THE EFFECT OF WALKING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON BODY MASS INDEX IN AN EFFORTS TO PREVENT OBESITY IN ADOLESCENTS AT STATE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 1 KUNDUR

Adolescents; Body Mass Index; Obesity; Physical Activity; Walking

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity in adolescents in Kundur District shows a figure of 13.98% with risk factors in the form of high screen time and low walking activity. This study aims to determine the effect of physical activity of walking on body mass index as an effort to prevent obesity in adolescents at SMA Negeri 1 Kundur. The study design used One Group Pretest-Posttest Design with a population of 336 students and a sample of 36 respondents selected using purposive sampling technique. The inclusion criteria were adolescents with a BMI of 25-27kg/m². The intervention in the form of physical activity of walking for 60 minutes was carried out 4 times a week for 4 weeks. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test and paired t-test. The average BMI value before the intervention was 26.13 0.44kg/m², while after the intervention it became 25.59±0.58kg/m². A total of 29 respondents (80.6%) experienced a decrease in BMI, 7 respondents (19.4%) maintained their BMI, and 5 respondents (13.9%) experienced a change in category from obese to normal. The paired t-test results showed a significant decrease (p-value 0.000< 0.05) with a t-value of 5.984. There is a significant effect of walking physical activity on reducing body mass index in adolescents at SMA Negeri 1 Kundur. Walking physical activity can be an effective intervention to prevent obesity in adolescents by significantly reducing BMI.