Purpose: We investigated the association of anthropometric status, perceived stress, and personality traits with eating behavior in university students.
Methods: The participants, 1546 Japanese university students (964 males, 582 females), completed a questionnaire which asked for their current height and weight, ideal height and weight, eating behaviors, perceived stress, and personality traits.
Results: Restrained eating was higher in normal-weight participants compared with underweight participants in both males and females (p < 0.001, both males and females). Restrained eating in normal-weight males was significantly lower in normal-weight females (p < 0.001). In addition, normal-weight males reported less stress than normal-weight females (anxiety/uncertainty, p = 0.037; tiredness/physical responses, p < 0.001; autonomic symptoms, p < 0.001; depression/feeling, p < 0.001) and underweight males (tiredness/physical responses, p = 0.018; autonomic symptoms, p = 0.001). Moreover, among normal-weight males, neuroticism was significantly lower compared with normal-weight females (p < 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, male participants revealed positive association between restrained eating and body mass index (β = 0.199, p < 0.001) or body mass index difference (β = - 0.170, p = 0.001). In contrast, female revealed more significant associations between emotional and external eating and perceived stress or personality traits compared with males.
Conclusions: These results indicate that associations between eating behavior and anthropometric status or psychological factors are different by each eating behavior, which is partly influenced by gender difference.
Level of evidence: V, cross-sectional descriptive study.
Keywords: Anthropometric status; Eating behavior; Gender difference; Personality; Stress; Students.