ADOS: an educational primary prevention programme for preventing excess body weight in adolescents

The Effect of Diet-Exercise Trainings Provided to Overweight and Obese Teenagers through Creative Drama on Their Knowledge, Attitude, and Behaviors

BACKGROUND

This study was conducted in Turkey as an empirical study in randomized, controlled, and time series design for the purpose of evaluating the effects of the Diet-Exercise trainings with creative drama method provided to overweight/obese teenagers.

METHODS

This study was designed to highlight the effect of interactive education provided to slightly overweight/obese teenagers through creative drama on modifiable factors that caused obesity. Seventy-six overweight/obese teenagers studying at sixth and seventh grades of upper primary education were included in the study (38 participants in the Study Group and 38 participants in the Control Group). Training courses that were designed based on creative drama method were implemented in five sessions with teenager groups (n = 12-13); and the mothers were also trained in a session in this study (for the Study Group).

RESULTS

At the end of the study, it was determined that the knowledge, attitude, the order of the meals, and healthy diet-exercise behavior points of the teenagers in the Study Group increased; and the difference between the Study Group and the Control Group was significant (p < 0.05). The BMI, body weight, and waist/height rate of the teenagers in the Study Group decreased at a significant level after the study was completed (p < 0.05); and significant increases were determined in the waist circumference and body weight measurements of the Control Group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

As a conclusion, overweight/obese teenagers may be reached with school-based educational programs, and they may be made to acquire positive attitudes and behaviors through diet and exercises designed with interactive methods like creative drama.

A Systematic Review and Content Analysis of Classroom Teacher Professional Development in Nutrition Education Programs

Many nutrition programs include classroom-based education. Schoolteachers are relied upon to deliver these programs despite gaps in nutrition education motivation, knowledge, and self-efficacy. Teacher professional development (PD) for these nutrition education programs has been identified as a strategy for improving program effectiveness, yet many interventions do not include a PD component and still fewer describe it. A literature search was conducted between January and February 2017; articles were collected from PubMed, ERIC, and EBSCOhost. Article inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) published in an English-language peer-reviewed or scholarly journal, 2) published after 2000, 3) empirical research, 4) research conducted in a K-12 classroom, 5) research included nutrition education component, and 6) program delivered by a classroom teacher. Twenty-seven interventions were identified. A team of 2 researchers performed content analysis based on an evidence-based set of 7 PD components to assess if and how these components were incorporated before, during, or after program implementation. Little information was provided that described the role of teacher PD in the course of delivering nutrition education in classroom-based programs. The most common elements of PD described in the literature were the time spent in PD and follow-up with instructors during or after program implementation. There was a notable lack of methodologic description of teacher PD, and this limited reporting may decrease researchers' ability to work with teachers in a consistent and effective manner.