Self-esteem of adult women living in a peripheral area of São Paolo city, Brazil.

Our purpose was to determine the level of self-esteem (SE) and its associations with women's sociodemographic characteristics and social status. Adult women (N = 120) living in a peripheral area of Sao Paulo City in Southeastern Brazil were randomly included in our study. We found significant associations between higher SE scores and higher schooling (p =.02), participation in religious meetings in the church (p =.022), and practice of leisure activities (p <.001). The inclusion of a broader range of activities should be provided in health care and educational settings aiming at the improvement of women's SE levels.