The Effect of Motivational Interviewing on Body Mass Index and Self-Esteem in Obese Girl Children

Aim and Obesity in childhood, as a global and growing health problem, is the cause of many chronic diseases in adulthood, which is associated with several socio-psychological problems such as low self-confidence and social isolation. In order to improve the psychosomatic problems of obese children, this study aimed to investigate the effect of motivational interviewing on body mass index (BMI) and self-esteem in obese girls.
Methods and Materials: This experimental study was conducted with experimental and control groups. A pretest and a posttest were performed and the process was followed up for 3 months. The sample was comprised of twenty-four 10-12-year girl students who were obese with BMI more than 25 in 2015. They were selected through cluster-random sampling from a school in the first district of Isfahan city. The mothers of both groups were trained about the principles of healthy feeding in 4 sessions. Psychodrama intervention motivational interviewing was applied only in the experimental group during the six 2-hour sessions of group therapy. The data collection tools consisted of the BMI and Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES). The data were analyzed via analysis of variance with repeated measures.
Findings: The effects of motivational interviewing in BMI and self-esteem of the experimental group were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05).
The therapeutic intervention of motivational interviewing would be helpful in order to reduce the weight of obese children and to increase their self-esteem.