Abstract
This study was a research study to find out the real picture and practice of student obesity control by primary, middle and high school school nurses. The study sampled 196 school nurses working in the Busan City and Northern Gyungsang Province, who agreed on the purpose of the study. When it comes to the study process, at the meeting of the whole school nurses, the researcher explained the purpose of the study and asked them to complete questionnaires and return on the spot. The study is designed to provide basic data for school nurses in field to systematically and efficiently control student obesity by examining perception of school obesity control and the real picture or practice of obesity control as well as its problems. The study used SPSS 10.0 to analyze data. The results are as follows: Annual plans about obesity control appeared significant at the primary school, 89.3%, higher than 77.3% of the middle and high school(p<0.05). Annual project evaluation showed a significant difference by regions, 56.0% of metro cities vs. small cities(p<0.01). The number of measuring weight of obese students was higher at the primary school than at the middle and high school(p<0.05). Also small cities conducted the weight measurement more often than metro cities(p<0.001). Among the health education methods for obesity, counseling appeared statistically significant(p<.01). The health education showed a significant difference in more experienced school nurses. Among the educational media, environment postings were used at the primary school, 24.0%, higher than 5.3% of the middle and high school. It showed a significant difference(p<.001). OHP or epidiascopes were used at the primary school, 36.4%, significantly higher than the middle and high school(p<.001). In addition, computer was used at the primary school, 21.5%, higher than the middle and high school(p<.05). Problems of obesity education data included a lack of textbooks and programs and a short of educational media. However it didnt show a significant difference in schools or in regions. Counseling activities for obesity showed a significant difference in schools(p<.01) and in regions(p<.001). When parents with obese students were in counseling, those in their 20s used home correspondence and those in their 30s and 40s used phone call(p<.01). The rate of equipment to measure obesity was higher at the middle and high school than the primary school, showing a significant difference(p<.001). Therefore, regular health education curriculums for school nurses should be systematically created to promote student health. Furthermore, it needs to make standard textbooks for health education by grades as well as by levels and to develop various educational programs and educational media.