Eating disorders and associated risk factors among Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal university preparatory year female students in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the prevalence of eating disorders among Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU) in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, female students and to investigate the associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at IAU, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in 2016 with 670 participants. Data was collected by self-administered questionnaires, including the Eating attitude test 26 (EAT-26) and the sociocultural attitudes toward appearance questionnaire (SATAQ-4). Eating behavior questions were asked to determine whether the respondents should seek evaluation for an eating disorder (ED) from a professional.

RESULTS

Eating attitude test 26 results showed that 29.4% of participants were categorized at a high level of concern for an ED, and 45.5% were categorized as at risk of having problematic feeding behaviors. Of the participants who scored above 20 on the EAT-26, 60.7% demonstrated high-risk feeding behavior attitudes, and approximately 11.5% who scored a body mass index (BMI) classified as underweight or very underweight required referral to a psychologist. A significant relationship was found between family stress to lose weight and EAT-26 scores above 20. The media was also found to represent external influence to lose weight.

CONCLUSION

This study concluded that early detection of EDs or problematic feeding behaviors and attitude is vital to minimize the risks to physical health and well-being of the sufferers' experiences.