EATING BEHAVIOR IN STUDENTS OF A WEST SIBERIAN INDUSTRIAL CENTER: 
 A HYGIENIC ASSESSMENT

Abstract

Introduction: Eating disorders among Russian students remains an insufficiently studied research area. Aim: To study eating behavior of students and associated factors in a city of Barnaul in Western Siberia. Methods: Altogether, 1 000 students took part in a nutritional status survey. The Dutch Eating Behavior (EB) Questionnaire (DEBQ) was applied. Associations between eating behaviors and gender, education, wealth level, awareness of nutritional issues, marital status, subjective health status assessment, and EB disorders has been studied using Pearson's chi-squared tests. Results: Cluster analysis revealed 4 stereotypes of eating behavior (SEB): rational (SEB 1), predominantly carbohydrate (SEB2), hypercaloric (SEB3), and hypocaloric (SEB4). SEB4 (57.7 %) was the most common, SEB2 (31.8 %) was the second most common. Only 8.7 % of the students had SEB1 while only 1.7 % of the students had SEB3. A higher percentage of individuals with the restrictive EB disorders was revealed in the fourth cluster (SEB4). The probability of adhering to a hypocaloric dietary stereotype in individuals with the restrictive EB disorders was twice as high (Risk = 2.083, x2 = 152.05, df = 1, р< 0.001) as in the other groups. Conclusions: Diet of the students in Barnaul (Western Siberia) is poor in meat, milk, and dairy products. Most of the students had a carbohydrate diet model. Two thirds of the students adhered to a hypocaloric dietary stereotype. The factors associated with the formation of a nutrition stereotype include gender, economic conditions, marital status, self-perceived health and eating disorders.