Effects of School and Family - Based Obesity Control Program on Primary School Students Under the Jurisdiction of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the effects of a school and family-based obesity control program. The sample consisted of grade 4 - 5 primary school students who were overweight or obese in Yannawa District, Bangkok Metropolitan Area. Participants were chosen through simple random sampling with inclusion criteria and were divided into experimental and control groups of 32 people each. The experimental group participated in the school and family - based obesity control program based on the concept of self - efficacy for a period of eight weeks. Data were collected using questionnaires consisting of five parts: 1) general information about the students, 2) general information about the parents, 3) self-efficacy perception, 4) outcome expectations, and 5) obesity control behaviors. The reliability coefficients of parts 3, 4, and 5 of the questionnaires were .88, .87, and .79, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test.

The results showed that after participating in the program, the scores for self - efficacy perception, outcome expectations, and obesity control behaviors of the experimental group were all significantly higher than the both the pre - program scores and the control group (p < .05). Also, the body mass index and waist circumference, of the experimental group were significantly lower than before using the program (p < .05) but were not significantly lower than the control group. These findings are useful for those interested in applying the program and possibly suggest increasing the duration of the program to 12 weeks or more to examine changes in body mass index and waist circumference