Abnormal eating attitude and its relationship with body image in an urban sample of adolescents from Valencia

Abstract

The aims of the present research were to asses the prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes in a sample of adolescents, aged 14-18, who attend secondary school in the 9th wealth area of Valencia, and analyse the relationship between such attitudes and anthropometric measurements, body self-image and diets. The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) by Garner and Garfinkel, and the Body Shape Questionnaire by Cooper were used. The adolescents’ weigh and eight were measured and the Quetelet Index was calculated. Information about diets, body shape self-evaluation and wish for changing weight was collected. Prevalence of risky eating attitudes, was 19.8% for the girls (n=197) and 1,76% for the boys (n=170). The EAT scores were significantly higher for girls aged 16, the subjects who wished a body shape reduction, women who self-evaluated with overweight and obesity, girls who were on a diet during the last year and women that knew fiends and relatives going on it. The distortion of body shape was significantly higher for woman with objective overweight, women self-evaluated with overweight and obesity, women who wished a body shape reduction and women who were on a diet.