ABSTRACT

Condat, Angeline Lourdes A., Alzaga, Jarren Paul L., Perez, Ivan Louise L., "OBESITY: A CHALLENGE TO BODY IMAGE AND WELLNESS" (Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, Rawis Legazpi City, October 2018).

Obesity can be defined as the excess body fat gathered to the extent that it may have negative effects on health. The increasing number of overweight and obese people had been described as an epidemic and pandemic over the past four decades, especially in adults. It is also a major concern in adolescence because of the increased risk of staying obese into adulthood with possible negative effects. This study is a qualitative research with a phenomenological design. Participants of the study are selected obese and overweight Senior High Students of the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, one male and three females aged 16-18. A semi-structured interview guide was used in gathering the data with one on one in-depth interview. An audio recorder was used to record the interview. After the data were collected, coding, clustering, categorizing, and thermalizing was used. The results of the study showed that: Challenges of obesity to a body image and wellness in terms of: Physiological: All participants inherited obesity from their parents and family or developed it from their eating habits. Psychological: As a result of discrimination, the participants suffered from stress that developed into depression later on. Social: As a result of being discriminated, a person tends to have low self-esteem and feeling of rejection. They tend to shut other people out and chose to be alone than to be with others instead. Factors that contribute to obesity Based on the results, overeating and lack of physical activities contribute to obesity. The respondents became overweight due to their lifestyle and because the condition also runs in their family.