High tendency to the substantial concern on body shape and eating disorders risk of the students majoring Nutrition or Sport Sciences

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVESStudies have indicated that university students majoring in nutrition and dietetics or sport sciences may have more obsessions associated with eating attitudes and body shape perception compared to other disciplines i.e. social sciences. Therefore, this study aimed to assess and compare the risk of eating disorders and body shape perception.MATERIALS/METHODSData was collected from 773 undergraduate students at the Departments of Nutrition and Dietetics (NDD) (n = 254), Physical Education and Sports (PESD) (n = 263), and Social Sciences (SOC) (n = 256).A socio-demographic and personal information questionnaire, Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40), Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-34), Perceived Figure Rating Scale (FRS) were applied; and body weights and heights were measured.RESULTSMean EAT-40 scores showed that, both male and female students of PESD had the highest scores (17.4 ± 11.6) compared with NDD (14.3 ± 8.3) and SOC (13.0 ± 6.2) (P < 0.05). According to EAT-40 classification, high risk in abnormal eating behavior was more in PESD (10.7%) compared to NDD (2.9%) and SOC (0.4%) students (P < 0.05). Students of PESD, who skipped meal, had higher tendency to the risk of eating disorders (P < 0.05). In parallel, body shape perception was found to be marked with higher scores in NDD (72.0 ± 28.7) and PESD (71.5 ± 32.8) compared with SOC (64.2 ± 27.5) students (P < 0.05). Considering BSQ-34 classification, high concern (moderate and marked) for body shape were more in PESD (7.4 %) compared to NDD (5.2%) and SOC (1.9%) students (P < 0.05). The body size judgement via obtained by the FRS scale were generally correlated with BMI. The Body Mass Index levels were in normal range (Mean BMI: 21.9 ± 2.8 kg/m2) and generally consistent with FRS data.CONCLUSIONSTendency to the abnormal eating behavior and substantial body shape perception were higher in PESD students who have more concern on body shape and were not well-educated about nutrition. In conclusion, substantial concern on physical appearance might affect eating behavior disorders in PESD students.

Disordered Eating Behaviors and Food Addiction among Nutrition Major College Students

“…Previous studies have reported different tendency for abnormal eating behaviors or body concerns between health-related non-nutrition majors and nutrition major [19,39]. Therefore, current study distinguished these two groups and included three academic major groups.…”

“…In a study with data from 189 female Portuguese students aged 18–25 years old, there was no difference in risk of ED development between students majoring in nutrition and other health-related majors or non-health-related majors [18]. Another study collected data from 773 Turkish undergraduate students and reported that students studying Physical Education and Sports had a higher tendency for abnormal eating behavior and more concern for body shape than students studying Nutrition and Dietetics or Social Science [19]. In a cross-sectional comparison of nutrition students in Germany, nutrition students were inclined to restrict food intake for weight control; however, they did not display more disordered eating patterns compared to other students.…”

Eating behaviour among nutrition students and social desirability as a confounder

“…Some authors found that the risk of eating disorders (Laus, Moreira, & Costa, 2009;Magdalena & Julie, 2012;Reinstein, Koszewski, Chamberlin, & Smith-Johnson, 1992;Rosales, Ruíz, Martínez, & Molina, 2012) or its prevalence (Worobey and Schoenfeld, 1999) is higher among nutrition and dietetics students when compared with students from other areas, while others haven't found significant differences between these two groups (Behar, Alviña, Medinell, & Tapia, 2007;Fiates & Salles, 2001;Fredenberg, Berglund, & Dieken, 1996;Harris, Gee, d'Acquisio, Ogan, & Pritchett, 2015;Kiziltan & Karabudak, 2008;Mealha, Ferreira, Guerra, & Ravasco, 2013;Santos, Meneguci & Mendonça, 2008;Torresani, 2003). On the other hand, some studies conclude that the predisposition of nutrition and dietetic students to eating disorders is even lower, when compared to medical (Mehr, Clemens, Roach, & Beech, 1997) or sports students (Nergiz-Unal, Bilgic, & Yabanci, 2014).…”

Attitudes and awareness towards eating disorders among students: a preliminary study

“…Another study looking at body shape and weight concerns, by Nergiz-Unal et al [31], compared students of social sciences, physical education and nutrition. Physical education students achieved the highest scores in the test measuring posture habits (the Eating Attitudes Test -EAT-40), regardless of gender, and on the questionnaire measuring body focus (the Body Shape Questionnaire -BSQ-34).…”