Obesity and Self-Esteem among School Adolescent Students, Alexandria City, Egypt

Background: Obesity and low self-esteem are prevalent disorders among adolescents. Tackling this relationship may introduce effective intervention that promotes healthy adolescence. Objectives: to measure the prevalence of overweight and obesity and identify its relation with self-esteem among school adolescents. Method: A cross sectional study was carried out on 533 adolescents selected by multistage cluster sample. The students completed a structured questionnaire on dietary habits, physical activity and self-esteem. Self-esteem was assessed using Rosenberg Scale. Their anthropometric measurements (weight and height) were recorded. Results: 26.5% of adolescents are overweight and 13.3% are obese. Lack of physical activity is the only significant life style factor associated with overweight and obesity. There is a negative statistically significant correlation between self-esteem score and BMI among the adolescent students (r= -0.33 P=0.04) and significant association between overweight and obesity and low self-esteem (p=0.047). Conclusion: More than one fourth of adolescents are suffering from overweight and obesity. Obese adolescents tend to have lower self-esteem. Recommendations: Incorporating healthy behaviors and healthy life style in the curricula of adolescents to promote their mental health is mandatory. Further studies to investigate other risk factors of low self-esteem are needed.