Association between self-esteem and perception of body image in college students

Abstract

Self-esteem and body image play an important role in the current epidemic of overweight. The goal of this work is to associate self-esteem with self-perception of body image among college students. For this a cross-sectional study was carried out in 2014 among students from Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí. 1002 surveys were held, of which 52.86% were women with an average age of 21 years (17-45 years). 79.9% of students had high self-esteem, 11.6% normal self-esteem and 8.5% low self-esteem. 27.1% of respondents perceived themselves in malnutrition, 32.96% in a suitable weight and 39.96% in overweight or obese. We found a negative correlation between self-esteem and body perception (p = 0.008), i.e., the higher self-esteem the lesser weight perceived among participants. Having high self-esteem is a protective factor for obesity perception (p = 0.042). Self-esteem and body awareness are associated.