The Relationship between the Satisfaction of Body Image and Self-esteem among Obese Adolescents in Abadan, Iran

Objectives: Adolescence is a period of life in which the individuals face many mental problems concerned with mental body image. Obesity could be the cause of dissatisfaction and makes adolescents’ self-esteem to decrease. This study aimed to examine the adolescents’ satisfaction of their body image correlated to their self-esteem. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study all of the boy and girl students (N=8,510) aged 15-17 in Abadan high schools were examined for their body mass index (BMI). Students with BMI above 95% were selected as the research sample. Instruments of the study included: (1) the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ) and (2) the Cooper Smith self-esteem Questionnaire. Individuals’ data also included age, gender, education, parents’ education and parents’ work. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 17. Descriptive and inferential statistics including Chi-Square (χ2), Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses were used. Results: The prevalence of obesity among the adolescents aged 15-17 years was 5.99%. Obese adolescents could be divided into the categories of low (42.2%), moderate (43.9%) and high (13.9%). Low and high self-esteem was found in 63.3% and 36.7% of fat adolescents, respectively. There were significant relationships between the satisfaction of body image with self-esteem (P<0.001) and with BMI (r=-0.093, P=0.036) among fat adolescents. Conclusion: Obesity could be one of the main factors decreasing adolescents’ body image and consequently their self-esteem. Encouraging adolescents to do the exercises and healthy diet could prevent this problem. Further research may be done on this issue around Iran.