The following questions refer to the article titled, “Stages of Change and Weigh

The following questions refer to the article titled, “Stages of Change and Weight Loss Among Rural African American Women”. Obesity Research, 9(1), 59 – 67. Please answer the 5 questions listed below. Poorly written papers will be returned to students without a grade. Your answer must be NO LONGER than 2 double-spaced pages. Each question is worth 1 point.
1) What is the main argument offered by the authors about the relevance of conducting this study at the time they did?
2) In this study, the variable or expression, “What friends think about weight” is an operationalization or the same as one of the constructs in the Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior? What construct is that and how many components does it have?
3) Do you think that obesity rates were higher among older study participants? If so, use data in the study to justify your answer.
4) The authors stated that “BMI {Body Mass Index} peaked in the Preparation Stage and then decreased for individuals in the Action and Maintenance stages.” How can you explain this observation in actual public health practice? Does this make sense? Why or why not?
5 ) What major limitation (related to data collection about weight) is associated with this study? Did the authors do anything to minimize the effects of that problem? If yes, what did they do?