Effect of Nutritional Education Program Using the Small Group Discussion Method on Weight Reduction among Junior High School Students with Obesity, Medan, North Sumatera

Abstract

Background: Obesity in adolescents should be prevented in order to reduce the nega- tive health consequences in later life. Education about correct lifestyle, eating healthy food, and sufficient physical activities, should be able to prevent obesity. The small group discussion (SGD) method has been hypothesized to enhance participation and promote comfort among the participants, so it should be effective to prevent obesity. This study aimed to examine the effect of nutritional education using the SGD method on weight reduction among junior high school students with obesity. Subjects and Method: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at Junior High School 4 Medan, North Sumatera. A total of 60 overweight and obese students was selected for this study and randomized into the intervention group (n1=30) and the control group (n2= 30). The dependent variables were knowledge, physical activity, and fast food consumption. The independent variable was the intervention, i.e. nutrition education using SGD method. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by Wilcoxon test. Results: After the nutrition education using SGD method, mean scores of knowledge and physical activity in intervention group were higher than in the control group, and they were statistically significant. However, the mean difference in fast food consumption between the two groups was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Nutrition education program using the small group discussion method is effective to increase knowledge and physical activity among junior high school students. Its effect on fast food consumption is not statistically significant. Keywords: nutrition education, small group discussion, knowledge, physical activity, fast food consumption, junior high school student