Comparison of Anthropometric Profile and Eating Behavior of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Patients with Healthy Controls

Abstract

Introduction: Polycystic ovarian syndrome affects 4% to 23% women, worldwide. Obesity, insulin resistance and uncontrolled eating are usually reported in PCOS. However, there is paucity of data describing associations between eating disorder and PCOS. Aim: To compare the anthropometric profile and eating behavior polycystic ovarian syndrome cases with those of healthy age-matched women. Method: Eighty-five PCOS cases and 85 controls were selected for the study from Gyne OPD of PGIMER, Chandigarh. Anthropometric assessments were performed on the cases and controls. Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R21) was used for determining the eating behavior. In addition, the frequency of eating processed food from outside was recorded. Results: The average weight of the cases and controls was 65.16 kg and 57.07 kg, respectively. The average frequency of eating processed food in a month was 15 in cases and 4.41 among controls. The average raw score of uncontrolled eating was 23.26 (cases) in comparison to 18.97 (controls). Average raw scores of emotional eating were 12.67 in cases and 10.76 in controls. The cognitive restraint average raw scores were 11.34 (cases) and 13.62 (controls). The cases had higher BMI than the controls. Monthly consumption of processed food was three times higher than the controls in cases. Uncontrolled eating and emotional eating scores were significantly higher in cases. Conclusion: More of PCOS cases were overweight/ obese with higher BMI, and higher emotional eating and uncontrolled eating scores in comparison to the healthy controls.