The effect of a physical activity, diet and behaviour modification intervention on the self-perception of 9 to 12 year old overweight and obese children

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine whether a physical activity, diet and behaviour modification intervention would significantly improve the self-perception of 9 to 12 year old overweight and obese children. A convenience sample of 38 subjects between the ages of 9 and 12 years (mean age = 11.0) participated in the study. Twenty children (N = 20), 13 girls and 7 boys, participated in the intervention programme for 13 week (3 times/week), while 18 children (N = 18), 11 girls and 7 boys, served as a control group. Kinanthropometric measurements were used to assess body composition and self-perception was determined by using the Harter Scale for Self-Perception. The results showed low self-perception values compared to normal children, although the self-perception of overweight and obese children did not differ from each other. There was a significant increase in all subcomponents of self-perception in the experimental group, with the largest improvement in athletic, physical and global self-perception (p < 0.05). In contrast, the control group exhibited lower values in all the subcomponents with a significant decrease in social self-perception (p < 0.05). Waist and upper arm circumferences, as well as fat percentages of the experimental group decreased significantly, while the measurements of the same components in the control group increased. The multidisciplinary intervention programme not only possesses weight loss advantages for overweight and obese children, but has the advantage of improving self-perception. Participation in the programme also showed positive effects on the self-perception of both sexes, although the effect in the various subcomponents appears to be different.

A systematic review of school-based physical activity interventions on children’s wellbeing

“…Sahota et al (2001) reported a small increase in global self-worth for obese children but not children of healthy weight in the intervention schools, while a significant effect on psychosocial wellbeing was found in overweight first-grade children (Hartmann et al, 2010). These findings support previous research on overweight and sedentary children following separate after-school and hospital-based physical activity interventions (Kemp & Pienaar, 2010;Petty, Davis, Tkacz, Young-Hyman, & Waller, 2009). Previous research highlighted a negative relationship between overweight/obesity and aspects of a child's wellbeing such as self-perceptions of social acceptance and physical appearance (McCullough, Muldoon, & Dempster, 2009;Ottova, Erhart, Rajmil, Dettenborn-Betz, & Ravens-Sieberer, 2012).…”

Childhood Obesity: The Need for Practice Based Solutions - A South African Perspective

“…A non-significant decrease of 2.9 kg was also found in body weight. The self-perception of the group improved significantly as assessed by the Harter Scale (Kemp & Pienaar, 2010). The compliance to the programme decreased when the supervised part ended, again highlighting the need for professional supervision and sustained motivation of children in obesity treatment regimens.…”

“…In this regard obesity among children of different age groups and from different perspectives for a better understanding of the www.intechopen.com problem have been published. This i.a include the prevalence of childhood obesity in different age groups (Du Toit & Pienaar, 2003), relationship of childhood obesity with the motor (Du Toit & Pienaar, 2003); fitness, (Truter et al, 2010); psychological (Pienaar & Eggar, 2007;Kemp & Pienaar, 2010), physiological (Kemp & Pienaar, 2010) and academic abilities (Du Toit et al, 2011), as well as relationships of obesity with diagnosed motor delays such as Developmental Coordination Disorder among children .…”

“…Research experience (Kemp & Pienaar, 2010;Truter et al, 2010) indicate that although many children were identified as obese and invited to participate in an obesity intervention, free of charge, parents were still hesitant to provide permission for their children to benefit from this opportunity. It is understandable that parents want to protect their children from unnecessary labels that could affect their emotional development or self-confidence negatively.…”

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“…Seabra et al(2013) and Fairclough et al (2012) furthermore studied the effect gender, weight and socio-economic status (SES) have on attitudes towards PA, and concluded that overweight and obese children tend to have lower perceptions of PA and also that boys and high SES children enjoy being physically active in comparison to girls, overweight and low SES children. Moreover, Kemp and Pienaar (2010) indicate that boys have higher athletic perceptions whereas girls have higher academic and behaviour perceptions, as well as that overweight and obese children's perceptions of athletics are lower when compared to their normal weight peers.…”