Abstract

Body image perception has become a public health issue globally. Positive or negative feelings about one self can be influenced by individual and environmental factors. Research has shown that dissatisfaction with body image can have an impact on an individual’s quality of life including an individual’s self-esteem, interpersonal confidence, eating and exercise behaviours.  This study investigated the relationship between body image, self-esteem and health behaviour and explored factors affecting body image among senior high school students in the Offinso Municipality of the Ashanti Region. A cross-sectional design with multistage sampling techniques was used to select 561 students for the study. Basic descriptive statistics such as percentage counts, frequencies, Pearson Correlation and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings showed a significant relationship between body image and self-esteem (r=.587), no significant relationship between body image and health behaviour (r = -.002), and also between self-esteem and health behaviour (r = .057). Family influence (β =.361, p =.000) was the strongest predictor of body image. There were gender differences in body image (t (553) = -5.124, p = .000, eta = .43), self-esteem (t (553) = -5.530, p = .000, eta = .47) and health behaviour (t (553) = -2.083, p = .038, eta = .18) among students. Students who have body image concerns are more likely to have low self-esteem, whiles family could be important in helping students develop positive body image.

Key words: Body image, self-esteem, health behaviour, students, Ghana.