The Relationship between Social Physique Anxiety and Nutritional Behaviors among Students of University

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social physique anxiety and nutritional behaviors among male and female students of the university.

Methods: The research was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of all students of the University of Tehran in 2020, from which 221 people (females: n=110) and (male: n=111) (mean age: 21.12 ± 2.6 years) were randomly selected and completed the Social Physique Anxiety and Eating Disorders questionnaires. The Social Physique Anxiety Scale was used to collect data and the Garner and Garfinkel 26-item Eating Disorder Questionnaire was used to assess nutritional behaviors. The Pearson correlation test was used to examine the relationship between research variables. Due to the normality of the data based on the K-S test, an independent T-test.

Results: The results showed that girls with upper extremity social physique anxiety have an eating disorder (r = 0.20, P≥0.05). On the other hand, boys with upper extremity social physique anxiety showed overeating eating behavior (r = 0.15, P≥0.05). No significant difference was observed in other components.

Conclusion: According to the results of the study, girls who have high social physique anxiety are more likely to develop dietary behaviors. However, overeating eating behavior is seen in those boys who have high social physique anxiety.