Status and influencing factors of weight loss behavior among college students: a cross-sectional study

College students are the main force of the country's future. The physical health of college students is directly related to the country's future development and progress. Overweight and obesity not only affect the appearance of college students, but also increase the risk of illness, and affect their study, life and career development. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the current status of weight loss behavior and its influencing factors in college students, in order to provide baseline data for the development of targeted weight loss measures, and provide a basis for improving the physical and mental health of college students and long-term weight management goals.

Using the convenience sampling method, 302 Chinese full-time college students from a traditional medicine university in Shandong Province were selected as the survey subjects from July to August 2025. Questionnaire surveys were conducted using the General Information Questionnaire, the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale, and the Health Status Survey Scale. SPSS 26.0 software was used to process and analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the general information. Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of weight loss among college students and conducted a correlation analysis.

45.0% of college students had weight loss behavior, among whom 63 were male and 73 were female. Dutch Eating Behavior, Self-Efficacy for Exercise were positively correlated with weight loss behavior of college students. Logistic regression analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences between body mass index, weight loss intention, Dutch Eating Behavior, Self-Efficacy for Exercise and weight loss behavior of college students, p < 0.05.

Body mass index, weight loss intention, Dutch Eating Behavior, and Self-Efficacy for Exercise were the influencing factors of weight loss behavior among college students. Relevant departments of the school should do good job in health education for students, guide them to establish good lifestyle, improve their dietary management skills and confidence in exercise, strengthen their motivation for weight loss, enhance self-health management, and maintain healthy weight.