Risk eating behaviors in male and female students: a longitudinal study

The purpose of this research was to analyze changes in body mass index and risk eating behaviors in a group of students through a longitudinal study and determine the differences in risk eating behaviors between men and women with different rates of body mass. 5780 students participated, 37.5% were male and 62.5% female, mean age for each measurement times were: 15.1 years first measurement, 18.0 yearssecond measurement, 22.1 years last measurement. For purposes of this study indicators were used from automated medical examination, which serves to collect information on the physical and mental health, family and environment of students at a public university in Mexico. The measurements were made for weight and height of each student to then calculate the body mass index based on the proposal of the World Health Organization. Risk eating behaviors were evaluated with seven indicators that measure the presence or absence of such things as: the use of laxatives, vomiting after eating, exercising 2 h a day, stop eating for a day or moreover, use of pills or diuretics, being on more than two. Significant differences were found in the risk eating behavior with respect to different categories of body mass index only in the first measurement, where young people were of less underweight risk eating behavior than those who are overweight.