Educational Interventions to Change Obesity Perceptions Among High School Students.

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess the changes in high school students' perceptions about the causes and results of obesity, and possible solutions suggested by the students who received a healthy lifestyle education intervention on physical activity and nutrition. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in an Anatolian High School which is located in the District of Çankaya in Ankara Province. The study sample consisted of 139 volunteer high school students, including 62 males (45.60%) and 77 females (55.40%). The age range of the students was between 14-16, and their mean body mass index (BMI) was 20.6 kg/m2. These students received this intervention during a period of one month. The Obesity Perception Questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha:0.76) was applied before and after the intervention. The analysis of the research data, descriptive statistics as well as student t-test and one-way variance analysis were carried out by SPSS software program. For all analyses p≤0.05 was adopted as the significance level. Results: The students' perceptions were seen to improve with regard to the risks of overweight, obesity, and diabetes for health following the intervention (p≤0.05). The responsibility to solve the obesity problem was attributed to the family, food industry and healthcare workers by the students while they realized the importance of taking personal responsibility after the intervention (p≤.05). They also expressed that governments should provide more opportunities for increasing physical activity at schools (p≤.05). Conclusion: Giving healthy lifestyle trainings on physical activity and nutrition to the young creates differences in perceptions concerning the health risks of obesity and taking personal responsibilities in the fight against it. In this sense, such interventions are of vital importance and necessity in maintaining social health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]