Effectiveness of Selected School Based Intervention on Level of BMI among Overweight Obese Children in Selected Schools at Erode

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are among the most prevalent nutritional problem in developed and developing nations. In developing countries such as India, especially in urban populations, childhood obesity is emerging as a major health problem. This study was attempted to identify the contributing factors of overweight/obesity and also to assess the effectiveness of school based intervention on the level of BMI among school children in selected Schools at Erode. The study objectives were, 1. To determine the prevalence of overweight /obesity among school children. 2. To identify the contributing factors of overweight/obesity in control and study group of school children. 3. To find out the association between the selected variables and the other contributing factors of overweight/obesity in control and study group of overweight/obese school childrenStudy was conducted at two private schools namely Bharathi Vidhya Bhavan Matriculation and Higher Secondary School-control group, The Bharathi Vidhya Bhavan - Study group. Total enumerative sampling technique was used for screening of overweight and obesity among school children through Quetelet Index BMI status. A total of 2291 school children were screened for BMI. Participants from both sex were included in the study and boys were 1283 in numbers (56%) and girls were 1008 (44%). Among them majority 1952 (85.2%) had normal BMI (below 25), 219(9.6%) were overweight and 120 (5.2%) were obese .None of the children were under weight. The study results revealed that there was a significant reduction on the level of BMI. Hence, it was inferred that the school based interventions; aerobics exercises and parental awareness program were effective in reducing the level of BMI. School based program is cost effective, fun as group activity among children peer involvement and motivation, the family involvement helps to monitor them at home. And also the school samples become captive population, so that implementing the weight reduction strategies at schools become much easier compare to other settings.