Effects of Self–Control Program Based on Future Orientation of Grade 9 Overweight School Girls of a Private School

Abstract

               This quasi-experimental research is aimed at studying the effect of a self-control program based on future orientation on grade 9 overweight school girls. Subjects were 32 overweight school girls. They were randomly put equally into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group participated in a twelve-session program based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of stages of change designed by the experimenter aimed to convince the subjects to be concerned about their future physical and mental health and to keep their weight (WT) and body mass index (BMI) in a normal range by choosing food consumption and doing exercise. Each session lasted for a 50-60 minute period. The control group participated in other activities not related to those performed by the experimental group. Paired sample T- Test was used to compare within the group and between groups. After the experiment, the experimental group lost their weight and body mass index while the control group had weight gain and higher BMI. When compared the mean differences of body weight within the groups between before and after the program, the mean difference of the experimental group was higher than the control group at p ≤ .05 level (t=2.368, df = 15, sig = .032) which meant that subjects in the experimental group lost their weight more than the control group. The mean difference of BMI was also significant at p<.05 level (t=2.659. df = 15, sig = .018). Future orientation of the physical and mental health can encourage overweight school girl subjects to control their behavior on eating and exercising. Further findings were discussed.