The effect of emotional eating disorderand nutritional conditions on defectional habits inadult female individuals

This study aims to examine the effects of emotional eating disorder and nutritional status on the defecation habits of adult female individuals who applied to a nutrition counseling office and voluntarily participated in the study. The research was conducted with 150 female volunteers aged between 18-62. The study was conducted between July 5, 2023 and September 5, 2023. Female individuals were included in the study provided that they were not pregnant and were between the ages of 18-62. Research questions were collected using a survey form and Google surveys on the online platform. As a data collection tool; In the survey form, demographic information form, anthropometric measurement information, physical activity, nutrition and defecation habits, and a 3-day food consumption record were taken. In the first stage, the survey was conducted on the online platform, and in the second stage, 3-day food consumption records were taken by the researcher via phone call and written into the survey form. The Emotional Eating Scale - Adult Form (DYS-Y) was used to examine the participants' emotional eating status, and the Bristol Stool Form Scale and Rome III Criteria Scale were used to examine their defecation habits. The average age of the participants is 36 ± 11.04 years and the average BMI is 25.05 ± 4.77 kg/m2. There is a significant, positive relationship between eating in situations of tension and eating to cope with negative emotions subscale scores and vitamin D intake. A significant relationship was determined between DYS-Y subscale scores and defecation habits. According to the relationship between food consumption records and defecation habits, a significant difference was found in macro and micronutrient intakes (p <0.05). While there was little significant relationship according to DYS-Y sub-dimensions and food consumption records, it was determined that there was a significant and strong relationship between emotional eating and the frequency of defecation problems according to DYS-Y sub-dimension scores and Rome III Criteria. While no significant results were found in every examination between DYS-Y and defecation habits, it was determined that food consumption records were effective on both emotional eating and defecation habits. The emotional eating subscales of the participants were found to be highly reliable compared to the Cronbach alpha subscales. It is thought that different similar studies are needed to support this study.