PD497 - EATING DISORDER–RELATED FEARS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY AMONG HEALTH SCIENCES STUDENTS

PD497

EATING DISORDER–RELATED FEARS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY AMONG HEALTH SCIENCES STUDENTS

Ö. P. TÜRK^1,*, D. KARAKOǹ, N. ERZURUM ALİM¹

¹Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Türkiye

Rationale: Identifying fears related to eating disorders is important for reducing the emergence of eating disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors associated with fears related to eating disorders in relation to individuals’ dietary habits, anthropometric measurements, and healthy lifestyle behaviors.

Methods: The study population consisted of 198 healthy health sciences undergraduate students aged 18 years and older. Descriptive characteristics, dietary habits, and anthropometric measurements (body weight and height) of participants were recorded. Fears related to eating disorders were evaluated using the Eating Disorder Fear Questionnaire (fear of individual results, fear of social consequences, and fear of social eating), and the Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale was administered. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0.

Results: Among the participants, 168 (84.8%) were female and 30 (15.2%) were male, with a mean age of 20.56 years (18–39). Fear of individual results differed significantly by gender (p<0.05), with higher scores in females (29.51±13.78) than males (23.40±13.38). Eating disorder fears, fear of individual results, and fear of social eating differed significantly by alcohol consumption (p<0.05), but not by smoking status. Healthy lifestyle behaviors, meal skipping, and snack habits were not associated with eating disorder fears. Body mass index was positively associated with eating disorder fears (r=.365), fear of individual results (r=.372), and fear of social consequences (r=.295) (p<0.01).

Conclusion: In conclusion, eating disorder fears increased with higher body mass index, and fear of individual results was higher in females than males; however, no significant association was found with healthy lifestyle behaviors. These findings suggest that body mass index and gender may be associated with eating disorder–related fears.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared