The effect of the virtual education program on the health responsibility of overweight students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Background: The global prevalence of obesity is increasing not only in adults but also in children and adolescents. In addition to the role of genetic and biological factors, policies such as the need for quarantine during the coronavirus epidemic and the family's behavioral and socioeconomic status in causing obesity cannot be ignored. The current research aimed to investigate the effect of virtual education programs on the health responsibility of overweight students during the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Methods: The present semi-experimental research was conducted by selecting 60 obese female high school students by random cluster sampling method (case and control) during 2021-22 in Tehran Province, Iran. The virtual training program (6 sessions of 1.5 hours for 6 groups of 5 people) was conducted based on the topics of nutrition, physical activity, sleep, etc. After 1.5 months, students' BMI was measured and a post-test was done. SPSS version 22 software was used for data analysis. Results: There was no significant change in the BMI of students after the intervention in the control group (p=0.476), but it decreased significantly in the test group (p<0.001). Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference between the average score of health responsibility in the test group (54.63 ) and the control group (53.03 6.79) (P=0.370). After the intervention, the mean difference between the test group (62.56) and the control group (55.10) was statistically significant (P<0.001). Before the intervention, about 70% of the students in both the test and control groups were at a relatively favorable health responsibility level. After the study, the number of students in the test group who were placed at a completely favorable level was almost twice as before, and a statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups(P=0.035). Conclusions: The results of the present study showed that virtual education during the outbreak of COVID-19 has led to an increase in the responsibility for the health of overweight and obese students (in terms of improving health behaviors, increasing the hours of physical activity, and modifying the eating pattern) and reducing the body mass index of students.