Psychological Aspects of Obese Primary School Children Pre- and Post-MyBFF@school Intervention Programme: A Pilot Study
Zahari Ishak *
Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Low Suet Fin
Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), ASEAN Road Safety Centre, Lot 125-135, Jalan TKS 1, Taman Kajang Sentral, 43000 Kajang, Selangor D.E., Malaysia.
Liaw Sze Ying
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Muhammmad Yazid Jalaludin
Department of Paediatrics, University Malaya Medical Centre, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Fuziah Md Zain
Department of Pediatrics, Putrajaya Hospital, Precint 7, 62250 Putrajaya, Malaysia.
Abdul Halim Mohktar
Sports Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Rusidah Selamat
The Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Nutrition Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Wan Nazaimoon Wan Mohamud
The Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Nutrition Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Childhood obesity has been seen as a public health challenge in most of the developed and developing countries including Malaysia. This is due to the fact that childhood obesity can result in long term negative effect during adulthood. Thus, early intervention at the primary school stage is essential to prevent obese children from growing up into obese adults. The objective of this study was to analyse the psychological aspects of the obese students during pre- and post-intervention of the MyBFF@school, a school-based intervention program to combat obesity among children. The respondents comprised of 67 apparently healthy overweight and obese students aged 9-11 years old with BMI above the 85th percentile according to the WHO BMI chart. Stirling Children’s Wellbeing Scale was used to measure the constructs of positive outlook, positive emotional state and social desirability. Correlation between positive outlook, positive emotional state and social desirability was significantly higher during post-intervention compared to pre-intervention. This finding is crucial as strengthening the wellbeing of the respondents can sustain their involvement in the program. The findings further strengthened the evidence of positive impact of a school-based intervention program which incorporated physical, nutrition and psychological components.
Keywords: Childhood obesity, positive outlook, positive emotional state and social desirability