Interventions for Healthy Eating and Physical Activity among Obese Elementary Schoolchildren: Observing Changes of the Combined Effects of Behavioral Models

Abstract

The aim of this experimental research was to examine the effectiveness of theSSII-Healthy Eating Intervention and Physical Activity intervention programs atthe end of intervention implementation in term of combined effects. The sampleof this study was 21 students in Sawadeewittaya School, aged 9-11 years, whomet the inclusion criteria and consented to participate in the study. The dependentvariables included knowledge about obesity-related Type 2 diabetes, healthyeating behavior, healthy eating self-efficacy, healthy eating self-control, andBMI. The study interventions were the SSII-Healthy Eating InterventionProgram, and the SSII-Physical Activity Intervention Program. Each of the twointerventions was created using the self-efficacy, self-control, andimplementation intention principles. The sample was first implemented with theSSII-Healthy Eating Intervention Program, followed by the SSII-PhysicalActivity Intervention. Data analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows.The statistical tests were descriptive statistics and One-way repeated measuresANOVA. Results showed that: 1) after the individual SSII-Healthy EatingIntervention Program; mean scores of knowledge about obesity-related Type 2diabetes, healthy eating self-efficacy, healthy eating self-control, and healthyeating behavior significantly increased from the baseline and BMI significantlydecreased. 2) The combined effect of the SSII-Healthy Eating and PhysicalActivity Intervention Programs on healthy eating behavior was greater than thatof the individual SSII-Healthy Eating Intervention, but not for BMI.

Keywords: healthy eating behavior, combined effects, BMI