Relationship between body image, attitudes towards eating disorders and nutritional status in university students in the health area

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the relationship between body image dissatisfaction, attitudes towards eating disorders and nutritional status in university students of health area. Methods Descriptive, transversal and quantitative study with 225 university students registered in eight health courses. To obtain the data, three self-administered instruments were used: the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), and a questionnaire built by the researchers, containing the self-reported data of height, current and desired weight, course and age. The nutritional status was established according to the calculation of body mass index (BMI). For the data analysis, the Pearson chi-square test was applied, adopting the significance level of 5%. Results The mean age was 22.65 years and the BMI was 23.05 kg/m2, with the majority of university students in eutrophy (69.8%). Regarding the desired weight, 74.7% would like to weigh less, of which 64.9% were eutrophic. According to the BSQ, 51.1% of university students had some degree of body dissatisfaction and the prevalence of attitudes indicative of eating disorders, according to the EAT-26, it was 21.8%. There was a statistically significant association between: BMI and BSQ (p < 0.001); BMI and EAT-26 (p < 0.005); BSQ and EAT-26 (p < 0.001). When correlating the dissatisfaction of body image and attitudes of risk for eating disorders, it is noticed that 87.75% of university students with positive EAT also presented some degree of body dissatisfaction. Conclusion It was evidenced the existence of relation between the body image dissatisfaction, attitudes of risk for eating disorders and nutritional status of university students of health area.

摘要
目的：探讨健康类专业大学生体像不满、进食障碍态度与营养状况之间的关联。
方法：本研究为描述性横断面定量研究，纳入8个健康专业注册的225名大学生。数据采集采用三份自填式问卷：体像形状问卷（Body Shape Questionnaire, BSQ）、进食态度测试量表（Eating Attitudes Test, EAT-26），以及研究者自制问卷，内容涵盖身高、当前体重、理想体重、所学专业与年龄的自我报告数据。营养状况依据体重指数（Body Mass Index, BMI）的计算结果判定。数据分析采用Pearson卡方检验，显著性水平设定为5%。
结果：研究对象的平均年龄为22.65岁，平均BMI为23.05 kg/m²，多数大学生营养状况正常（69.8%）。关于理想体重，74.7%的受访者希望降低体重，其中64.9%的个体营养状况处于正常范围。依据BSQ量表结果，51.1%的大学生存在不同程度的体像不满；依据EAT-26量表结果，进食障碍相关态度阳性的检出率为21.8%。本研究发现存在统计学意义的关联包括：BMI与BSQ（p < 0.001）、BMI与EAT-26（p < 0.005）、BSQ与EAT-26（p < 0.001）。在体像不满与进食障碍风险态度的相关性分析中可见，87.75%的EAT-26量表阳性受试者同时存在不同程度的体像不满。
结论：本研究证实健康类专业大学生的体像不满、进食障碍风险态度与营养状况三者之间存在关联。