The number of North American children who are obese

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rajcools: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 80; Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:00 am; Thanked: 4 times

by rajcools » Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:58 am

The number of North American children who are obese, that is who have more body fat than do 85 percent of North American children their age, is steadily increasing according to four major studies conducted over the past 15 years.
If the finding reported above is correct, it can be properly concluded that
(A) when four major studies all produce similar results those studies must be accurate.
(B) North American children have been progressively less physically active over the past 15 years.
(C) The number of North American children who are not obese increased over the past 15 years.
(D) Over the past 15 years, the number of North American children who are underweight has declined.
(E) The incidence of obesity in North American children tends to increase as the children grow older.

OA after some discussion.. Try it guys ull enjoy it

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:58 am

GMAT Kolaveri: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 287; Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:33 amFollowed by: 6 members; Location: Pune,India; Thanked: 60 times

by GMAT Kolaveri » Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:20 am

(A) when four major studies all produce similar results those studies must be accurate. Too strong statement. incorrect. logically this cannot be correct.
(B) North American children have been progressively less physically active over the past 15 years. Fails the FACT Test.
(C) The number of North American children who are not obese increased over the past 15 years. Cannot be inferred from the premise. the premise speaks about percentage.
(D) Over the past 15 years, the number of North American children who are underweight has declined. Cannot be inferred from the premise. the premise speaks about percentage.
(E) The incidence of obesity in North American children tends to increase as the children grow older. i dont find anything wrong with this AO.

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rajcools: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 80; Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:00 am; Thanked: 4 times

by rajcools » Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:47 am

E) is wrong... how does obesity increase as children grow older

OA is C

vk_vinayak: Legendary Member; Posts: 502; Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:36 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 99 times

by vk_vinayak » Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:56 am

I also had voted for E. But closely reading again, I stand corrected. It should be C.

Obese children mean children having more body fat than 85% of children. Obese is expressed in terms of rest of the children. If number of obese has increased then it must be true that number of non-obese has increased.

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rajcools: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 80; Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:00 am; Thanked: 4 times

by rajcools » Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:30 am

The number of North American children who are obese, that is who have more body fat than do 85 percent of North American children their age, is steadily increasing according to four major studies conducted over the past 15 years.
If the finding reported above is correct, it can be properly concluded that
(C) The number of North American children who are not obese increased over the past 15 years.

Explanation for C --

Let population be x 15 years ago
Number of Obese children 15 years ago = .15x
Number of Non Obese Children 15 years ago = .85x

Let population today be y
Number of Obese children today = .15y
Number of Non Obese children today =.85y

Acc to Stimulus ->
Number of Obese children today > Number of Obese children 15 years ago
.15y>.15x
this implies y > x
so .85y > .85x
Number of Non Obese children today > Number of Non Obese Children 15 years ago
so C is valid

rajcools: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 80; Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:00 am; Thanked: 4 times

by rajcools » Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:32 am

The number of North American children who are obese, that is who have more body fat than do 85 percent of North American children their age, is steadily increasing according to four major studies conducted over the past 15 years.
If the finding reported above is correct, it can be properly concluded that
(C) The number of North American children who are not obese increased over the past 15 years.

patanjali.purpose: Legendary Member; Posts: 784; Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:51 amFollowed by: 12 members; Thanked: 114 times

by patanjali.purpose » Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:57 am

rajcools wrote:The number of North American children who are obese, that is who have more body fat than do 85 percent of North American children their age, is steadily increasing according to four major studies conducted over the past 15 years.
If the finding reported above is correct, it can be properly concluded that
(A) when four major studies all produce similar results those studies must be accurate.
(B) North American children have been progressively less physically active over the past 15 years.
(C) The number of North American children who are not obese increased over the past 15 years.
(D) Over the past 15 years, the number of North American children who are underweight has declined.
(E) The incidence of obesity in North American children tends to increase as the children grow older.

OA after some discussion.. Try it guys ull enjoy it

I think we address this by simply focusing on what the argument is talking. Argument is only about OBESITY

A- accuracy of studies IS NOT THE DISCUSSION POINT. We cannot infer whether studies are accurate or not from the given statment

B - argument is about OBESITY (not about PHYSICAL ACTIVITY); Stimulus does not say anything about whether OBESITY IS LINKED WITH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY or not

D - UNDERWEIGHT not discussed

E - we cannot say whether obesity increases with age from the stimulus

Only C remains

amitsawhney1911: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 11:49 am; Location: New Delhi

by amitsawhney1911 » Sat Dec 05, 2015 9:33 am

what if the population is constant. please help

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Dec 06, 2015 4:09 am

By definition, obese children have more body fat than do 85 percent of North American children their age.
In other words, obese children constitute 15% of all children.
Thus:
(obese children):(non-obese children) = 15:85.

If one value in a ratio increases, so must the other value.
Since the number of obese children is steadily increasing, the number of non-obese children must also be increasing -- supporting answer choice C:
The number of North American children who are not obese increased over the past 15 years.

The correct answer is C.

amitsawhney1911 wrote:what if the population is constant. please help

Since the number of obese children and the number of non-obese children are both increasing, the total population of children must also be increasing.

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