KOREASCHOLAR

The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of obesity and depression level of obese children on body weight control program. The body weight control program included nutrition education, psychotherapy and exercise for weekly session during 9 months. The results from this study were as follows. A total of 27 obese children participated in this study. The average age of children was 11.7 years, 70% of children had regular exercise. Average exercise time was 1.2 hours and watching television time was 1.8 hours. Children's serum composition were within normal ranges. Rohrer index(RI) was significantly decreased to 163 from 167(p<0.001) and BMI was significantly decreased to 23.9 from 24.5(p<0.01) after body weight control program. There was not significant difference in depression score after body weight control program and there was not significant correlation between obesity and depression level. The response tendency of depression items indicated obese children had negative depression feelings and couldn't have hopeful mind to the future. But there were significant increase(p<0.05) in depression and hopeful mind in factor analysis. The suggestion and limitations of this study were discussed. These results suggest that body weight control program including nutrition education, exercise and psychotherapy may be effective for helping obese children.

• 김경희 | Kim, Kyung-Hee