Özet:

Objective: To check the risk for the development of eating disorders and its relationship with body dissatisfaction behavior and nutritional status among academic women from health courses. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 113 college students from the Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB) of University of Passo Fundo (UPF) in northen Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Socioeconomic characteristics (Critério Brasil - ABEP), body checking behaviors (Body Checking Questionnaire - BCQ), body image avoidance (Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire - BIAQ) and inappropriate eating attitudes (Eating Attitudes Test - EAT-26) were evaluated. Nutritional status was obtained by calculating the Body Mass Index (BMI) from self-reported weight and height. Results: Body checking and body image avoidance behaviors were associated with inappropriate eating attitudes, showing a 27,75% and 27,36% prevalence, respectively. The same behaviors were also related with the overweight found in the sample, with a 28,29% prevalence for body checking and 27,44% for image avoidance. Thus, it was possible to observe a higher risk for the development of eating disorders among university students who were overweight or obese. Conclusion: It was found there is a high occurrence of body image avoidance and body checking behaviors in academic women who manifested risky eating attitudes that can lead to eating disorders, as well as those who have a nutritional status classified as overweight or obesity.

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