Frequency of Abdominal Obesity and Eating Awareness Levels in Health Science Students

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of abdominal obesity and the level of eating awareness in students studying at a faculty of health sciences. Methods: The sample of this descriptive, cross-sectional, and interrelated designed research comprised 972 students. The data of the study were collected with a Student Diagnostic Form, Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), and a tape measure. Descriptive statistical methods (mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage) as well as Student's t-test, one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD post-hoc test, and Pearson correlation analysis were used to evaluate the data. Results were evaluated at a significance level of p <0.05. Results: According to the waist circumference measurement, abdominal obesity frequency was 20.9%. The frequency of abdominal obesity was determined to be 14% in females and 57.7% in males. The students' eating awareness MEQ was found to be high, with an average score of 97.63±13.26. While the subscale of the students with the highest score was "eating control," the lowest score was found to be "eating discipline." Conclusion: There was a low frequency of abdominal obesity in students, and students had high eating awareness levels. The waist circumference values of students did not affect the level of eating awareness.