Effects of Nutritional Education and Physical Exercise Program on Nutritional and Health Status of Obese Children in Busan Metropolitan City

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a nutritional education and physical exercise program on obese children (47 boys and 36 girls). The nutritional education and physical exercise program was provided for 6 weeks and dietary habits, nutrient intake and hematological profiles were measured before and after the program. The BMI (body mass index, $kg/m^2$) in male children was significantly reduced to $24.58{\pm}2.81$ from $25.89{\pm}3.27$ (p<0.01) and it was significantly reduced to $24.29{\pm}3.51$ from $25.21{\pm}3.59$ in female children after the completion of nutritional education and exercise program. Body fat in male children was remarkably reduced to $32.69{\pm}7.74%$ after education from $37.38{\pm}9.21%$ (p<0.001). After the program total cholesterol concentration in male children was reduced to $176.48{\pm}29.10\;mg/dL$ from $196.03{\pm}29.10\;mg/dL$, whereas there was no significant difference in females before and after the nutritional education and exercise program. The grasping power of male children (p<0.05) and backmuscle strength of male (p<0.05) and female children (p<0.001) were significantly increased after the exercise program. The nutrient intakes that were different before and after the nutrition education were calories (p<0.05) and carbohydrate (p<0.05) in male children, and a significant increase in intake of vitamin A (p<0.05) was found in female children. There was a significant difference in meal time regularity before and after program. The findings of this study showed that there was a significant decrease in both body fat and weight, in addition to normalization of hematological profiles after the completion of nutrition education and physical exercise programs.