[[alternative]]A study of the relationships among self-esteem, body-image and exercise behavior of junior high school students in Taipei

[[abstract]]The purpose of this study was to investigate and examine the relationships of self-esteem, body-image and exercise behavior among junior high school students in Taipei. By using stages stratified random sampling method, 1343 of valid samples of the seventh and the eighth grade students selected from 6 districts in Taipei were surveyed with a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed with independent-sample t test, chi-square test, One-way ANOVA and Pearson product-moment correlation. Overall, the results indicated that: 1.According to the self-esteem scores, the level of subjects’ global, physical and social self-esteem were above average. The physical self-esteem of the males was higher than females but the social self-esteem of the females was higher than males. The physical self-esteem of the seventh grade students was higher than the eighth graders. The global, physical and social self-esteem of subjects with lower BMI were higher than those of the subjects with normal and higher BMI. 2.According to the body-image questionnaire, the level of subjects’ body-image was above average. The appearance orientation score of the males was lower than females, but the other six factors were higher. The score of body-image of the subjects with lower and normal BMI was higher than those of who have higher BMI. 3.44.5% of subjects did regular exercise. Male’s regular exercise rate was higher than female’s. Moreover, the seventh grade students who do regular exercise were more than the eighth graders. 4.There were positive correlations among global, physical, social self-esteem and body-image. 5.The global, physical and social self-esteem of the subjects with regular exercise were higher than the ones with no regular exercise. The global, physical and social self-esteem of the subjects who often do exercise with others were higher than the ones who do exercise alone. 6.The body-image of the subjects with regular exercise was higher than the ones with no regular exercise. Moreover, the body-image of the subjects who often do exercise with others was higher than the ones who don’t do exercise or do it alone. Based on these results and discussions we provide some suggestions.