An investigation of factors affecting elementary school students' BMI values based on the system dynamics modeling

Comput Math Methods Med. 2014:2014:575424. doi: 10.1155/2014/575424. Epub 2014 Feb 20.

Abstract

This study used system dynamics method to investigate the factors affecting elementary school students' BMI values. The construction of the dynamic model is divided into the qualitative causal loop and the quantitative system dynamics modeling. According to the system dynamics modeling, this study consisted of research on the four dimensions: student's personal life style, diet-relevant parenting behaviors, advocacy and implementation of school nutrition education, and students' peer interaction. The results of this study showed that students with more adequate health concepts usually have better eating behaviors and consequently have less chance of becoming obese. In addition, this study also verified that educational attainment and socioeconomic status of parents have a positive correlation with students' amounts of physical activity, and nutrition education has a prominent influence on changing students' high-calorie diets.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Body Mass Index*
  • Child
  • Child Nutrition Sciences
  • Computer Simulation
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Humans
  • Life Style
  • Pediatric Obesity / diagnosis
  • Pediatric Obesity / epidemiology*
  • Pediatric Obesity / prevention & control*
  • Schools
  • Social Class
  • Software
  • Students
  • Systems Theory