Eating concerns on two Christian and two nonsectarian college campuses: a measure of sex and campus differences in attitudes toward eating.

Eating concerns among college men and women on two campuses with an explicitly Christian world view and two nonsectarian campuses, each campus in a different section of the country, were examined in three experiments using the Wellesley Eating Attitudes Survey. Chi-square tests indicated that eating concerns were significantly more frequent among women than men, but men showed a surprisingly high degree of concern. Campuses differed in their level of concern. The relative incidence of overweight in the four sections of the country (Northeast, West, Midwest, and South), as measured by the Centers for Disease Control (1989), appeared more closely related to the level of concern at each of the campuses than the presence or absence of an evangelical Christian world view. Recommendations are made for appropriate support services for students with eating concerns at each campus.