Effectiveness of behavioral development program for weight reduction of overweight secondary-school students in Sukhothai Province.

Abstract

This research aims to study the effect of behavior development program of the overweight secondaryschool students in Sukhothai Province. The model is quasi-experimental. The sample group consisted of 80 students with a body mass index of 23 kg / m2 or more and were divided into experimental and control groups of 40 students each.The study period is 12-week long. The research tools include program to develop behavior for weight reduction. Statistics for analysis of the data are frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, twoindependent
Student’s t-test Paired t-test. The results show the effectiveness of the weight reduction program in the experimental group. There are changes in the knowledge about obesity and weight loss, self-efficacy expectations on weight reduction. The average score was higher than before the experiment and more than the control group. Body mass index (BMI)
was lower than before and lower than control group. The differences are statistically significant (p< .01) .In Control group, there are no statistically different in the average score of knowledge about obesity and weight reduction, self-efficacy in weight reduction, expectations on results in weight reduction and Body Mass Index. The program can develop the behavior for weight reduction in the overweight students. Therefore, it should be applied to students in the education system, teenagers in general or obese people with or without chronic disease.