Prevalence of Eating Disorders in University Going Students of Islamabad/ Rawalpindi

Abstract

The current data and researches show a greater increase in eating disorders all around the world from the past fifty years specifically in the adolescents' age group including psychological health i.e., excessive dieting, stress from educational and academic pressure which makes them susceptible to extreme malnourishment. The sample consisted of 450 university students aged 20 to 25 years. It was observed that majority of the students were day-scholars (59.8%) due to which their daily eating routine was normal i.e. three meals per day and BMI ranges were found to be normal (18.5 to 25 kg/m 2 ) in most of subjects which show no prominent presence of any eating disorder. But some minor eating abnormalities were detected in their eating behaviors. The tradition of only one snack consumption per day was found (42.9%) and food cravings were also more prevalent with a percentage of about 78.4%. Their anxiety about body weight and shape was also found to be higher (56.9%). Overall, the ratio of smoking in students was less but it predominated in male students. And majority of students (40.7%) were having a sedentary lifestyle while 40.4% with moderate physical activity. SCOFF questionnaire results showed 90% of positive results while the 10% of the population need further examination. The collected data results were mostly positive for example normal BMI ranges were found with a percentage of 57.3, the rate of binge eating in shorter periods was found to be rare and also no prominent binge eating was noticed during exam days which means no notable presence of any Eating Disorder was found but some factors like cravings for food, negative influence of peer pressure on eating habits (54.9%) and less physical activity etc. need further to be investigated for better understanding.

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