Psychological Aspects of Obese Primary School Children Pre- and Post-MyBFF@school Intervention Programme: A Pilot Study

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.