Eating habits and bulimia nervosa among students of the Nutrition and Letters/Portuguese at a public university in Brazil

Abstract

Introduction and objective: University admission can cause emotional imbalance in students which can have negative impacts on eating behavior and on the development of eating disorders, such as bulimia nervosa. For this reason, this study aimed to verify eating habits and prevalence of bulimia nervosa in university students of Nutrition and Letters/Portuguese courses at a university in the city of Pelotas-RS. Materials and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study with university students from the Letters​​/Portuguese and Nutrition courses at the Federal University of Pelotas. A self-administered questionnaire on socioeconomic conditions, food consumption was used, along with the Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh. Body weight was measured and height was self-reported to determine nutritional status. Statistical analyzes were performed using the Stata 14.0^®, with a 5% statistical significance. Results and discussion: 7.39% of the students, all female, had a score highly compatible with bulimia, 33.91% of the students suggested an unusual eating pattern and 0.43% manifested intense symptoms. Regarding eating habits, there was an inadequate intake of cooked and raw vegetables, fruits, beans and milk and an adequate consumption of ultra-processed foods. Although there is no association between courses, the results found are similar to other studies on bulimia nervosa in students. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of probable diagnosis of bulimia nervosa in college students, percentages considered to be worrisome, as this eating disorder has psychological consequences that affect the self-esteem and quality of life.