Publication: The association between eating behaviour, perceived stress level and nutritional status among undergraduate students at the health campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia
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Date
2025-01
Authors
Roslan, Rafeeza
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Abstract
Introduction: The prevalence of stress among university students is increasing, impacting their eating behaviors and overall nutritional status, including metrics such as Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist-to-Hip Ratio, and body fat percentage. This study aims to explore the relationship between stress and eating behavior, as well as its association with nutritional status among undergraduates at the School of Health Sciences in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Method: A total of 156 participants were recruited through a convenience sampling method. They completed questionnaires that included sociodemographic information, anthropometric measurements, items from Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R21). Results: The analysis revealed that over half of the participants reported moderate levels of stress (78.2%). When examining the relationship between stress and various aspects of eating behavior such as cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating, and only cognitive restraint demonstrated a weak positive correlation. Most participants had a normal BMI (41.7%) and a majority recorded a normal body fat percentage (58.2%), with 22.1% showing a high body fat percentage. Both female (77.9%) and male (91.2%) participants exhibited low health risks concerning Waist-to-Hip Ratio. Notably, cognitive restraint was significantly associated with body fat percentage (p= 0.014).
Conclusion: The findings from this study can inform future research aimed at developing multi-domain strategies to manage eating behavior and stress among students.