Abstract
Eating disorder causes serious disturbances in behaviors related to nutrition in adolescent. Although most of these attitudes are benign, they can bear significant psychological and health risks. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 university adolescent girls studying in Peshawar Pakistan to explore their eating disorder, nutritional and health status. Girls were interviewed for eating attitudes by using Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), socio-economic status and body image. Anthropometric and biochemical indices were measured. Based on EAT-26 scale, girls with and without eating disorders were identified. In both groups the association between anemia and risk factors was evaluated. Health and nutritional risk factors for anemia in girls were identified by applying logistic regression. Mean score of EAT-26 was 18±10.5 while for Dieting, Bulimia, Oral Control and Body Image of the girls was 8.5±7, 3.20±2.59, 6.36±4.41 and 20±9 respectively. EAT-Score was found in strong association with anemia in unadjusted and adjusted analysis. Among the health factors, girls with symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress were more likely anemic than their counterpart. More anorexic girls were found overweight and obese in comparison to the rest (p0.05). More anorexic girls showed significant difference in less freshness, disrupted sleep and low physical activity (p<0.05). It has been concluded that eating disorders (anorexia) are more prevalent in university adolescent girls and could adversely affect the health and nutritional status of the students.
Highlights
Disordered eating attitudes refer to many unhealthy eating patterns which affect the nutritional and health status of adolescent girls [1]
Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26) is the most widely used standardized selfreport measure of symptoms and concern characteristics of eating disorder, so we calculated the mean scores of Eating Attitude (EAT) and its subscales i.e. dietary factor, bulimia, oral control; and ‘body image score’ of the cohort
Differences in socioeconomic characteristics, health & nutritional status and body image score of the girls were explored among the EAT groups
Summary
Disordered eating attitudes refer to many unhealthy eating patterns which affect the nutritional and health status of adolescent girls [1]. The literature shows that adolescent girls are more prone to adopt various forms of eating attitudes than boys [2], because they become preoccupied with and sensitive to their changing body size, shape, and physical appearance. The eating disorders including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa arise from a complex interaction of biological, psychological and social processes, and are an important cause of physical and psychosocial morbidity in adolescent girls and young women [6]. Prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa have increased among adolescents in Arabic, Western [7] and a clinical problem in Asian countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh etc. Anorexia nervosa is an increasingly common eating disorder in adolescent girls, in Western societies [9], and is the third most common chronic disease in adolescent girls, that’s why the risk of disordered eating attitudes is highly prevalent among adolescent girls [7]
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