Eating Behavior during First-Year College Students, including Eating Disorders-RUVIC-RUNEAT-TCA Project. Protocol of an Observational Multicentric Study

[Comparative research on the relationship between body mass index and physical fitness index among the Uygur, Kazakh and Han ethnic college students]

OBJECTIVE

To understand the nutritional status and physical fitness of the Uygur, Kazak and Han ethnic college students, and to investigate the nonlinear relationship between BMI and physical fitness indexes in different ethnic groups.

METHODS

A total of 3 600 Uygur, Kazakh and Han students majoring in non-sports in a university in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2021 were selected by stratified random cluster sampling method. Height, weight, vital capacity, 50 m running, standing long jump, sit-and-reach, sit-up/pull-up and endurance running were measured. Body mass index (BMI), standardized Z score of each test score and physical fitness index (PFI) were calculated. The data were analyzed by Chi-square test, single factor analysis of variance, and nonlinear quadratic regression.

RESULTS

Prevalences of overweight (16.00%) and obesity (8.08%) of the Han college students were significantly higher than those of the Uygur (11.83% and 4.08%) and Kazakh (13.58% and 4.58%). Prevalence of low weight in the Uygur (11.92%) was the highest, and the lowest was the Kazakh (9.75%). There were significant differences in the prevalence of BMI classification among the three ethnic groups boys and girls (all P < 0.05). There were significant differences in PFI among college students of different BMI levels in the Uygur, Kazakh and Han ethnic college students (all P < 0.05), and the PFI of normal weight group was higher than the other weight groups in general, and the overweight group was higher than the obese group, but some ethnics showed the highest PFI in the low weight group. The non-linear quadratic regression results showed that the curves of the Uygur boys and girls and the Kazakh boys were inverted "J" shaped, and the PFI increased and then decreased with the increase of BMI, while the rest of the curves were arc-shaped, and the PFI decreased with the increase of BMI.

CONCLUSION

Overweight obesity in the Uygur, Kazakh and Han ethnic college students brings about a decrease in physical fitness, but Kazakh low weight male and female and Han low weight grils have better physical fitness than the normal weight groups. Focusing on improving the physical fitness of Uygur low-weight and high-weight boys and Han high-weight girls could effectively reduce the differences in physical fitness of college students in different weight levels and ethnic groups.

Risk Factors for Eating Disorders in University Students: The RUNEAT Study

The purpose of the study is to assess the risk of developing general eating disorders (ED), anorexia nervosa (AN), and bulimia nervosa (BN), as well as to examine the effects of gender, academic year, place of residence, faculty, and diet quality on that risk. Over two academic years, 129 first- and fourth-year Uneatlántico students were included in an observational descriptive study. The self-administered tests SCOFF, EAT-26, and BITE were used to determine the participants' risk of developing ED. The degree of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) was used to evaluate the quality of the diet. Data were collected at the beginning (T1) and at the end (T2) of the academic year. The main results were that at T1, 34.9% of participants were at risk of developing general ED, AN 3.9%, and BN 16.3%. At T2, these percentages were 37.2%, 14.7%, and 8.5%, respectively. At T2, the frequency of general ED in the female group was 2.5 times higher (OR: 2.55, 95% CI: 1.22-5.32, p = 0.012). The low-moderate adherence to the MD students' group was 0.92 times less frequent than general ED at T2 (OR: 0.921, 95%CI: 0.385-2.20, p < 0.001). The most significant risk factor for developing ED is being a female in the first year of university. Moreover, it appears that the likelihood of developing ED generally increases during the academic year.

The use and misuse of the SCOFF screening measure over two decades: a systematic literature review

PURPOSE

The SCOFF questionnaire was designed as a simple, memorable screening tool to raise suspicion that a person might have an eating disorder. It is over 20 years since the creation of the SCOFF, during which time it has been widely used. Considering this, we wish to review the use of the SCOFF in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and to assess whether it is being used appropriately in the manner in which it was originally devised and tested.

METHODS

The Preferred Reporting Items for a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were followed, and all search strategies and methods were determined before the onset of the study. PubMed and Wiley Online Library were searched using the terms SCOFF and eating. Two reviewers were involved in the reviewing process. Criteria for appropriate use of the SCOFF were formalised with the tool's original authors.

RESULTS

180 articles were included in the final review. 48 articles had used the SCOFF appropriately, 117 articles inappropriately and 15 articles had been mixed in the appropriateness of their use.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review highlights the inappropriate use of the SCOFF in diverse languages and settings. When used correctly the SCOFF has made a significant contribution to the understanding of eating disorders and its simplicity has been applauded and led to widespread use. However in over two-thirds of studies, the use of the SCOFF was inappropriate and the paper highlights how and in what way it was misused, Guidelines for the appropriate use of the SCOFF are stated. Future validation and avenues of research are suggested.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level I.

Impact of Medical School on the Relationship between Nutritional Knowledge and Sleep Quality-A Longitudinal Study of Students at Wroclaw Medical University in Poland

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the first year of medical school on the relationship between nutritional knowledge and sleep. To achieve this, first-year medical students at Wroclaw Medical University were invited to participate in the study during both the initial and final months of their first academic year. The study included 570 students in the initial period and 705 in the latter. The research questionnaire comprised the KomPAN, assessing nutritional knowledge, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), evaluating sleep quality. The majority of students demonstrated at least sufficient nutritional knowledge, while approximately two-thirds of students experienced poor sleep in both periods. Notably, sleep quality further deteriorated in the second period (PSQI total score: 6.86 vs. 7.38, p = 0.0157). This change was influenced mainly by a decrease in sleep duration and an increase in the use of sleep medications (both p < 0.0001). The significant difference in overall sleep quality between different nutritional knowledge levels emerged only in the second semester, where students with the highest nutritional knowledge slept the best, while those with the lowest slept the worst (p = 0.0001). Crucially, in both periods, the use of sleep medications was highest among individuals with insufficient nutritional knowledge. Throughout the academic year, the usage increased for all except those with the highest nutritional knowledge, who exhibited the best sleep (p < 0.0001). The escalating use of sleep medications among medical students warrants greater attention, and leveraging the relationship between nutritional knowledge and sleep could prove beneficial, as positive habits in one domain may positively influence the other.

Study the Effect of an Innovative Educational Program Promoting Healthy Food Habits on Eating Disorders, Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Body Composition in University Students

The university stage is a good time to promote healthy eating strategies. The sociological and cultural changes experienced by students lead them to skip meals, increase their intake of fast food and energy-dense foods, decreasing adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD). Professionals related to food such as nutritionists and dietitians are also considered a population at risk of developing eating disorders due to the extensive knowledge they possess, which can be used for both good and bad practice. The objective was to analyze the impact of a 4-month educational program promoting the Mediterranean diet on risky eating behaviors, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and body composition in nutrition and dietetics students, studying the differences according to the group investigated (control group and educated group). The context of the research was 196 students (49 males and 147 females) from two consecutive years. The control group did not receive any type of intervention, while with the control group (educated) an educational program was carried out. Results showed that women with greater control over energy intake, carbohydrates, and sugar had a lower percentage of fat mass, while in men, the relationship was established with weight. Regarding adherence to the Mediterranean diet, at post, it is adequate in both men (8.25 ± 2.87) and women (7.90 ± 2.89), with no significant differences between the intervention groups.