energy given out for one mole of water is about -57.3 kJ/mol. This needs to proven by this experiment as well.ResultsStage OneThese are the results I gained from the titration.Titrant (HCl)Rough12Initial (cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½)121022Final (cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½)22.520.732Titre (cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½)10.510.710Stage TwoThe results gained are as follows:Time (s)Temp for expt.1 (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C)Temp for expt.2 (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C)Average temp (à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C)0161616518.21818.101025.124.9251528.527.828.152029.428.929.153029.529.129.34029.529.129.35029.529.129.36029.529.129.37029.529.129.38029.529.129.39029.529.129.310029.529.129.312029.229.129.1514029.028.928.9516028.628.228.418027.927.727.820026.826.926.8522026.126.326.224025.525.725.6Calculations for Stage OneConcentration of NaOHMoles = MassMolar massMoles = 8g(23+16+1) = 40= 0.2Therefore concentration of NaOH is 0.2 mol/dmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½.Concentration of diluted bench HClMoles of NaOH in 10cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ = V à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ C = 10 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.2 = 0.002 moles1000 1000Equation NaOH + HCl à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ NaCl + H2OMoles 1 1Vol/cmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 10 10.4 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ This figure is the average titre gained from Stage One.Conc. g/dmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 8 xFrom the equation 1 mole of NaOH reacts with 1 mole of HCl to give 1 mole of NaCl and H2O. However, there are only 0.002 moles of NaOH and therefore there must be 0.002 moles of HCl. The concentration of HCl can be worked out the following equation.Concentration = Moles à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 1000 = 0.002 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000 = 0.19 mol/dmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Volume 10.4Concentration of the bench HClThe dilute bench HCl is diluted by a factor of ten and its concentration was found to be 0.19mol/dmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. The bench HCl should be ten times more concentrated.Bench HCl (dilute) = 0.19 mol/dmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Bench HCl = 0.19 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 10 = 1.9 mol/dmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Therefore bench HCl has a concentration of 1.9 mol/dmà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½.Calculations for Stage TwoIn this stage the heat of neutralisation needs to be worked. Firstly, a graph needs to be plotted with the results from stage two in order to work out the maximum temperature rise. Refer to graph 1.Heat of NeutralisationHeat of neutralisation for this experiment can be represented by the following ionic equation:H3O+ (aq) + OH- (aq) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 2H2O (l) (Na+ (aq) and Cl- (aq) are spectator ions)The equation for heat of neutralisation is as follows:Q = M à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ SHC à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ ?TFor this experiment an assumption is made that the specific heat capacities of NaOH (aq) and HCl (aq) are the same as that of water, which is 4.2 J/g à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C.The temperature of NaOH and HCl was 16à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C at room temperature. When HCl was added neutralisation took place this is an exothermic reaction which produced a maximum temperature of 29.3à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C (which is shown on graph 1).Heat of neutralisation is worked out by adding the heat rece ived by the solution to the heat received by the polystyrene cup. To simplify the calculations I am assuming that polystyrene is an insulator and it only takes a very small amount of the heat of neutralisation.Calculations to work out heat of neutralisationHeat from neutralisation = Heat received by waterQ = M à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ SHC à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ ?TQ = 20 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 4.2 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 13.3Q = 1111.88 J/moleQ = 1.11 kJ/moleThe moles of water formed is 0.02 which can be worked out by referring to the word equation. For stage two the bench acid was used. It was worked out that 10cm3 of NaOH consists of 0.002 moles for the diluted bench HCl (this is diluted by a factor of ten). Therefore the bench acid on its own must consist of 0.02 moles. By ratio the equation shows that 0.02 moles of NaOH reacts with 0.02 moles of HCl to form 0.02 moles of water.Therefore the heat of neutralisation per mole= Q = 1117.2 = 55860 = -55.86 kJ/molmoles 0.02EvaluationThe experiment went according to plan and ther e were no anomalous readings in stage two. The aim of the experiment was completed successfully. The heat of neutralisation (exothermic) in my experiment was -55.86 kJ/mol which was very close to the actual reading of -57.3 kJ/mol. My result was within an accuracy of 2.51%. This loss in accuracy may have been due to heat losses through convection, conduction and radiation. This can be minimised by using a vacuum flask which is shown below:The experiment was also simplified because the heat received by the polystyrene beaker was assumed to be negligible. The experiment could have been modified so that the heat received by the polystyrene beaker was also taken account of. This would have produced an accurate result for the heat of neutralisation.In order to investigate this experiment further I would try different acids (sulphuric acid) and alkalis (sodium chloride) in order to prove that heat of neutralisation works for any strong acid or alkali.

Canterbury Tales - Rough

Canterbury Tales - Rough Intro: During the Middle Ages, it was very common for Christians to go on pilgrimages to perform what they believed was "Gods work" . "Canterbury Tales"  was one of Chaucer's greatest masterpieces', written in the fourteenth-century. It is a collection of stories told by various people who are going on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral from London, England. The characters introduced in the prologue are very unique, and yet manages to embody many physical and behavioral traits that would have been common for someone in their profession. In this time, social class, appearance, manners, education, and motivation for making the pilgrimage was very important and was therefore represented as a difference between ranks of individuals. The following paragraphs will concentrate on the two main female characters of "Canterbury Tales" , the Prioress and the Wyf of Bath.The Prioress INTRO She is the head of a young ladies' seminary near London, England - She is the highest in social ranking among the women of the seminary.Geoffrey Chaucer School

Biological Anthropology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biological Anthropology - Assignment Example H. Sapiens was able to outcompete and survive than the Neanderthals because the Neanderthals were not wise enough to adapt to cultural and physiological advancements. Although the Neanderthals’ brains can be compared to that of H. Sapiens and of a modern man but their brains were solely focused on the needs of their massive bodies, leaving them unable to think logically on how they could innovate and survive as species. The case of the Neanderthal is more physiological than cultural: because they used their brains to identify the needs of their bodies, intercommunication was never part of their exercise and could have caused their extinction. During the Ice Age, H. Sapiens were more clever enough to speak complicated languages and build operations far from their locations but the Neanderthals were limited in these aspects. 2. According to the textbook, the biological definition of race is a population with individuals that have defining and measurable biological descriptions with an Fst of at least 0.25 virtual to other populations of the species. Among Humans, however, the Fst is only 0.17. This goes to say that Homo Sapiens do not have biological races. Furthermore, there is also no way to look at the genetic cards and identify race. Race, in my opinion, is just a matter of personal view. If you can certainly believe that you can categorize humans into groups based on their colors – whether it is a shade of brown or black or white – then that is a matter of personal standpoint. Nevertheless, categorization of humans based on color does not guarantee accuracy and uniformity among all people: how would you be able to distinguish an African person to an Australian aborigine? There is not enough variation in human population that could be used as basis for classifying humans into races or subspecies, much less, if

Classical Period and Romantic Period Research Paper

Classical Period and Romantic Period - Research Paper Example When we talk about classical music it is important to know that the term is applicable to music that was composed in a particular style from the 1740s to 1820. The composition of music during these years comprised of a distinct sense of proportion. Initially it was somewhat difficult for listeners to derive pleasure and enjoyment from, however after a certain time the music began to dominate their music preferences. Initially the perception modern listeners have of the classical era is that it was either too serious or plain music; however to the listeners in that era, the music was unique and very different from that of the Baroque era. The key distinction between classical era and that of the Baroque era was that the classical music had more variety when it came to divergent rhythms throughout a piece. Melodies which were introduced in the classical era were a lot more balanced, easier to sing and to remember. It was in this era that numerous nursery songs were written. It was in t he classical era that the social function of music started to evolve from that of its prior aristocratic and religious affiliations towards the public and secular sphere with its middle class connections. The gradual increase in public concerts, the growth of commercial opera houses, the increase of publishing of music, and the increase in the number of musical pieces that were composed as well as played were all implications of the change in musical times. Form was of critical importance to the composers of the classical era, and this period had a lasting effect as far as form is concerned, especially when it came to the various instrumental music forms. Previously composers had already begun to pay special attention to the various musical instruments and their capabilities. Hence the move to writing not just solo music for one specific instrument, but focusing on music which had mixed ensembles with a variety of instruments. The modern orchestra was of key importance here. It was in the classical era that the common instruments like the toccata, concerto grosso, and fugue became replaced by forms which had matured as a result of the classical period. This is where the roots of the sonata, concerto and symphony can be traced. Even though each of these forms had significant precursors prior to the classical era, but it is this version of the form that came to become the most influential through the course of the other following eras, the romantic and modern era, and even today it is still highly recognized by a multitude of art music audience and performers (Jones, 2006). Among the many kinds of music of this period, the classical era is well known for symphonies, which is a type of a large orchestral ensemble. These pieces of symphonies primarily had three movements; the first of these was the sonata, followed by the minuet, and the finale. Taking inspirations from earlier composers, Haydn and Mozart took symphonies to their peak in the late 18th century. Whi le Haydn concentrated on achieving rhythmic excellence and the composition of theme based music Mozart contributed to the symphonies by a contrast of memorable lyric themes which made use of a full sounding orchestral settings (Roger, 2008). To cater to the middle-class, classic composers came up with a ton on new chamber music which made use of a magnitude of combinations. The piano sonata became one of the important forms of chamber music. This was mainly after the refinement it received at the hands of composers like Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The string quartet played an

Food Culture of Hong Kong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Food Culture of Hong Kong - Essay Example Other than a short period when the island was under the hands of the Japanese, it has been under the British rule and has grown from its first state to become a great industrial and manufacturing center with many foreign firms relocating to the island. The people of Hong Kong attach great importance to food and express these in many places, including websites and even on Facebook and Twitter. The city has been aptly referred to as the culinary capital of Asia due to the diversities of foods and dishes that are found on restaurant and family tables of Hong Kong. The food culture is one that they attach great importance to what they eat, and take great care in picking it (Anderson, 2005). For example, iced lemon tea is a very common drink in restaurants and it comes in different prices pertaining to the amount of ice or sugar the customer would like, many taking into consideration that a great amount of sugar will make one fat or that more ice will have the customer drinking more water than the lemon tea. The people of Hong Kong are very meticulous in their food display and arrangement, attaching great detail to each food category. A certain type of food arrangement can even be some smaller divisions derived from the main division but have some changes in the ingredients. A type of dish called the ‘Shao Mai’, for example, is made of pork and shrimp wrapped in a thin white layer of flour and displayed in a steamer basket, but however, there are smaller dishes of the same made of purple rice or a very traditional dish of ‘Shao Mai’ made of quail’s eggs as the wrappings (DeWolf et al, 2010). This latter dish has existed through the ages but is becoming outdated, becoming replaced by the other two. The people of Hong Kong generally have no fixed time for eating and, thus, will be found eating very early or very late. The working culture due to industrialization and manufacturing makes them very hard working people who put in

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