CORRELATES OF EATING BEHAVIOR AMONG FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS

Life style (excessive calorie intake and physical inactivity) may play a critical role in the development of obesity. Understanding eating behavior would be helpful to develop appropriate prevention programs to tackle obesity. Our purpose was to examine the relationship between eating behavior (cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating) and its correlates (BMI, food preference, physical activity, anxiety, and body dissatisfaction) among female college students (n = 295). Research design was a cross-sectional, questionnaire study. Measures were Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire Revised 21 items, Body Attitude Test, State Anxiety Scale, Exercise: Stages of Change (Short Form), and questions of food and drink consumption. Results indicated that BMI is correlated with cognitive restraint. This association is fully mediated by negative appreciation of body size. Students who reported regular exercise show a significantly greater cognitive restraint, than physically inactive students. State anxiety correlated with maladaptive eating behaviours, namely uncontrolled eating and emotional eating. The association between anxiety and uncontrolled eating is partially mediated by emotional eating. The associations between eating behaviour and food preference were weak, but they correspond to our expectations. Cognitive restraint associated with lower consumption of energy-dense foods, while uncontrolled eating and emotional eating were positively associated with higher consumption of energy-dense foods. Understanding correlates of eating behaviors informs the prevention work targeting eating patterns and weight control.