Evaluation of food addiction and emotional eating tendency in university students

The aim of this study is to evaluate food addiction and the predisposition of emotional eating in university students. The study was conducted in May-November 2019 with a total of 450 participants (235 female and 215 male) who are junior or senior students, accepting to participate in the study voluntarily in the Faculty of Engineering at Ankara University. Descriptive information, general habits, nutritional habits, diet history, and anthropometric measurements of the students were questioned with a questionnaire formed by the researcher. The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) was used to evaluate of the students' food addiction status; the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) was used to determine the eating behavior of the students; Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EMAQ) was used to estimate the changes in eating behaviors in different emotions and situations. The average age of the subjects was 22.66±3.22 years. According to YFAS criteria, 17.3% of the students were found to be food addicts. Gender and anthropometric measurements (body mass index (BMI) groups and waist circumference groups) did not have a significant effect on food addiction status (p>0.05). A statistically significant relationship was found between the BMI and the changes in appetite levels due to sadness, stress, happiness, and excitement in students (p<0.05). The percentage of obese students who reported that their appetite increased while they were sad and stressed, and thin students who reported that their appetite decreased while they were happy and excited were found to be significantly higher than those of the other BMI groups (p<0.05). According to the results of EMAQ, it was reported that students are more prone to eat in positive emotional states and situations compared to negative emotional states and situations; male students' positive total (5.46±1.48) and negative total (4.01±1.44) emotional appetite scores were determined to be higher than female students (respectively 5.27±1.67; 3.96±1.79), however, these differences were not statistically significant (p>0.05). In negative emotions and situations, it was observed that food addicted students tend to eat significantly more than the students who are not addicted to food (p=0.000). According to DEBQ data, emotional eating and restrictive eating behaviors were found significantly higher in female compared to male (p<0.05). Restrictive eating, emotional eating and external eating scores of the food addicted students were also found significantly higher than those who were not addicted to food (p=0.000). Different eating behaviors, which negatively affect physical and mental health of individuals, need to be regulated, reduced, and prevented. In consideration of the currently available data, more evidence-based studies on wider populations with all age groups are required to examine the eating behaviors and their effects on individuals. Keywords: University students, eating behavior, food addiction, emotional eating tendency, emotional appetite