This study was to investigate the effects of problem solving group counseling on the index of obesity and health habits for obese children.
Forty seven obese children participated in the study(Exp.=22, Cont.=25). Children were recruited from the forth and fifth grade withhigher than 20% of the obesity degree. The problem solving counseling lasted for 10 weeks. In order to evaluate the effects of counseling, physical characteristics and health habits were measured three times; pretest, posttest, and at 10 weeks follow-up. The obtained data was analyzed by χ2-squared-test, t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA, using the SPSS WIN 10.0program.
Problem solving group counseling was effective on the physical characteristics(BMI, obesity degree, body fat ratio, waist measurement) and health habits over time. Children in the experimental group controlled their body weight better and reported lower scores in the index of obesity than children in the control group at 10 weeks follow-up.
This counseling program helped obese children modify their health habits so that they could decrease their scores in the obesity index. It can be concluded that problem-solving counseling enhanced problem-solving abilities of obese children, which could help modify their ordinary health habits.
The purpose of this study was to develop a program promoting adjustment to hospital life and determining its effectiveness for school aged children.
The sample group consisted of 76 hospitalized children in 2 University Hospitals located in Busan. The experimental group was given the program on admission and feedback was obtained on the 3rd day and again 24 hours later. Data was analyzed using t-test and ANOVA in the SPSS program package.
There were significant differences, in information(t=4.235, p=0.000) and coping effort criteria (t=2.922, p=0.005) between the experimental and control groups. There was a non-significant difference in attitude criteria between the two groups(t=1.009, p=0.316).
It was found that the adjustment promoting program for hospital life for school aged children was effective, but not enough to promote self-esteem. The program, based on a learning theory, was improved and shown to be an effective and strong method to promote adjustment of school-aged children.