Comportamento de risco para transtornos alimentares entre universitárias de nutrição e arquitetura: transtornos alimentares entre universitárias

Abstract

To analyze the prevalence of favorable behavior to the development of eating disorders (ED) among female university students from a private university. A cross-sectional study was carried out with students from the courses of Nutrition and Architecture in Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos. The research of eating behavior was conducted through the application of Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and the data to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI) was referred. The sample was composed by 51 female Architecture students and 40 female Nutrition students. The average age was 22,3±6,8. Of the total sample, 76,6% of the students presented BMI within the normal range, being considered eutrophic in relation to the nutritional status. According to the scores of EAT-26, 25,5% and 35% of the students from Architecture and Nutrition courses, respectively, showed risk to develop ED, however this difference was not significant. There was not difference among age and ED symptomatology, but in relation to the nutritional status, the difference was significant. A score greater than 20% of EAT+ is considered alarming and a large number of students obtained higher scores than 20%, even though significant differences were not found. The presence of risk signs should be considered to cases detection, prevention and treatment. The university population, mainly students from Nutrition courses in private universities, constitutes an important focus for studies that provide further information on the determinants of ED.