Abstract
BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to examine the effects of actual weight status, perceived weight status and body satisfaction on self-esteem and depression in a high school population in Turkey.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 2101 tenth-grade Turkish adolescents aged 15–18 was conducted. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using weight and height measures. The overweight and obesity were based on the age- and gender-spesific BMI cut-off points of the International Obesity Task Force values. Self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and depression was measured using Children's Depression Inventory. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine relationships among the variables.ResultsBased on BMI cut-off points, 9.0% of the students were overweight and 1.1% were obese. Logistic regression analysis indicated that (1) being male and being from a higher socio-economical level were important in the prediction of overweight based on BMI; (2) being female and being from a higher socio-economical level were important in the prediction of perceived overweight; (3) being female was important in the prediction of body dissatisfaction; (4) body dissatisfaction was related to low self-esteem and depression, perceived overweight was related only to low self-esteem but actual overweight was not related to low self-esteem and depression in adolescents.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that school-based adolescents in urban Turkey have a lower risk of overweight and obesity than adolescents in developed countries. The findings of this study suggest that psychological well-being of adolescents is more related to body satisfaction than actual and perceived weight status is.
Highlights
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to examine the effects of actual weight status, perceived weight status and body satisfaction on self-esteem and depression in a high school population in Turkey
Comparison of cross-sectional data from Israel, United States and 13 European countries has shown that the prevalence of overweight, defined as a Body mass index (BMI) above the 85th centile and below 95th centile varied between 5.2% and 28.9% for boys and 8.1% and 31.0% for girls; the prevalence of obesity defined as a BMI above 95th centile varied between 1.9% and 13.9% for boys and 1.1% and 15.1% for girls among adolescents [5]
Based on BMI, 9.0% of the students were overweight and 1.1% were obese, 15.2% of the students perceived themselves as fat and 47.2% of the students were dissatisfied with their body
Summary
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to examine the effects of actual weight status, perceived weight status and body satisfaction on self-esteem and depression in a high school population in Turkey. It is a well-recognised fact that obesity is a major public health problem in the world, and the prevalence of obesity is increasing in both developed and developing countries [1,2]. Dissatisfaction with body and discrimination may aggravate the social and emotional consequences of overweight in this age group [18]
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