Publication: The association between perceived stress, eating behaviour with body weight status among undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus
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Date
2025-07
Authors
Marzuki, Wan Nur Maisarah Wan
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Abstract
Young adults are commonly have been linked with stress and exhibit extensively variety patterns of eating behaviour to adapt to their circumstances, especially among undergraduate students. This study aimed to determine the association between perceived stress level and eating behaviour with Body Mass Index (BMI) among undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus. A total of 179 respondents were participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected through a self-administered online questionnaire, which included the Sociodemographic data, Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) and the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ), while anthropometric measurements were taken by the researcher physically to assess the BMI. The mean age of respondents was 21.4 years. The study sample consisted mostly of female students (74.3%) and those of Malay ethnicity (76.5%). Students from all years of study were represented, with Year 3 students making up the majority (36.3%). Nearly half of the respondents were from the School of Health Sciences (47.5%). Most participants belonged to the M40 income group (41.9%), and the majority (80.4%) reported receiving student loans during their studies. The findings indicated that more than half of the students (50.3%) had a normal body weight. The overall mean score for the Food Approach domain (3.43 ± 0.56) was higher than that of the Food Avoidance domain. Within the Food Approach subscales, “Enjoyment of Food” had the highest mean score (4.34 ± 0.63), while “Food Fussiness” had the highest mean score (3.43 ± 0.53) among the Food Avoidance subscales. The majority of respondents (73.7%) reported experiencing moderate levels of stress. The results of the study found no significant association between stress levels and BMI. However, some eating behaviour traits showed weak but significant correlations with BMI. “Food Responsiveness” (r = 0.149, p = 0.046) and “Emotional Over-Eating” (r = 0.319, p < 0.001) were positively correlated with BMI, while “Satiety Responsiveness” (r = -0.246, p < 0.001) and “Emotional Under-Eating” (r = -0.184, p = 0.014) were negatively correlated. Future studies are recommended to explore additional factors such as socioeconomic status and physical activity level, and to adopt longitudinal designs to better establish causal relationships
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