Michael Sylvester wrote:
> You may want to focus on schools in the South.
> Observations(not opinions) are that Southerners are the most obese
> of all the people in the U.S.Given the criteria that profs will look
> in ther surrounding environments for research ideas,there may be
> departments south of the Mason-Dixie line involved in such researh.
> Good luck.
Good advice for obtaining research subjects, although the area of the US
with the highest percentage of overweight individuals isn't the deep
South, it's the Midwest (I don't have the cite handy, but there _was_ a
study done on the subject several years ago by an urban
sociologist)--probably due to a combination of climate (Winters are too
cold to get out and do much and Summers are too hot--thus exercise levels
shift heavily on an annual basis), traditional foods (a lot of very rich
foods are a part of the standard Midwestern fare), and the traditional
concept of food-family-friends that tends to emphasize food as a part of
every interaction and the kitchen as the social center of the house (many
rural Midwesterners don't even _use_ their front doors--everyone enters
through the kitchen). Obviously, the "hot Summers" and traditional foods
are part of the Southern tradition as well, but the extreme cold of the
Winters is probably the major contributor (I've seen wind chills of -40F
in my own community, and colder further North--that is NOT jogging
weather!).
Rick
--
Rick Adams
Department of Social Sciences
Jackson Community College
Jackson, MI
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"... and the only measure of your worth and your deeds will be the love
you leave behind when you're gone. --Fred Small, Everything Possible "
