The effect of an educational intervention on physical activity of adolescent girls: a quasi-experimental study

Background Physical inactivity as one of the most prevalent behaviors is a predictive factor of noncommunicable diseases. Objective This study aimed to assess the effect of an educational intervention on the levels of physical activity among Iranian adolescent girls. Methods This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2022 in District 16 of Tehran, Iran. The study was conducted on 100 female high school students from four schools which were selected using random cluster sampling. The educational intervention included weekly 45-min intervention sessions for 1 month in the form of giving lectures, exchanging questions and answers, distributing educational pamphlets, and playing educational films. The contents of pamphlets and films were about the importance of physical activity and different social, environmental, family, economic, psychological, and personal barriers that may decrease the willing of students for doing physical activity. Results The mean age of participants in the intervention and control groups was 13.2 ± 0.97 and 13.9 ± 0.81, respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean scores of educational, economic, familial, personal, social, psychological, and environmental constructs in the intervention and control groups at baseline. A significant reduction was found in the intervention group compared to the control group regarding all physical activity barriers including awareness, education, social, environmental, family, economic, psychological, self-efficacy, and individual factors (All P < 0.01). The level of physical activity was also improved in the intervention group ( P < 0.001). Conclusion The results indicated that implementing an educational intervention based on barriers of physical activity may improve physical activity behaviors.