Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research, Bethesda, MD, USA.
J Hum Nutr Diet. 2013 Jul;26 Suppl 1:53-63. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12060. Epub 2013 Apr 30.
Young adulthood is a stressful transition period that may increase the risk for disturbed eating, especially for college students. The present study aimed to explore disturbed eating behaviours and a broad array of associated psychographic characteristics in a large, diverse sample of college students.
College students (n = 2604; 58% white; 63% female) enrolled at three large, public US universities in 2009 and 2010 were recruited to take an online survey. The survey included reliable and valid disturbed eating behaviour and associated psychographic characteristic measures.
Many participants engaged in disturbed eating practices. For example, one-quarter of women and one-fifth of men engaged in dietary restraint. One in seven reported regularly binge eating. One-third used inappropriate compensatory behaviours (self-induced vomiting, medicine misuse and excessive exercise) as a means for controlling weight and/or shape, with the rate of these behaviours reaching clinically significant levels for 4%, 3% and 5% of participants, respectively. Examination of psychographic characteristics revealed that one-fifth had moderate levels of depression and anxiety severity and almost half engaged in at least one obsessive-compulsive disorder type behaviour. Females felt under more pressure to attain the media physical appearance standard than males.
The findings of the present study suggest that nutrition education interventions for college students may be needed to address disturbed eating behaviours and to provide guidance on how to seek professional help. The findings also suggest that it may be prudent for healthcare professionals to routinely screen college students for disturbed eating behaviours and offer interventions early when treatment is likely to be most effective.
青年期是一段充满压力的过渡时期，可能会增加饮食失调的风险，尤其是对于大学生而言。本研究旨在探索在一个大型、多样化的大学生样本中，饮食失调行为及广泛的相关心理特征。
2009 年和 2010 年，在美国三所大型公立大学招募了 2604 名大学生（58%为白人，63%为女性）参与在线调查。该调查包括可靠和有效的饮食失调行为及相关心理特征的测量。
许多参与者存在饮食失调行为。例如，四分之一的女性和五分之一的男性存在饮食限制，七分之一的人定期暴食，三分之一的人使用不适当的补偿行为（自我催吐、药物滥用和过度运动）来控制体重和/或体型，其中分别有 4%、3%和 5%的参与者达到了这些行为的临床显著水平。对心理特征的检查发现，五分之一的人有中度抑郁和焦虑严重程度，近一半的人存在至少一种强迫性行为。女性比男性感受到更大的压力来达到媒体所推崇的外貌标准。
本研究的结果表明，可能需要为大学生提供营养教育干预，以解决饮食失调行为，并提供如何寻求专业帮助的指导。研究结果还表明，医疗保健专业人员可能需要定期对大学生进行饮食失调行为筛查，并在治疗最有效的早期阶段提供干预措施。
