CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Health status is vital to the over-all development of every individual. People are not

shaped only in age, size, knowledge or skill but also in their consciousness of themselves as a

person. Healthy self-esteem is valued as important because it is important to be happy and

productive life because if self-esteem lowers it doesn’t just impact the way people perceive

negative events of self but it can actually have great effects on health (Forda, 2010). She added

that “Low self-esteem doesn’t just impact the way the people perceive negative events. It

actually take a toll on health”.

The self-concept plays an important role in the determining behaviour of someone in

order to know ourselves completely to resolve conflicts and to interpret the experiences they

gained. Self-image is a person’s attitude towards his body consciously and unconsciously, this

attitude includes perceptions and feeling about the size, shape, appearance function and the

potential of the body. Ideal self is the individual’s perception of how one should behave based

on the standard of aspirations, objectives or specific personal votes. Self-esteem is a personal

assessment of the results achieved by analysing how far behaviour can fulfil the ideal deal.

Roles are attitudes, behaviour, values and goals expected of a person based on their position in

the community and identity is an awareness of self that comes from observation and assessment

of individuals as well as a synthesis of all aspects of self-concept as a whole (Priyanto, 2009).

In this research, self-concept is based on person’s self-image. When people’s action is

changeable with the concept itself, it would result to discomfort. People’s view of themselves

will determined the way they act. It is the most important aspect of the self-concept. When a

person possess high self-concept, it will mold a higher appreciation from others and also to

themselves. If a person has low self-concept it means that he is not comfortable with himself.
 According to the theory of Coopersmith entitled “The Antecedents of Self Esteem”

(1967), self-esteem as a personal evaluation which is usually preserved thorough paying

attention to one’s self. Individuals with higher levels of self-esteem tend to focus on their

strengths. Also, they are more prepared to accept their positive assessments, whereas those with

lower levels of self-esteem tend to accept negative assessments.

Healthy living to most people means both physical and mental health are in balance or

functioning well together in a person. Physical activity and exercise is a major contributor to a

healthy lifestyle, people are made to use their bodies, and disuse leads to unhealthy living.

Unhealthy living may manifest itself in obesity, weakness, lack of endurance or underweight

that may faster disease development (Davis, 2018).

According to World Health Organization, overweight and obesity are defined as

“abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health”. Overweight and obesity are

linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight. For an individual, obesity is usually the

result of an imbalance between the calories consumed and calories expended. Supportive

environment and communities are fundamental in shaping people’s choices and preventing

obesity. Children’s diet and physical activity habits are influenced by their surrounding

environment. Eating a healthy diet can help prevent obesity, regular physical activity helps

maintain a healthy body.

Peer pressure and life are hard enough. You don’t want to have to deal with negative

comments about your appearance. Being too thin can make you feel self-conscious and prevent

you from doing the things you don’t want (Cespedes, 2019).

This study is important for us to know each person’s perception about their own worth

and to know how health affect self-concept. The researcher is intended to investigate whether

factor such as health status lead to high self-esteem or low self-esteem. Also the researcher
want to find solution for those students who are affected in this situation. It is to give awareness

to students that health issue is not a hindrance in reaching their dreams.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to examine how student’s health status affect their self-concept.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions;

1. What are the demographic characteristic of students in terms of;

a. Age

b. Parent educational attainment

c. Parent’s occupation

d. Weight

e. Height

2. What is their classification according to body mass index?

3. What is their level of self-concept?

4. Is there a significant relationship between their Body Mass Index and self-concept?

Objectives of the Study

The general objectives of the study is to examine the relationship of health status and

self-concept of students in Dangcagan National Senior High School.

Specifically, it seek to:

1. Describe the demographic characteristics of students in terms of;

a. Age

b. Parent educational attainment

c. Parent’s occupation

d. Weight
 e. Height.

2. Determine the student’s Body Mass Index.

3. Examine their level of self-concept.

4. Correlate the student’s Body Mass Index to their level of self-concept.

Significance of the Study

The result of the study would provide baseline information to students on how to know

the true value of themselves. It will give them a realization that health issue is not a hindrance

in reaching their dreams. At the end of the study students would know that no matter what their

health status is they need to encourage themselves in everything they do and never look down

on it.

It would the teachers to find ways on what to do to students who are in this situation. It

will be an awareness to them. It will be their references to have an information about their

student’s self-concept. Therefore, this study will lead the teachers to help their students who

have lack of confidence to boost them.

School administration must lead a campaign to improve student’s self-concept or self-

esteem, to give encouragement to the students, so that possibly result to positive self-concept.

Parents will be able to know how to encourage their children to study well and built

their own self-confidence.

This research will help the future researchers to have a source of data in which they can

compare and have a basis on their research. They can use this research as their engine or a

starter pack that will guide them to start. They can also get ideas on what are advisable to do

in order for their study to be successful.

 Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This research concentrates primarily on how health status affects student self-concept.

This is delimited to the theory of Coopersmith entitled “The Antecedents of Self-esteem: and

“The Self-concept Theory” by Carl Rogers. Self-esteem is the perception that you have about,

who you are as a person and a personal evaluation which is usually preserved through paying

attention to one’s self. This study delimited only on the health specifically to the body mass

index of Senior High School students in Dangcagan National High School S.Y. 2019-2020.

Age, parent’s educational attainment, parent’s occupation, weight and height are

needed for the study to determine how these affects students self-concept.

Definition of Terms

The following are defined functionally for better understanding of the study:

Health status is the body mass index of a student in which it can be measured through the age,

weight, and the height of a student.

Self-concept or self-esteem is the level of the self-confidence of the students’ base on their

body mass index.

Normal weight is the body mass index between 18.5 to 21.9.

Under weight is where the body mass index is less than 18.5

Over weight is class of body mass index, between 25 to 29.9

Obesity I is the class of body mass index between 30 to 34.9

Obesity II is the class of body mass index between 35 to 39.9

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of related literature, conceptual framework and the

research paradigm.

There are many factors that can affect self-esteem and the way people view their own

physical appearance. For example, men and women are often bombarded with images of

individuals exemplifying a perfect physique (Hewitt, Flett, & Ediger, 2010), especially by the

media. This focus may increase self-imposed pressure to maintain youth and meet the

unrealistic beauty standards fostered by the media and imposed by society. These constant

pressures, along with the need to receive approval and acceptance from others, may lead to

decreased self-esteem (Crocker, Luhtanen, Cooper, & Bouvrette, 2011).

Age

Self-concept changes during the individual’s life span, being its maximum peak of

permeability from seven to twelve years old. The definition of oneself from 5-8 years provides

an ability to discriminate between different domains of experience. Between 7-8 years and 11-

12, there are significant changes in regard to intellectual abilities and social environment,

having remarkable implication for both self-concept and self-esteem. During this range of age,

children have ability to compare themselves to others, but the information extracted from such

comparison is just in service of self-evaluation (Byrne, 2012). At the end of childhood, there

is an increase in the permeability to social values, so the prototypes of each culture become

another valuable source of comparison which in most cases, contribute to the discrepancy

between the real self and ideal self ( Harter, 2009). In fact there are a variety of conflicting

findings among studies using college student samples (Hyde, 2009); thus, self-esteem in

undergraduate college students calls for further exploration. A longitudinal study in New
Zealand which followed adolescents over 20 years reported that adolescents with low self-

esteem also had poor physical and psychological health.

Parent’s Educational Attainment

Based on Aydoğan (2010), Gelbal, Duyan, Sevin, and Erbay (2010), Yılmazel and

Günay (2012) reported that parental education level positively affects the self-esteem of

adolescents. Conversely, Cengil (2009), Kahriman (2009), concluded that there are no self-

esteem differences of adolescents regarding maternal education level. Similarly, Kahriman and

Polat (2013), Keskin (2010) and Yiğit (2010) showed that there were no significant differences

in self-esteem scores based on the education level of the parents. We also suggested that with

the increase of the parent’s education level, adolescents’ self-esteem also increased. Aydoğan

(2010), Erbil et al. (2010), Gelbal et al. (2010), reported a positive association between self-

esteem and maternal education level. Raymore, Godbey, and Crawford (2014), found that the

self-esteem of adolescents whose parents education is above high school level, is of a

significantly higher self-esteem than those of students whose parents education at or below

high school level. Rosenberg and Pearlin, Wiltfang and Scarbecz (2010), pointed out that

parent’s education has a small but significant effect on adolescents’ self-esteem. In a recent

study, Bachman, O'Malley, Freedman-Doan, Trzesniewski, and Donnellan (2011), also suggest

that having a well-educated parents for adolescents are positively linked with self-esteem.

Education gives Turkish parents not only general knowledge about child rearing, effective

communication skills, generally more income and prestige in society. But also more self-

awareness to the psychological needs of their children in important life periods and how to

cope with possible problems in these important life periods, in an effective manner. Escalating

inequality in families has prompted growing interest in the intergenerational transmission of

advantage (Bloome, Western, Ferguson and Ready 2011). Since educational attainment is a
key ingredient for success in modern post-industrial economies (Ganzeboom, Treiman, and

Ultree 2011).

Parent’s Occupation

A positive impact of the father’s occupation was observed on the academic competence,

financial capacity and family relationship of the students while the autonomy and

independence, goal setting, social competence and friendship and affiliation domains were

found to have not been affected by the father’s occupation. Similarly father Pay Scale showed

positive impact on Students Self Concept with respect to Financial Capacity, Goal setting and

Family relationship. Mother Occupation did affect the students Self Concept about Academic

Competence, Autonomy and independence, Family relationship and Social competence, and

did not affect financial capacity, Goal setting and Friendship and affiliation of the respondent.

Students Self Concept about Academic Competence, Autonomy and Independence, Goal

setting, Family relationship and Social competence showed a positive impact of Mother Pay

Scale while Financial Capacity and Friendship and affiliation did not change. A positive impact

of parents working department is observed on Autonomy and independence, financial capacity,

Goal setting, Family relationship of the students while the Academic Competence and Social

competence were not affected by the parents department (Khan, I.U. n.d).

Weight

Body composition is considered one of several important dimensions of health-related

fitness and it can have major effects on self-concept and self –esteem (Whitehead & Corbin

2010). Youth obesity has been associated with negative psychosocial conditions including

alienation and isolation. These condition can have a negative effect on self-esteem, which can

lead to depression and other negative health outcomes (Strauss & Pollack 2013). Overweight

children have traditionally been thought to have lower self-esteem than the other children
(Rumpel, C et al. 2014). Because of self-image plays such an important role in self-esteem,

your weight can affect the way you perceive yourself (Ficarelli, 2019). Furthermore, recent

results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that over 33% of

children between 2 and 19 years are either at-risk for overweight (Ogden et al., 2009).

Psychosocial complications for overweight in children and adolescents include social

stigmatization, peer teasing, depression, body dissatisfaction, and less than optimal self-esteem

(Sjoberg, Nilson, & Leppert, 2010; Zametkin, Zoon, Klein, & Munson, 2013; Zeller, Saelens,

Roehrig, Kirk, & Daniels, 2013). Self-esteem is a notable complication of pediatric overweight

as previous research has linked low self-esteem in children with negative consequences such

as behavioral disorders, negative or depressed mood, and other emotional concerns (Harter

2013). French and colleagues (2009) reported that, in many of students reviewed, overweight

status in children was inversely associated with self-esteem, but noted that the relationship

between overweight status in children and self-esteem are still not clear. A number of studies

suggest that overweight children and adolescents report moderately lower levels of self-esteem

compared to non-overweight adolescents and children (Manus & Killeen, 2012; Pesa, Syre, &

Jones, 2014; Stradmeijer, Bosch, & Koops, 2014; Strauss, 2015). Overweight adolescents and

adults tend to have lower self-esteem than individuals of normal weight (Felker, 2017). For

men, the relationship between weight and self-esteem is strongest during middle adolescence,

with overweight men displaying lowest scores of self-esteem compared to adult men. For

women, the relationship between weight and self-esteem is strongest during late adolescence,

with overweight women displaying lowest scores of self-esteem compared to adult women.

However, the relationship between weight and self-esteem is less clear during late

adolescence/early adulthood (Mendelson & White, 2014).

Height

According to (Freeman 2014), when people’s height was virtually reduced, they felt

inferior and this caused them to feel overly mistrustful. The relationship between height and

self-esteem will examine the mediating effect of self-consciousness. Findings indicates a

nonlinear relationship between height and self-esteem. Further, self-consciousness emerged as

a significant mediator of the relationship between height and self-esteem, accounting for the

bulk of the difference in male and female self-esteem scores (Davis, 2010). Our hunch was that

the experience would cause people to view themselves more negatively, reducing their sense

of status and self-esteem, and triggering a sense of vulnerability. And, because these

psychological traits play a major part in paranoia, we wanted to see whether lowering a person’s

height would change the way they viewed other people’s intentions towards them ( Freeman,

D., Ph. D., and Freeman, J. 2014).

Body Mass Index Classification

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of

height in meters. A high BMI can be an indicator of high body fatness. To calculate BMI, see

the Ault BMI Calculator or determine BMI by finding your height and weight in this BMI

Index Chart. If your BMI is less than 18.5, it falls within the underweight range. If your BMI

is 18.5 to <25, it falls within the normal. If your BMI is 25.0 to <30, it falls within the

overweight range. If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the obese range. Obesity is

frequently subdivided into categories: class 1: BMI of 30 to <35, class 2: BMI of 35 to <40,

and class 3: BMI of 40 to higher. Class 3 obesity is sometimes categorized as “extreme” or

“severe” obesity. At an individual level, BMI can be used as a screening too but is not

diagnostic of the body fatness or the health of an individuals. A trained healthcare provider

should perform appropriate health assessments in order to evaluate an individual’s health status
and risks. If you have questions about BMI, talk with your health care provider. Furthermore,

BMI appears to be strongly correlated with various adverse health outcomes consistence with

these more direct measures of body fatness (Sun, Q. et al., 2010, Lawlor, D.A. et al., 2010.

Flegal, K.M. & Graubard, B.I., 2009, Freedman, D.S. et al., 2009).

Level of Self-concept

The theory of Stanley Coopersmith’s (1967) “Antecedents of self-esteem.” According

to him self-esteem is routed in early childhood with a foundation of trust, unconditional love

and security impacted or as life progress by combination of positive and negative evaluations.

Self-evaluation scale measured self-esteem in children and then assessed the parent’s child

rearing practices for those children with high self-esteem and concluded that the origins of

higher self-esteem lay in clear rules and limits enforced by the parents. Carl Rogers, Self-

concept theory influences and act as the framework for one’s personality. The image we have

of who we are contributes to our personality and our actions combined with our personality-

create a feedback loop into our image of ourselves. Rogers believed that our personality is

driven by our desire for self-actualization. This is the condition that emerges when we reaches

our full potential and our self-concept, self-worth, and ideal self all overlap. Self-esteem tends

to fluctuate over time, depending on your circumstances. It’s normal to go through times when

you feel down about yourself and times when you feel good about yourself. Generally,

however, self-esteem stays in a range that reflects how you feel about yourself overall, and

increases slightly with age. Low self-esteem. When you have low or negative self-esteem, you

put tittle value on your opinions and ideas. You focus on your perceived weakness and faults

and give scant credit to your skills and assets. You believe that others are more capable or

successful. You might have difficulty accepting positive feedback. You might fear failure,

which can hold you back from succeeding at work or school. Healthy self-esteem. When you

have healthy self-esteem it means you have a balanced, accurate view of yourself. For instance,
you have a good opinion of your abilities but recognize your flaws. When self-esteem is healthy

and grounded in reality, it’s hard to have too much of it. Boasting and feeling superior to others

around you isn’t sign of too much self-esteem. It’s more likely evidence of insecurity and low

self-esteem (McLeod, S.A., 2012).

Relationship between Body Mass Index and Self-concept

In other words, obesity and overweight problems are significantly more common

among Iranian females compared to males. Furthermore, significant associations between

obesity and sex, age, marital status, residential area, and educational level have been found in

Iran (Ayatollahi S, Ghoreshizadeh Z, 2010). Increased weight status has been consistently

associated with body dissatisfaction among juveniles and adolescents (Anschutz DJ, Kanters

LJ, Van Strien T, Vermulst AA, Engels RC, 2009). Obesity at certain stages of life, especially

adolescence, can damage self-esteem (Griffiths, L.J., Parsons T.J., Hill A.J., 2010) and negative

body image is more common among individuals with childhood or adolescent onset of obesity

(Sarwer DB, Wadden TA, Foster GD, 2014). Although overweight adolescents experience

fewer medical complications in comparison to adults, they exhibit some signs of psychological

and social distress, including depression and low levels of self-esteem (Neumann, C., 2013).

Concern about body weight has become a common preoccupation in most societies,

particularly among females. Unfortunately, the developmental changes associated with puberty

tend to move females further away from the current societal prescribed thin beauty ideal rather

than closer to it (Robins RW, Trzesniewski KH, Tracy JL, Gosling SD, Potter J, 2010). In

different regions of the world, approximately 60 per cent of girls and 30 per cent of boys report

a desire to change their size or shape (Ricciardelli LA, McCabe MP, 2011) and nearly 25 per

cent of adolescent females report clinically significant levels of body dissatisfaction (Stice E,

Whitenton K, 2012). Knowing one’s BMI (Body Mass Index) level can help prevent one of the

causes of low self-esteem in adolescence, because it signals what could become a contributory
factor to obesity and could help families, schools, and health practitioners to begin measures

to help children prevent becoming obese. Harter (2013) found that 25 per cent of adolescent

girls were occupied with “how they appear in the eyes of others”. Parents and peers, in

particular, can play an important role in influencing the body perception of adolescents (Stice

E, 2014), and strong evidence exists to demonstrate that obesity can damage self-esteem.

Overweight adolescents and adults tend to have lower self-esteem than individuals of normal

weight (Felker, 1968). For men, the relationship between weight and self-esteem is strongest

during middle adolescence, with overweight men displaying lowest scores of self-esteem

(Mendelson & White, 1985) compared to adult men. For women, the relationship between

weight and self-esteem is strongest during late adolescence, with overweight women displaying

lowest scores of self-esteem compared to adult women (Mendelson &White).However, the

relationship between weight and self-esteem is less clear during late adolescence/early

adulthood.

Conceptual Framework

This study is anchored on the theory of Stanley Coopersmith (1967) “Antecedent of

Self-esteem”. According to him, self-esteem is routed in early childhood with a foundation of

trust, unconditional love and security, impacted on as life progress by combination of positive

and negative evaluation, self-evaluation scale measured self-esteem in children and then

assessed the parent’s child rearing practices for those children with high self-esteem and

concluded that the origins of higher self-esteem lay in clear rules and limits enforced by the

parents.

Carl Rogers, Self-concept theory influences and act as the framework for one’s

personality. The image we have of who we are contributes to our personality and our actions

combined with our personality- create a feedback loop into our image of ourselves. Rogers

believed that our personality is driven by our desire for self-actualization. This is the condition
that emerges when we reach our full potential and our self-concept, self-worth, and ideal self

all overlap.

Self-concept changes during the individual’s life span, being its maximum peak of

permeability from seven to twelve years old. During this range of age, children have ability to

compare themselves to others, but the information extracted from such comparison is just in

service of self-evaluation (Byrne, 2012). At the end of childhood, there is an increase in the

permeability to social values, so the prototypes of each culture become another valuable source

of comparison which in most cases, contribute to the discrepancy between the real self and

ideal self ( Harter, 2009).

Aydoğan (2010), Erbil et al. (2010), Gelbal et al. (2010), reported a positive association

between self-esteem and maternal education level. Raymore, Godbey, and Crawford (2014),

found that the self-esteem of adolescents whose parents education is above high school level,

is of a significantly higher self-esteem than those of students whose parents education at or

below high school level. Rosenberg and Pearlin, Wiltfang and Scarbecz (2010), pointed out

that parent’s education has a small but significant effect on adolescents’ self-esteem. In a recent

study, Bachman, O'Malley, Freedman-Doan, Trzesniewski, and Donnellan (2011), also suggest

that having a well-educated parents for adolescents are positively linked with self-esteem.

A positive impact of parents working department is observed on Autonomy and

independence, financial capacity, Goal setting, Family relationship of the students while the

Academic Competence and Social competence were not affected by the parents department

(Khan, I.U. n.d).

Body composition is considered one of several important dimensions of health-related

fitness and it can have major effects on self-concept and self –esteem (Whitehead & Corbin

2010). Youth obesity has been associated with negative psychosocial conditions including

alienation and isolation. These condition can have a negative effect on self-esteem, which can
lead to depression and other negative health outcomes (Strauss & Pollack 2013). Overweight

children have traditionally been thought to have lower self-esteem than the other children

(Rumpel, C et al. 2014). Self-esteem is a notable complication of pediatric overweight as

previous research has linked low self-esteem in children with negative consequences such as

behavioral disorders, negative or depressed mood, and other emotional concerns (Harter 2013).

Overweight adolescents and adults tend to have lower self-esteem than individuals of normal

weight (Felker, 2017). For men, the relationship between weight and self-esteem is strongest

during middle adolescence, with overweight men displaying lowest scores of self-esteem

compared to adult men. For women, the relationship between weight and self-esteem is

strongest during late adolescence, with overweight women displaying lowest scores of self-

esteem compared to adult women. However, the relationship between weight and self-esteem

is less clear during late adolescence/early adulthood (Mendelson & White, 2014).

According to (Freeman 2014), when people’s height was virtually reduced, they felt

inferior and this caused them to feel overly mistrustful. The relationship between height and

self-esteem will examine the mediating effect of self-consciousness. Findings indicates a

nonlinear relationship between height and self-esteem. Further, self-consciousness emerged as

a significant mediator of the relationship between height and self-esteem, accounting for the

bulk of the difference in male and female self-esteem scores (Davis, 2010).
 Research Paradigm

Coopersmith
(1967) The
Antecendts of
Self-Esteem

Self-evaluation
Scale

High Self- Demographics

esteem
 Age
Carl Rogers  Parent’s
Self-concept Level educational
Theory of Self- attainment
concept  Parent’s
Low Self- occupation
esteem  Weight
 Height

BMI

Underweight

Normal

Overweight

Obese I, II, III

Figure 1: Schematic diagram showing the relationship between the independent variable and

dependent variable.
 Hypothesis of the Study

Ho: There is no significant relationship between health and self-concept of students.

HA: There is a significant relationship between health and self-concept of students.