فهرست مطالب

School Health - Volume:8 Issue: 3, Summer 2021

International Journal of School Health
Volume:8 Issue: 3, Summer 2021

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1400/05/24
  • تعداد عناوین: 8
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  • Parisa Sayyadi, Rahman Sheikhhoseini*, Hashem Piri Pages 134-143

    Context: 

    Carrying a backpack with an inappropriate weight and non-optimal postures play a pivotal role in developing musculoskeletal pain. Studies have shown that school bags affect muscle activity and biomechanical variables in children and adolescents. Accordingly, the present study aimed to systematically review the effect of school bags on electromyographic activity of muscles and kinematic and kinetic parameters during walking in Iranian students.

    Methods

     Relevant articles were searched through Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, MagIran, and SID databases. Original articles in Persian and English published in peer-review journals were selected without time limitation. Eligible studies were divided based on various biomechanical factors that were examined.

    Results

     A total of 1975 articles were found in the mentioned databases. Twelve studies were eligible based on the inclusion criteria in this study. In general, it seems as though weight, type, the height of placement of schoolbag, slope of the surface, and the manner of carrying the schoolbag had significant effects on the trunk, neck, ankle, and knee angles, length and frequency of steps, symmetry index, and vertical forces. Additionally, the weight and type of the bag had significant effects on the electromyographic activity of rectus abdominus, paraspinal, and lower limb muscles.

    Conclusions

     Factors such as weight, the slope of the surface, method of carrying, and schoolbag height of placement could affect the kinetic and kinematic variables whereas the weight of the bag and the type of school bag could affect the electromyographic activity of the muscles in Iranian students.

    Keywords: Lifting, Posture, Electromyography, Students
  • Stephanie Camhi *, Lisa Richman, Nada Cory Pages 144-150
    Background

    School gardens are exemplary learning environments for providing hands-on nutrition and health education, promoting time outdoors, and developing collaborative skills. However, randomized controlled trials of school gardening programming to provide evidence of the robust benefits to child health can be time consuming and costly. We therefore sought to develop an inter-professional framework for continuous quality improvement (QI) of school gardening programming to improve health outcomes while limiting program implementation and evaluation costs.

    Methods

    This QI cohort study took place in two elementary schools and served 75 students in Palm Beach County, Florida during the 2019-2020 academic year. Students participating in a non-profit sponsored after-school gardening club completed investigator-designed pre- and post-assessments from which unique lessons pertaining to health and food literacy were developed to target knowledge deficits. We present a lesson pertaining to harvesting, preparing, and sampling foods as an exemplar for this framework. Paired and independent samples t-tests and chi-squared tests were used to compare student learning outcomes.

    Results

    Twenty-seven students (36%) participated in the harvest lesson, which led to marginal improvement in overall food literacy compared to non-participants (X2=3.6, P=0.057).Considering cumulative garden club activities, club participation improved students’ likelihood to individually prepare fresh fruits and vegetables (P=0.002).

    Conclusion

    This project provides an important framework for inter-professional collaboration to engage in QI of small-scale school gardening programs. Future work should focus on the creation and implementation of further lessons to develop a full, individualized, health-oriented curriculum that optimizes learning outcomes, and thereby health, for elementary-aged children.

    Keywords: School garden, Food literacy, Health Literacy, Gardening, Quality Improvement
  • Nooshin Nesaee *, Gholamreza Sharifzadeh, Mahya Hoseini, Kokab Namakin Pages 151-157
    Background

    Childhood obesity is associated with cardiovascular risk factors including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. Some studies have also shown that mortality in obese people is higher than in other non-obese people. Due to the prevalence of obesity and the need to investigate the causes of atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and other related disorders, we tried to assess the serum levels of osteoprotein, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol in obese and non-obese children.

    Methods

    In this case-control study, we randomly selected 76 students aged 12-18 years in Birjand schools in 2019 and stratified them into obese and overweight groups as the case arm and non-obese groups as the control arm. We used a “Secca” height-weight scale with an accuracy of 50 grams and 0.1 cm to measure the children’s height and weight. The children’s venous blood samples were collected and the sera were isolated. The following kits were licensed in Germany and made in China: The Roche kit for cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose, the Diametra kit for insulin, and the Eastbiopharm kit for osteoprotegerin. For analyses of data, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney and Chi-square test were used. The significance level for all the test was less than 5%.

    Results

    Both case and control groups were similar in terms of age and sex (P>0.05). The mean serum levels of triglycerides, cholesterol, insulin, and glucose in the case group were significantly higher than in the control group (p <0.05). The mean osteoprotegerin level was significantly lower in the case group than in the control group (p <0.05).

    Conclusion

    Obese children have a higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, and other metabolic disorders.

    Keywords: Obesity, Osteoprotegerin, Insulin, Triglyceride, Cholesterol
  • Amir Dana *, Sedigheh Khajehaflaton, MirHamid Salehian, Sepideh Sarvari Pages 158-166
    Background

    An important issue for pediatric health is to understand how to enhance the level of physical activity of children and adolescents during the pandemic. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of a physical education- based online intervention on promoting motivation and physical activity of adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Methods

    The present study used an experimental design with pre-test and post-test conducted in Iran, 2020. The participants were 68 high school students who were randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. The participants of the intervention group were exposed to a three-month intervention based on Self-Determination theory within the online physical education classes while those in the control group followed their regular online physical education classes. Perceived autonomy support, motivation, intention, and physical activity behavior were measured using standard questionnaires. Independent t test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were utilized to analyze the data.

    Results

    The pre-test showed that the participants of both groups had similar perceived autonomy support, motivation, intention, and physical activity behavior at baseline. However, the participants in the intervention group reported higher perceived autonomy support (3.2 vs. 1.48, p <0.001), motivation (3.03 vs. 1.49, p <0.001), intention (2.75 vs. 1.51, p <0.001), and physical activity level (2.4 vs. 1.11, p <0.001) in the post-test in comparison to those in the control group.

    Conclusions

    These results highlighted the importance of developing strategies in online physical education classes for improving motivation and physical activity level of adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Keywords: COVID-19, Exercise, Intervention, Motivation, Adolescents
  • Zeynab Eskandari, Saeed Bakhtiarpour *, Zahra Dasht Bozorgi Pages 167-175
    Background

    Lack of social competence (SC) and cognitive failure (CF) could cause depression in children with specific learning disabilities (SLD) and affect their academic performance (AP). The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of depression associated with social competence, cognitive failures and academic performance in students with specific learning disabilities.

    Methods

    The statistical population of this descriptive correlational study consisted of all female students within the age range of 10 to 12 with SLD in the academic year 2020-2021 in Ahvaz, Iran, among whom 178 were selected as the sample through cluster sampling. The research tools included academic performance, the Social Competence Scale (SCS), the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ), and the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). The evaluation of the proposed research model was performed using the path analysis method via SPSS and AMOS software version 24.

    Results

    The results indicated that all direct paths to AP were significant (P=0.001), except for that of CF (P=0.111). The mediating role of depression did not show a significant association between the indirect path of SC and AP (P= 0.135). However, the mediating role of depression caused a significant association between the indirect path of CF and AP (P=0.010).

    Conclusion

    The results herein revealed that the proposed model achieved a desirable fit, which is considered to be a crucial step toward understanding the factors affecting the AP of students with SLD.

    Keywords: Specific learning disabilities, Academic Performance, Social competence, Cognitive failure, depression
  • Ebrahim Rahbar Karbasdehi *, Abbas Ali Hosseinkhanzadeh, Fatemeh Rahbar Karbasdehi Pages 176-183
    Background

    Adolescents with leukemia experience a variety of physical and psychological stresses that affect their quality of life. Given the association of resilience and existential anxiety with cancer, one of the methods to help adolescents with leukemia is through dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of DBT on psychological resilience and existential anxiety in adolescents with leukemia.

    Methods

    This quasi-experimental study included a pretest / posttest design and a control group. The study sample consisted of 38 adolescents with leukemia living in Rasht City, Guilan Province, Iran (2019); the participants were selected by a simple random sampling and were randomized into an experimental and a control group. Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Existential Anxiety Inventory (EAI) were used for data collection before and after the intervention. A 12-session DBT was performed for the experimental group, but the control group received no treatment. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for data analysis.

    Results

    The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of the post-test scores for personal competence, strengthening effect of stress, positive acceptance of change, perceptions of control, spiritual influences, and existential anxiety were respectively 29.83 ± 2.28, 24.47 ± 2.51, 17.58 ± 2.19, 10.82 ± 2.47, 6.96 ± 2.14, and 11.75 ± 2.65 in the experimental group and 13.81 ± 2.31, 12.61 ± 2.84, 9.97 ± 2.45, 4.28 ± 1.66, 3.74 ± 1.19, and 22.31 ± 2.23 in the control group. The results indicated that the DBT improved the psychological resilience and existential anxiety in adolescents with leukemia (p <0.001).

    Conclusions

    DBT can be an appropriate therapy for reducing the anxiety in adolescents with leukemia and increasing the resilience in people with chronic diseases; it can also result in life satisfaction among adolescents. This research confirms the fundamental importance of the above facts for education and mental health of adolescents.

    Keywords: Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Resilience, Psychological, Anxiety, Leukemia
  • MehdiGholi Gholidahaneh, Saeed Ghorbani*, Akram Esfahaninia Pages 184-191
    Background

     One of the most important issues in students’ health is examining ways to motivate them to participate in physical activity and sports. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine a hybrid model of motivational and social beliefs’ processes based on the self-determination theory and the theory of planned behavior on the participation of children students in physical activity.

    Methods

     In the present study, a descriptive-correlation approach was used. The participants were 516 primary school students from Gonbad Kavoos, Iran, 2019. Data were collected via Sport Motivation Scale, Components of the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Leisure-Time Physical Activity Behavior Scale. Structural equation method was employed to analyze the data.

    Results

     Findings revealed that autonomous motivation significantly affected attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (all T>1.96). In addition, these components had significant impacts on intention to physical activity (all T>1.96). Moreover, the intention to physical activity significantly affected leisure-time physical activity (T>1.96). Additionally, autonomous motivation significantly affected the intention to physical activity through mediation with attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (all p <0.001). Finally, these components had significant effects on the actual physical activity behavior through mediation with intention to physical activity (all p <0.001).

    Conclusions

     Based on our findings, it could be stated that the motivational factors proposed in the theory of self- determination affect the willingness of primary school students to participate in physical activity through mediation by attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.

    Keywords: Motivation, Attitude, Subjective norms, Perceived behavioral control, Physical activity
  • Mansour Beyrami, Abbas Bakhshipour, Yousef Zohdi Pages 192-199
    Background

     During adolescence, developmental changes related to pleasure structures in brain, and emotion dysregulation may lead to an increase of involvement in addictive behaviors. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the role of cognitive emotion regulation in drug-seeking behaviors in students.

    Methods

     The present correlational study was conducted in 2021. The subjects included 320 students aged 13 to 17, who participated in this study after our announcement in schools of Tabriz city, Iran. We used the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire and tendency to drug use scale for data collection. For data analysis, the correlations of the variables were primarily calculated via Pearson correlation method. Afterwards, we used the stepwise multiple regression analysis for prediction of dependent variable.

    Results

     Acceptance strategy (coefficient= -0.124, P= 0.001), positive refocusing (coefficient= -0.133, P= 0.001), refocusing on planning (coefficient= -0.108, P= 0.02), positive reappraisal (coefficient= -0.589, P= 0.03), and putting into perspective (coefficient= -0.144, P = 0.001) could predict negatively the tendency to drug use in adolescents. Additionally, self-blame strategy (coefficient= 0.114, P= 0.002), other-blame (coefficient= 0.283, P= 0.001), rumination (coefficient= 0.142, P = 0.001), catastrophizing (coefficient= 0.180, P= 0.002) were found to be able to predict the tendency to drug use in adolescents.

    Conclusion

     The obtained findings revealed that maladaptive cognitive emotional regulation strategies are associated with drug-seeking behaviors in students.

    Keywords: Emotion regulation, Drugs abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Students