Evaluating the Relationship of Eating Behaviors of University Students with Body Mass Index and Self-Esteem

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between eating behaviors (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire–DEBQ), self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale–RSES), and body mass index (BMI) in university students. A total of 503 students (129 men and 374 women), 18–23 years of age were included in the study. According to BMI, 8.3% of students were underweight; 47.3% were overweight; and 74.4% were of healthy weight. The level of self-esteem of 86.5% of young people was high, 13.5% moderate. The mean score (33.3 ± 11.8) of emotional-eating behavior was higher for women than for men (27.9 ± 10.1) . Recommendations include assessing eating behaviors via longitudinal studies with large samples, and identifying at-risk groups, as useful approaches for informing prevention.

KEYWORDS:

• body mass index
• Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire
• eating behavior
• university students

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the students who devoted their time to participate in this study. They are warmly acknowledged for their helpful and wholehearted cooperation.