The impact of obesity on self-esteem and academic achievement among university students.

Background Previous studies showed that obesity was correlated with many negative social and health outcomes including poor academic achievement and low self-esteem. Purpose To determine the prevalence of obesity and to identify the impact of obesity on self-esteem and academic performance among university students. Method The study used a correlational design to achieve the study objectives. It was conducted at the University of Jordan (UJ). The study population was all university students in at UJ. A convenience sampling technique was conducted to select 419 students. A self-administered questionnaire was designed to collect data from the sample. The body of the questionnaire was divided into two sections: a demographic data section, and the second section aimed to measure the students' self-esteem using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES). Results The response rate in this study was 91.1%. The results showed that 33 students were obese (7.88%), 116 students were overweight (27.68%), 266 students were normal weight (63.48%), and four students were underweight (0.95%). The results showed that there was a significant negative relationship between obesity and self-esteem (total item) (r = -0.231, 0.000*). The results showed that there was a significant negative relationship between obesity and academic achievement (r = -0.131, 0.002). Conclusion There was a significant impact of obesity on the self-esteem and academic performance among university students.