The present study investigated the relationship between the personality trait of self-esteem and the tendency to engage in healthful behaviors (e.g., diet, limiting alcohol consumption, physical self-examinations) in college students and their parents. Both students and parents completed the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory and a survey assessing health practices. Correlations between the two measures showed that for students, high self-esteem was positively related to good health practices like exercise and responsible eating, reduced alcohol consumption, and not drinking and driving. Parents’ self-esteem, on the other hand, was unrelated to those behaviors, and negatively correlated with frequency of physical checkups and likelihood of physical self-examinations.