Ege Üniversitesi Hemşirelik Yüksekokulu Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları Hemşireliği AD, İzmir

The prevalence of overweight and obese children is increasing. Obesity is often defined as “an excess of body fat that frequently results in a significant impairment of health“. Self esteem, on the other hand, is considered to be a vital process in the individual’s psychological development. This descriptive study aims to analyze the differences between the levels of self esteem in obese and normal weight children. The study was authorized by Ege University Nursing School Ethics Board as well as the institutions which participated in the study. The children were also informed about the purposes of the study and their voluntary participation was assured. The study sample consisted of 50 obese children who were being treated in a university hospital and 50 normal weight children who were attending to a primary school between 15 February 2007 and 30 May 2007. The participants aged between 9-15 years, and the study groups were socio-demographically homogenous. The data were collected by using a questionnaire form designed by the researchers and Coopersmith’s Self-Esteem Scale. The results of the study illustrated no statistically significant difference between the levels of self esteem in obese and normal weight children (p >0.05). Body image and self esteem are proved to be important in adolescence when children care relatively much about their appearance. Therefore, it can be concluded that the participants in our study were not focused on their appearance and they were not experiencing dramatic drops in self-esteem simply because they were still school children entering early adolescence.