Eating attitudes and its relationship with nutritional status: a micro level study on a group of adolescent girls in the city of Howrah, West Bengal.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To assess the relationship between eating attitudes and nutritional status. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 adolescent girls (258 aged 14-17 years and 142 aged 18-21 years) from the city of Howrah, West Bengal. Eating attitude was measured using eating distress syndrome (EDS) questionnaire. Nutritional status was assessed using body mass index, waist-hip ratio (WHR) and body fat percentage (BF%). RESULTS: Participants with disordered eating attitudes revealed significantly higher values for body mass index (BMI), WHR and BF% than those with normal eating attitudes (p≤0.01). Hierarchical linear regression analyses show that eating attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics (like mothers' education and occupation, age and birth order of the participants) significantly predict nutritional status. CONCLUSION: The nutritional status of adolescents depends on their eating attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics.