earticle

영어

It is important for collegiate women to manage their body weight and eating behaviors not only for body shape but also for their health, however many of them do not recognize the importance. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of body composition and eating behaviors among college women. A total of 489 college women participated in this study volunteerly, and were divided into 3 groups(underweight group; n=30, normal weight group; n=326, overweight group; n=133) based on BMI. Each participants completed the survey packet which consists of demographic questionnaire, EDEQ(Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire) and EDI-2(Eating Disorder Inventory-2). The main findings in this study are as follows. 16% of underweight group, 67.5% of normal weight group, and 76.9% of overweight group have disordered eating behaviors using 6 classification criteria. And the prevalence of disordered eating behaviors among groups was significantly different(p<.001). It has been found that there were significant differences in means of 9 variables related to eating behaviors(perceived BMI, ideal BMI, BMI gap, weight change, mean of EDEQ, shape concern, weight concern, Drive for Thinness, Body Dissatisfaction). These results indicate that disordered eating behaviors could be detected in any range of body composition. It could happen even more in normal range of BMI. Women in nornal and overweight range of BMI are much more sensitive on body weight, shape and have more desire for thinness and body dissatisfaction. Health education for college women should be required to prevent atypical eating behaviors