Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the eating habits, eating attitudes, and behaviors of university students and to determine the relationship between binge eating disorder and emotional eating.

Method: This study was conducted with individuals studying at a university in Malatya. In the study, the Dutch Eating Behaviors scale was used to determine the emotional eating status of individuals, and the Edinburgh Bulimia Research Test scale was used to detect the binge eating disorder of individuals.

Results: The mean age of the subjects was found to be 24.21±6.21 years. It was determined that 12.58% of individuals had an Edinburgh Bulimia Research Test scale score of 20 points and above. The mean Edinburgh Bulimia Research Test scale score of the female students participating in the study was 8.24±2.78, and it was 6.18±2.01 for male students (p=0.013). When the distribution of the external eating mean scores was examined according to the Edinburgh Bulimia Research Test scale score categories, it was seen that the external eating scores of the individuals with the Edinburgh Bulimia Research Test scale scores of 20 and above were 28.87±9.44 (p=0.019). For every 0.021 unit increase in BMI, it leads to a 1.031-fold increase in emotional eating. In the model created with the same variables for the presence of binge eating disorder, it was found that the restrictive eating variable contributed significantly to the model and each 1.078 unit increase increased the risk of binge eating disorder 2.708 times (p<0.05).

Conclusion: According to the study results, there are many factors that increase the risk of binge eating disorder in university students. In this study, increased BMI and emotional eating were determined as factors that increase the risk of binge eating disorder.