Investigation of the relationship between emotional eating behavior and anthropometric measurements of university students

This study was carried out in Hasan Kalyoncu University Faculty of Health Sciences, Gaziantep, between October 2016 and May 2017, in order to investigate the relationship between emotional eating behavior and anthropometric measurements of the volunteer university students (n:325) in the 3rd and 4th grades of Nutrition and Dietetics (ND), Nursing and Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation programs (PTR). General characteristics, dietary habits, daily food consumptions, were determined using three-factor nutrition (TFEQ) questionnaire and eating in emotional situations (EESQ) questionnaires. Students' anthropometric measurements (height, body weight, waist circumference and hip circumference) were measured and Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) were done. A daily energy and nutrient intaken were analyzed using Nutrition Information System (BEBIS) and the results were compared to Turkey Nutrition Guide lines (TÖBR). 77.2% of the participants were women and 94%were single where 22,8% were men. Mean age ( ±S) is 22,2±1,9 in women, and 23,2±1,9 in men. Almost half of the students (47,4%) were skipping a meal at least once a day, 36,6% had a single snack, 28,9% skipped a meal and usually the skipped breakfast (51,4%). 28,5% of the participants in Nutrition and Dietetics program, 29,7% in Nursing and 41,6% in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation had medical doctor diagnosed diseases. Ulcer (p˂0,05) in students and osteoporosis (p˂0,05) in their families were critically higher in PTR students. According to Body Mass Index (BMI), 68,0% of the students were normal and 21,5% were overweight. According to TÖBR, the students had energy obtained from protein higher than recommended (ND Woman:118,1% and Men:119,4% ; Nursing Woman:112,2% and Men:101,9% ; PTR Woman:113,6% and Men:119,3%) and fats (ND Woman:126,1% and Men:118,3% ; Nursing Woman:133,7% and Men:136,6% ; PTR Woman:138,7% and Men:128,4%) where energy from carbohydrates were lower than recommended.(ND Woman:81,0% and Men:84,6% ; Nursing Woman:78,5% and Men:79,6% ; PTR Woman:75,0% and Men:79,1%). With higher occurence in woman, all of the students were found that they overeat when they were upset, worried, tried to be convinced by friends, sad or feeling alone. According to departments, uncontrolled eating level was highest in the PTR section (p<0,05), sensitivity to hunger is highest in the Nursing section (p˂0,05). According to gender, the level of cognitive restriction and eating habits (EESQ) in emotional situations were mostly seen in mostly women (p˂0,05). Considering the relationship between emotional eating habits and anthropometric measurements, weight (kg), waist circumference (cm), hip circumference (cm), Body Mass Index (BMI) Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), body fat level (%) and amount (%) were positively related to scale scores (p˂0,05), height (cm), body fluid ratio (%), body fluid amount (%), fat free man ratio (%), fat free man amount (kg) were negatively correlated (p˂0,05). In conclusion, emotinal eating habits and antropometric measurements have a strong relationship, it would be useful to embrace a multidisciplinary approach focused on emotion and stress management to reduce the risk of weight gain as a result of emotional eating in university students. Key words: nutrition in university, emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, cognitive restriction, hunger sensitivity