Disordered Eating Behaviors and Food Addiction among Nutrition Major College Students

Abstract

Evidence of whether nutrition students are free from food-related issues or at higher risk for eating disorders is inconsistent. This study aimed to assess disordered eating behaviors and food addiction among nutrition and non-nutrition major college students. Students (n = 967, ages 18–25, female 72.7%, white 74.8%) enrolled at a public university completed online demographic characteristics surveys and validated questionnaires measuring specific disordered eating behaviors. Academic major category differences were compared. Additionally, high risk participants were assessed by weight status and academic year. Overall, 10% of respondents were a high level of concern for developing eating disorders. About 10.3% of respondents met criteria for food addiction. In addition, 4.5% of respondents had co-occurrence of eating disorder risk and food addiction risk out of total respondents. There were no significant differences in level of concern for developing an eating disorder, eating subscales, or food addiction among academic majors. The percentage of high risk participants was lower in the underweight/normal weight group than in the overweight/obese group in health-related non-nutrition major students but not in nutrition students. Early screening, increasing awareness, and promoting healthy eating habits could be potential strategies to help treat and prevent the development of disorders or associated health conditions in nutrition as well as non-nutrition students.

Food addiction and associations with mental health symptoms: a systematic review with meta‐analysis

“…Only one study was identified with a high proportion of males (92%, in a veteran study) (62) . Other groups included bariatric weight-loss groups (n = 6) (15,22,37,56,61,65) , undergraduate/students (n = 7 studies) (5,35,68,71,74,80,81) and disordered eating groups (n = 7) (17,43,47,49,50,64,73) . Other groups included bariatric weight-loss groups (n = 6) (15,22,37,56,61,65) , undergraduate/students (n = 7 studies) (5,35,68,71,74,80,81) and disordered eating groups (n = 7) (17,43,47,49,50,64,73) .…”

Relationship between Food Addictive Behavior and Physical Activity in College-Aged Students

“…It is possible that the differences in prevalence seen here are related to the different version of the YFAS applied. A potentially interesting difference between the prevalence of FA found by Yu and colleagues [19] as compared to that reported by Murphy and associates [7] is the platform used for data collection. Murphy and associates [7] collected data using a pencil and paper technique while Yu and colleagues [19] utilized an on-line platform.…”

“…A potentially interesting difference between the prevalence of FA found by Yu and colleagues [19] as compared to that reported by Murphy and associates [7] is the platform used for data collection. Murphy and associates [7] collected data using a pencil and paper technique while Yu and colleagues [19] utilized an on-line platform. Since the results presented here are more consistent with those described by Yu et al [19], it seems that the data collection platform used is important to consider when interpreting results.…”

“…Previous investigations that examined food addiction in a cross sectional sample of U.S. college-aged students have reported prevalence rates ranging from 10.3% [19] to 24% [7]. Prior to this investigation, authors examining the prevalence of food addiction in this population used the original YFAS and not the YFAS 2.0.…”

“…Murphy and associates [7] collected data using a pencil and paper technique while Yu and colleagues [19] utilized an on-line platform. Since the results presented here are more consistent with those described by Yu et al [19], it seems that the data collection platform used is important to consider when interpreting results.…”