Determination of mindful eating and factors affecting mindful eating: Faculty of Health Science sample

Objective: In this research, it was aimed to measure mindful eating in university students and to examine the change of mindful eating with students' socio-demographic characteristics, eating behaviors, existing eating habits and depression levels. Material and Methods: The research was carried out with the students of Aydın Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Health Sciences and it is an analytical-cross-sectional study. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews between November 2019 and January 2020. Mindful Eating Questionnaire, Beck Depression Scale, Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire and a questionnaire prepared by the researcher with the support of the literature were used to collect the data. IBM SPSS 22 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) program was used for data analysis. G-Power was used for power analysis and in the analysis of the data; Independent-Samples t Test, Kruskal Wallis, Mann Whitney-U, One-Way ANOVA tests and Pearson Correlation Analysis were performed. Results: Significant difference was found between the characteristics of the students participating in the study, such as age, BMI, place of residence, and presence of chronic disease, and their MEQ scores (p<0.05). It was determined that the average score of thin individuals, individuals living in the city center, and individuals without chronic diseases was significantly lower among the groups they were compared. There is no significant relationship between the students' gender, departments, classes, people they live in, their income and sports status and the total MEQ score (p>0.05). A significant difference was found between the students' MEQ scores and their status of making snacks, skipping meals and the number of snacks (p<0.05). A significant difference was found between the mean scores of the mindfulnes sub-dimension of MEQ and gender (p<0.05). Men's mindfulness score is higher than women's (p<0.05). There is a significant difference between the BMI values of the students and the sub-dimensions of MEQ such as eating without thinking, emotional eating and interference (p<0.05). It has been determined that while obese individuals have lower eating without thinking and interference scores, emotional eating behavior is less in underweight individuals (p<0.05). Emotional eating behavior is higher in Midwifery students than in Nutrition and Dietetics and Child Development students (p<0.05). Participants with emotional eating behavior were found to have higher levels of depression (p<0,01). As individuals' eating without thinking behaviors increase, their depression levels increase (p<0,01). Conclusion: This research shows that mindful eating and its sub-dimensions are associated with socio-demographic characteristics, eating habits and depression levels of individuals. Key Words: Eating disorders, Mindful eating, Mindfulness, Obesity, Weight control