How to Make Physical Activity Promotion Work in Thai Schools: Perspectives of Multiple Stakeholders

Focus on High School: Factors Associated with Creating Harmony between the Educational Transition and Adolescents’ Well-Being

The transition from online to on-site education was difficult due to a lack of standardized school guidance for school reopening. Even though schools have reopened, uncertainty about the COVID-19 situation and the capacity of the school to maintain safe school operations to mitigate risks may increase hesitancy among students and parents to participate in on-site studying. Rapid-response surveys of students and parents can provide information to stakeholders on how learning and well-being can best be supported during the educational transition in each context. The aim of this study was to explore the hesitancy of high-school students and the factors that influenced their hesitancy to return to school on site. An online cross-sectional survey was distributed to high-school students in an urban district of Chiang Mai, Thailand, during the fourth wave of the pandemic from 17 November to 13 December 2021. A multivariable logistic regression was performed to explore factors related to the students’ hesitancy to attend on-site education. With a response rate of 10.2% of the targeted study population, the 1266 participants revealed that 15.9% of them had very-high- and extremely high-level hesitancy to study on site, which was associated with less negative moods while studying online (aOR, 1.69; p, 0.016) and a greater fear of infection after returning to school (aOR, 2.95; p, 0.001). Increased readiness to return to school on site (aOR, 0.28; p, 0.001) and discussing COVID-19 prevention with family or friends (aOR, 0.71; p, 0.016) were also associated with a lower hesitancy of students. Only 5.6% of the students reported being hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. However, no significant associations were found between schooling hesitancy and their willingness to get vaccinated, nor the frequency of students’ outside activities. High-school students who experience negative moods during online studying should be monitored and receive additional support if the reopening is postponed. More opportunities to discuss COVID-19 prevention with family or friends, as well as a higher level of readiness, may increase the willingness to return to school on site. Local authorities and schools need to strengthen communication and coordination mechanisms to reduce parents’ and students’ schooling hesitancy by providing explicit information about the COVID-19 situation and risk-mitigation measures, along with normalizing messages about fear and anxiety.

Association Between Physical Activity and Type 2 Diabetes Using the International Physical Activity Questionnaires: A Case-Control Study at a Health Promoting Hospital in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand

BACKGROUND

Health education and promotion is active in Thailand where diabetes is prevalent at 11.6% of the general adult population in 2021.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to describe and compare the levels of physical activity between patients with newly diagnosed diabetes and non-diabetic controls in northern Thailand.

METHODS

This observational case-control study included participants aged between 25 and 74 years in Chiang Mai. We recruited 150 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at Sanpatong District Hospital and 150 control participants (non-T2DM) in the community. Interviews were conducted using the International Physical Activity Questionnaires-Short Form. Anthropometric measurements and social demographic information were collected from both patients and controls in 2019.

RESULTS

The mean age of the participants was 58.8 ± 8.4 years in the T2DM group and 56.5 ± 9.9 years in the non-T2DM group. Compared to controls, patients with T2DM had received significantly more physical activity education (P < 0.001, Fisher's test). Most cases (93.3%) had received such education at a hospital or health center. The median total metabolic equivalents (METs) minutes per week (min/week) for participants in the T2DM group were higher than those in the non-T2DM group (2726 vs 1140 METs min/week) (P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney test). Comparing the case and control groups in the category of PA level, we found that the case group had a higher proportion of high-level physical activity (P < 0.001, chi-square test).

CONCLUSION

Diabetes patients attending a community hospital exhibited high levels of physical activity. The majority of them received education related physical activity from a primary health care service.