Pediatrics & Therapeutics
Open Access

The correlation between body mass index and self-esteem among children ages 9-12 years old in a public elementary school in Makati city, Philippines

3^rd Annual Summit on Clinical Pediatrics and Cardiology & Infancy, Child Nutrition and Development

October 16-18, 2017 New York, USA

Jana F Fragante, Jerickson Abbie S Flores, Jan Jorge M Francisco and Jan Paolo P Dipasupil, Patrick Steven D Damaso, Alfonso L Gutierrez, Kristian Kent T Dela Guerra, Marckie M Escudero, Royce Ann G Estella, Ma Katrina A Evasco, Shaena Gayle S Galang, Jeffrey M Humarang, Ma Luisa Villavicencio and Rogin S Sison

Makati Medical Center, Philippines

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Pediatr Ther

Abstract :

Introduction: Malnutrition is one of the rapidly growing health problems affecting the world at present. Children affected are not only at risk for significant health problems, but also face many psychological and social consequences, including low self-esteem. School age children are specifically vulnerable to develop poor self-esteem especially when their peers find them physically unattractive. Malnutrition whether obesity or under nourishment plays a significant role. Objectives: This research aims to determine if there is a significant difference on the level of self-esteem among Filipino children ages 9-12 years old with abnormal body mass index (BMI) and those children with desirable BMI. Methodology: Using a cross-sectional study design, the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and self-esteem was observed among children ages 9-12 years old. Participants took the Hare self-esteem questionnaire, which is specifically designed to measure self-esteem in school age children. The lowest possible score is 15 and the highest possible score is 45. A total of 1140 students with ages 9-12 years old from Cembo Elementary School (public school) participated in the study. Results & Conclusion: Among the participants, 239 out of the 1140 have desirable body mass index, 878 are underweight, and 23 are overweight. Using the test questionnaire, the computed mean scores were 36.599, 36.045 and 36.583 for normal, underweight and overweight categories respectively. Using Pearson��?s Correlation Test and Spearman��?s Correlation Coefficient Test, the study showed positive correlation (p value of 0.047 and 0.004 respectively) between BMI and Self-esteem scores which implied that the higher the BMI, the higher the self-esteem of the participants.