Body Dissatisfaction and Risk of Eating Disorder among UCSI University Non-Science Field Students Jie Joyce Tan Xi1, Sivapathy Shashikala1,* 1Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia *Corresponding author: Shashikala Sivapathy, E-mail: shashikala@ucsiuniversity.edu.my
Online published on 30 April, 2019. Abstract Body dissatisfaction and risk of eating disorder are problems that are continuing to trouble a large proportion of women and a growing number of men. This study aims to determine the relationship between socio-demographic factors (age and gender), body mass index, body dissatisfaction and risk of eating disorder among UCSI university non-science field students. A self-administered questionnaire which contains four sections was used, including background information, anthropometric measurements, Figure Rating Scale and Eating Attitude Test-26. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 375 Malaysian students (48.8% males and 51.2% females) between the age of 17 to 28. In this study, there were no significant differences in gender on age (t = 1.626; p > 0.05) and BMI status (t = 1.813; p > 0.05). Also, there was no significant difference found in the total mean score of EAT-26 (t =-1.927; p > 0.05) between genders. However, a significant difference was found in the dieting subscale (t =-2.694; p < 0.05) in which females scored significantly higher than that of males. On the other hand, body dissatisfaction among female students was showed significantly higher than that of males (t =-9.262; p < 0.001). Aside from that, a positive correlation (r = 0.120; p < 0.05) was found between body dissatisfaction and risk of eating disorder. Thus, more adapted interventional programme and a more in-depth studies relating these factors are crucial in order to correct the body image misperceptions among university students and to decrease the occurrence of risk of eating disorder. Top Keywords Body mass index, eating disorder, man, woman. Top |