Assessment of Binge Eating Behavior, Body Shape Concerns, and Associated Factors among Female Adolescents of Northern Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 16; no. 18; p. 3082
• Main Authors: Alhuwaydi, Ahmed M, Alqahtani, Ayidh Muflih, Alsadun, Razan Saud, Alruwaili, Ohud Saud, Thirunavukkarasu, Ashokkumar, Abdel-Salam, Doaa Mazen, Alanazi, Yousef Salman A, Al-Huwaidi, Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud, Alhuwaydi, Rakan Mohammed Ahmed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 13.09.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; adolescents; Binge eating; Binge-Eating Disorder - epidemiology; Binge-Eating Disorder - psychology; Body Image - psychology; body shape; Bulimia - epidemiology; Bulimia - psychology; Compulsive eating; Cross-Sectional Studies; Decision-making; dissatisfaction; Eating behavior; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; Females; Food habits; Humans; Obesity; Public health; Saudi; Saudi Arabia - epidemiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenage girls; Teenagers; Saudi Arabia; body shape; Saudi; dissatisfaction; adolescents; females; binge eating
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu16183082

Globally, binge eating behavior has emerged as a significant public health concern, especially among female adolescents. Body shape concerns in female adolescents can lead to body dissatisfaction and other mental health issues. Using a cross-sectional study design, we evaluated the frequency of binge eating behavior, body shape concerns, and associated factors among 400 female adolescents. We utilized a pretested Arabic binge eating scale (BES) and a body shape questionnaire-shorter version (BSQ-8C) to collect the required data. We performed Spearman's correlation analysis to find the strength and direction of the correlation between the BES and BSQ-8C scores. Finally, we applied binomial logistic regression analysis to identify the predictors of body shape concerns. Of the studied participants, 5.5% and 6.2% had medium and severe binge eating behavior. We found a significant positive correlation between the BES and BSQ-8C scores (rho = 0.434, < 0.001). Also, we found that body shape concerns were significantly higher among the monthly family income category of 5000 to 7000 SAR ( = 0.005), the severe binge eating categories ( = 0.009), and obese adolescents ( = 0.001). The present study results can be applied to the development of focused interventions and strategies to address these concerns in this group.