Papers by shanmuga nathan Selvaraj
Obesity and overweight is one of the major burden of chronic disease around the globe. In India a... more Obesity and overweight is one of the major burden of chronic disease around the globe. In India around 135 million people were affected by obesity, its emerging as a major health problem because of change is lifestyle, food habits and sedentary activities. This study aims to find out the gap in communication about obesity and overweight related information in newspaper. As Print media is still a most trusted source of health related information for the mass audience in India. Content of obesity related newspaper articles from two most circulated regional newspapers in Tamil Nadu were analysed for a period of three months. The study employed Parallel process Model to analysis 14 obesity related articles out of 104 health related articles. The survey questionnaire were framed based on Health Belief Model were circulated among the newspaper readers from Chennai to find out their knowledge about obesity and the health behavioural changes. Most obesity related Tamil newspaper articles co...
BACKGROUND The prevalence of obesity in India is increasing at an alarming rate. Obesity-related ... more BACKGROUND The prevalence of obesity in India is increasing at an alarming rate. Obesity-related mHealth apps have proffered an exciting opportunity to remotely deliver obesity-related information. This opportunity raises the question of whether such apps are truly effective. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify existing obesity-related mHealth apps in India and evaluate the potential of the apps’ contents to promote health behavior change. This study also aimed to discover the general quality of obesity-related mHealth apps. METHODS A systematic search for obesity-related mHealth apps was conducted in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. The features and quality of the sample apps were assessed using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) and the potential of the sample apps’ contents to promote health behavior change was assessed using the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model (PPM). RESULTS A total of 13 apps (11 from the Google Play Store and 2 from the Apple App S...
JMIR, 2022
Background: The prevalence of obesity in India is increasing at an alarming rate. Obesity-related... more Background: The prevalence of obesity in India is increasing at an alarming rate. Obesity-related mHealth apps have proffered an exciting opportunity to remotely deliver obesity-related information. This opportunity raises the question of whether such apps are truly effective. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify existing obesity-related mHealth apps in India and evaluate the potential of the apps' contents to promote health behavior change. This study also aimed to discover the general quality of obesity-related mHealth apps. Methods: A systematic search for obesity-related mHealth apps was conducted in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. The features and quality of the sample apps were assessed using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) and the potential of the sample apps' contents to promote health behavior change was assessed using the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model (PPM). Results: A total of 13 apps (11 from the Google Play Store and 2 from the Apple App Store) were considered eligible for the study. The general quality of the 13 apps assessed using MARS resulted in mean scores ranging from 1.8 to 3.7. The bivariate Pearson correlation between the MARS rating and app user rating failed to establish statistically significant results. The multivariate regression analysis result indicated that the PPM factors are significant determinants of health behavior change (F 3,9 =63.186; P<.001) and 95.5% of the variance (R 2 =0.955; P<.001) in the dependent variable (health behavior change) can be explained by the independent variables (PPM factors). Conclusions: In general, mHealth apps are found to be more effective when they are based on theory. The presence of PPM factors in an mHealth app can greatly influence the likelihood of health behavior change among users. So, we suggest mHealth app developers consider this to develop efficient apps. Also, mHealth app developers should consider providing health information from credible sources and indicating the sources of the information, which will increase the perceived credibility of the apps among the users. We strongly recommend health professionals and health organizations be involved in the development of mHealth apps. Future research should include mHealth app users to understand better the apps' effectiveness in bringing about health behavior change.
Obesity and overweight is one of the major burden of chronic disease around the globe. In India a... more Obesity and overweight is one of the major burden of chronic disease around the globe. In India around 135 million people were affected by obesity, its emerging as a major health problem because of change is lifestyle, food habits and sedentary activities. This study aims to find out the gap in communication about obesity and overweight related information in newspaper. As Print media is still a most trusted source of health related information for the mass audience in India. Content of obesity related newspaper articles from two most circulated regional newspapers in Tamil Nadu were analysed for a period of three months. The study employed Parallel process Model to analysis 14 obesity related articles out of 104 health related articles. The survey questionnaire were framed based on Health Belief Model were circulated among the newspaper readers from Chennai to find out their knowledge about obesity and the health behavioural changes. Most obesity related Tamil newspaper articles concentrated on the impact of obesity only on physical health. The consumers believe that the major cause of obesity is junk food and they are highly aware about the physical health issues caused by obesity rather that the mental, sexual and social issues which affirms that their awareness on susceptibility and severity of obesity rely on newspaper articles. Some articles provided information regarding the approaches to overcome the disorders caused by obesity. Most articles did not provide enough information to create threat so even the consumers who pay more attention to such articles are still not practicing any health behavioural changes. None of the analysed obesity related articles were gender specific yet women consumers were found to be more knowledgeable on obesity related information than men consumers.
Research Journey international multidisciplinary e-research Journal, 2019
Obesity is one of the major health threat globally and a well-known risk factor for multiple dise... more Obesity is one of the major health threat globally and a well-known risk factor for multiple diseases. The study attempted to explore the knowledge of women towards obesity related information on media and their attitude towards obesity control activities. The study employed Health Belief Model (HBM) to investigate the association between susceptibility, severity, barrier, cue to action, benefits' of not to be obese and self-efficacy with demographical variables and media usage behaviour. Data of women (N=149) from a particular geographical location (Chennai) was collected through digital questionnaire. The data analysis results specified that frequency of obesity related information in traditional media is comparatively less than social media. All the variables of HBM altogether helped to increase the intention to do exercise and eat healthy food but independently some variables of HBM had no significance on healthy eating and exercise, also Body Mass Index(BMI) of person had no significance on behavioural intentions. The findings supported that HBM constructs to higher knowledge of information about a disease.
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Papers by shanmuga nathan Selvaraj