Body shape and eating attitudes among female nursing students in India

OBJECTIVES. Eating disorders have been associated with body image disturbances, disordered eating attitudes, and other psychiatric difficulties. There is limited published literature on body shape and eating attitudes from non-western settings. This article presents the findings of a study of eating attitude and body shape concerns among female nursing students in India. METHODS. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at a government nursing college associated with a tertiary-level multi-specialty hospital. Instruments used included semi-structured proforma, Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ). Correlations of age and body mass index with EAT-26 and BSQ scores were carried out using Pearson's correlation statistics. The level of statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05. RESULTS. A total of 97 nursing students returned the completed study questionnaire. There was a significant positive correlation between body mass index and BSQ score. However, body mass index was not found to be correlated with EAT-26 score. CONCLUSIONS. The findings from the current study bring some interesting insights into body shape and eating attitudes of female nursing students from India.