Detection of Risk Factors for Eating Disorders in University Students

Eating disorders are a psychiatric pathology, considered as a health and nutrition problem, where the patient tends to present malnutrition or obesity, in the same way it is related to high rates of comorbidity and mortality. Worldwide, they have a prevalence of 5%, with the female sex being the most affected. The objective was to detect risk factors for eating disorders in university students. We worked under a quantitative research approach, non-experimental design and descriptive scope, where the EAT-26 interview was applied to 146 students from the Technical University of Ambato, while the data was tabulated and whose results were expressed in the form of graphs and tables. The results of the questionnaire identified that the students analyzed did not present any risk factor for eating disorders. In addition, it was identified that 32.9% of students do not diet, 52.6% have never presented physiological or psychological problems and 29% do not present problems in terms of their eating habits. However, it was identified that the students have a slight fear of being overweight but do not control their diet by reducing the percentages of carbohydrates and sugars.