Evaluation of the relationship between obesity, self-esteem and violence at 8TH grade students of public secondary schools in Çankaya district of Ankara

Obesity in adolescents is a public health problem. Obese adolescents have mostly low self-esteem. Bullying/violence decreases self-esteem, high self-esteem prevents bullying/violence. Also, overweight is associated with bullying. In the study, in the holistic view of public health, It is aimed to evaluate the relationship between body mass index(BMI), self-esteem, bullying/violence within the framework of socio-demographic factors in 8th-grade students of Çankaya in Ankara. 1956 students from 35 schools joined the study. Questionnaires were applied under observation. Questions were about some socio-demographic characteristics of students/their families, violence, bullying, healthy living behaviors. Also, self-esteem scale and Physical Activity Scorecard, for height/weight measurements, were used. Analyzes were made in SPSS-23. Descriptive statistics, Chi-Square test, correlation for continuous variables, advanced analysis according to normal distribution, regression, ANOVA, post-hoc analysis were used. Written permissions from the Provincial Directorate of National Education and Ethics committee were obtained. Informed consents of the participants and parents' approvals were obtained before research. Girls are 52.6% of the participants, the average age is 12.84(±0.59). Males are more thin, overweight, obese (p<0.001). 12.0% of the participants faced domestic violence. Frequency of domestic violence still going on is higher at girls (3.9%;p<0.05). 50.9% of the participants are exposed to verbal, 36.4% physical, 34.9% emotional violence. Emotional in girls (39.5%), physical violence in boys (42.4%) are more (p<0.001). 81.9% of students apply verbal, 68.5% physical, 32.9% emotional violence. Boys apply to physical (74.3%), girls emotional violence (36.4%) more (p<0.05). 45% of the students have low self-esteem. Self esteem of girls is lower (49.3%). Thin students (58.0%) exposure to physical violence more than overweight (28.4%)(p<0.001). Normal weight students (21.5%) exert emotional violence more than thin (8.6%)(p<0.05). Being bully or victim increase each other (p<0.001). Self-esteem decreases with domestic violence (p<0.001). Low self-esteem group is more exposed to violence (p<0.001), exerts more (p<0.001). Normal weight students are exposed to physical violence and overweight are not exposed to physical violence have low self-esteem (p<0.05). Overweight are not exposed to emotional violence have lower self-esteem (p<0.05). There is a significant relationship between behaviors of physical violence and BMI in both low/high self-esteem (p<0.05). Obes students have low self-esteem and thin students have high self-esteem exert more physical violence (p<0.05). In literature, there are not enough studies in relation of violence/bullying-BMI-self-esteem. The impact of BMI, self-esteem and violence on each other are important. An assessment of this relationship is necessary to develop effective interventions. Key Words: Obesity; Bullying; Violence; Self Esteem; Adolescent