Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Effect of educational intervention on physical activityrelated knowledge, attitude and behavior of among first-grade students of male high schools

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Mohtasham Ghaffari
. Gholamreza Sharifirad 1
. Esmaeil Malekmakan 2
. Akbar Hassanzadeh 3

1 Departments of Health Education and Promotion

2 Bavanat Hazrate Vali-Asr (AJ) Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz

3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
Introduction: Regular physical activity has positive effects on physical, mental and social
aspects of individual and community health. Considering the prevalence of noncommunicable
diseases such as primary hypertension, osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases for which
sedentary lifestyle is a responsible factor, health policy makers have planned to encourage
people to do more physical activities. Development of beneficial health habits during childhood
and early adolescence are very important because the behaviors, which start at adolescence
tend to continue into adulthood, too. This study aimed to determine the effect of educational
intervention on physical activity-related knowledge, attitude and behavior of the first grade
students in male high schools of Bavanat in 2010. Materials and Methods: In this prospective
experimental study, after selecting two qualified schools from five high schools, all students of
one school (two classes including 42 individuals) were randomly assigned to the experimental
group and all the students of another high school (two classes including 43 individuals) were
randomly assigned to the control group. The data gathering tool was a 4-section questionnaire
which included demographic questions, knowledge- and attitude-related questions and the
questionnaire of physical activity performance. The first three sections of the questionnaire
were the researcher-designed and validated by face and content validity. Test-retest and internal
consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha) methods were used to determine the reliability of knowledge
questionnaire and attitude questionnaire, respectively. For the measurement of physical activity
behavior, a self-reporting questionnaire (valid and reliable Garcia scale) was used in this study.
After conducting the pretest, the educational intervention was done for the experimental group.
Post-tests were conducted immediately and 1 month after intervention. The collected data were
analyzed using SPSS18 statistical software (independent t-test, paired t-test, chi-square, MannWhitney test and repeated measures ANOVA). The participants voluntarily and consciously
participated in this study. Results: The findings indicated no significant differences between the
groups in terms of mean scores of knowledge
(P = 0.934), attitude (P = 0.155) and behavior
(P = 0.387) before the intervention. There
was a significant difference between mean
scores of knowledge in the immediate
follow-up (P< 0.001) and 1 month after
intervention follow-up (P < 0.001), and also
between mean scores of attitude immediately
(P < 0.001) and 1 month after intervention
(P = 0.01) follow-ups in the experimental
group compared with the control one. Mean
scores of physical activity 1 month after the
intervention in both experimental and control groups significantly increased (P < 0.001, P = 0.01, respectively), but the mean scores of
physical activity between two groups were not significantly different (P = 0.390). Discussion and
Conclusion: The results indicated the effectiveness of educational intervention, consequently
increased knowledge and improved attitude of students, in the experimental group compared
with the control one in terms of physical activities; thus, physical activity behavior of intervention
group increased. Although the mean scores of physical activity in the control group significantly
increased, other studies should be done which can control and consider confounding variables.

Keywords

Attitude
behavior
knowledge
physical activity
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 3, Issue 1
January 2013
Pages 1-8

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