Impact of a six-month empowerment-based exercise intervention programme in non-physically active adolescent Swedish girls

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated changes in self-efficacy in non-physically active adolescent girls (13–19 years old) who participated in a six-month, empowerment-based exercise intervention programme (EIP). Design: The study used a pre- and post-test randomized group design and included one pre- and one post-test (at six months) and non-physically active adolescent girls ( N = 110) were assigned to an intervention group ( n = 54) or a comparison group ( n = 56). Setting: Two upper secondary schools and five secondary schools, located in the low socio-economic areas of two communities in southern Sweden were involved in the study. Method: The Swedish version of a 10-item General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES) and the Social Barriers to Exercise Self-efficacy Questionnaire (SPBESQ) were used. In addition, BMI and results from a physical fitness test were measured. For statistical analysis, the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Wilcoxon’s matched-pairs signed-rank test were used. Results: Analysis showed a statistically significant difference in GSES scores ( p = 0.037) between the groups after the EIP was implemented. Girls in the intervention group had increased their levels of general perceived self-efficacy ( p = 0.004). Both groups increased their level of physical fitness (intervention, p = 0.06 and control, p = 0.013). BMI increased in the control group ( p = 0.031). Conclusions: The EIP had an impact on adolescent girls’ general perceived self-efficacy and can be regarded as an outcome of empowerment that indicates the development of the adolescent girls’ ability to effectively deal with a variety of stressful situations in general.

How effective are interventions at reducing socioeconomic inequalities in obesity among children and adults? Two systematic reviews

“…The included studies were of varying study designs, with 42 48,50,53,54,[57][58][59]62,63,[67][68][69]71,[73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81]83,84,86,87,89,90,[93][94][95][96][97]98,102,103,[106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119]124 experimental (largely cluster trials) and 34 [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]49,51,…”

“…studies seldom reported means and standard deviations), it was possible to conduct meta-analysis for only a small subset of interventions in this category (n = 13 targeted interventions). The fifty-two studies are therefore synthesised narratively in terms of whether they followed a universal (n = 16 44,45,57,64,[74][75][76][77]86,88,[96][97][98][100][101][102]104,105 ) or a targeted (n = 36 54,56,[58][59][60][61][62][63][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85]87,[89][90][91][92][93][94][95]99,103,106 ) approach. The results are also summarised in Table 41 (universal-approach studies) and …”

“…Sixteen 44,45,57,64,[74][75][76][77]86,88,[96][97][98][100][101][102]104,105 followed a universal approach and either included subgroup analysis of different SES groups or explored associations between SES and intervention outcomes. The remaining 36 studies 55,56,[58][59][60][61][62][63][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85]87,[89][90][91][92][93][94][95]99,101,103,106 were targeted at low-SES or disadvantaged groups or areas.…”

“…Of the remaining studies there was one each from Israel, 73 the Netherlands, 63 Peru, 89 Sweden, 68 New Zealand, 77 Finland 98 and the UK. 91,92 Five studies were published in foreign-language journals, 45,65,66,74,87 although two of the studies also had results published in English-language journals.…”

“…Twenty-three 58,59,62,63,[67][68][69]71,73,[78][79][80]81,83,84,[87][88][89][90][93][94][95]103,106 experimental studies followed a targeted approach ( Table 8). Eleven 58,59,63,67,73,81,83,89,93,94,103 examined interventions that targeted both diet and physical activity behaviours; 10 68,69,71,78,80,84,88,90,95,106 investigated interventions that targeted physical activity and sedentary behaviours only; and two 62,79 investigated interventions targeting diet behaviours only.…”