Effects of a Physical Activity Educational Intervention on Upper-Body Abnormalities, BMI and Quality of Life among Female Obese Middle- School Students

Background: Finding educational program for correcting skeletal abnormalities and improving quality of life among obese adolescents is of great importance. Therefore, the present study employed a protocol centered on physical activity and exercise to assess its effectiveness in rectifying upper body abnormalities (forward head posture and kyphosis), BMI, and the quality of life of female obese middle-school students.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental investigation. The study participants were 42 female obese middle-school students in Tehran, Iran, during the 2023-2024 academic year, aged between 12 and 15 years, who were randomly assigned into the experimental or control groups. The intervention consisted of a 60 minutes program over a period of 12 weeks, including a structured corrective exercise regimen followed by a Pilates training. Upper-body abnormalities (forward head and kyphosis), BMI, and quality of life were measured using standard tools. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA.Results: In the baseline, the results showed no significant differences between the groups concerning forward head posture (51.57 vs. 51.09, P=0.623), kyphosis (51.33 vs. 51.42, P=0.920), BMI (32.46 vs. 32.87, P=0.559), and quality of life (47.47 vs. 48.28, P=0.854). However, the results showed that the intervention had a significant impact on forward head posture (39.80 vs. 51.28, P<0.001), kyphosis (38.42 vs. 51.52, P<0.001), BMI (29.57 vs. 32.95, P<0.001), and quality of life (57.14 vs. 48.71, P<0.001).Conclusions: Given the favorable impacts of corrective and Pilates exercise modality on physical well-being and life quality, it is plausible that such exercises could serve as a viable intervention for ameliorating obesity-related deformities in affected individuals.