Abstract
(1) Introduction: Changes in eating behavior and eating disorders are especially common in young people, especially teenage and college women. The first year of college is a critical period, as students acquire freedoms that can lead to poor eating habits. During this first year, students usually gain weight. The aims of this project are to analyze the risk of developing eating disorders, the composition and dietary intake and the changes in the body composition of two groups of college students (independent from the family nucleus or still living within the family) in the first year of college. (2) Material and Methods: Multicentric prospective observational study protocol in which first-year students at the Universidad Europea del Atlántico and Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya voluntarily took part in the study. The students will be divided into two groups, independent and those residing in the family home, and the evolution of both groups will be compared at the beginning and at the end of the school year by performing anthropometric measurements, tests on lifestyle and eating habits (Test of Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, MEDAS-14; Emotional Eater Questionnaire, EEQ), validated questionnaires on eating disorders (Eating Attitude Test, EAT26; Teen Figure Drawing Scales; SCOFF, Eating Behavior Test; Bulimia Investigatory Test Edinburgh, BITE) and their intake will be evaluated through 72 h dietary records. (3) Discussion: Determining the risk of suffering eating disorders of alimentary behavior, knowing eating consumption, perception of the corporal image and body composition through the first year of college will be decisive in establishing alimentary education strategies to prevent possible eating disorders in young students.
Highlights
For many students, starting college is a change in educational stage, but in many cases, these young adults are emancipated from their homes
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College students are a vulnerable group in relation to their nutritional health, owing to changes in lifestyle and the production in young students of food insecurity and changes in body weight and composition [10,20,27]
Summary
For many students, starting college is a change in educational stage, but in many cases, these young adults are emancipated from their homes. This emancipation entails having to organize their studies and their diet and lifestyle. Eating behavior refers to the ability to choose food, and to culinary skills and the measures taken regarding food safety [3]. This stage is the trigger for the appearance of unhealthy eating behaviors [4], such as eating disorders (EDs). EDs are serious psychiatric illnesses linked to a distorted perception of one’s own body and bodily dissatisfaction and are characterized by marked alterations in behavior
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