Eating Disorders Among Undergraduate Students at Al-Biruni Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Hyderabad

Authors

  • Mazhar Ali Chandio Author
    • Conceptualization
    • Data Curation
    • Resources
    • Software
    • Supervision
  • Kailash Chander Author
    • Writing – Original Draft Preparation
    • Writing – Review & Editing
    • Methodology
    • Validation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65459/000000004

Keywords:

Eating Disorders, SCOFF questionnaire, undergraduate students, prevalence, screening

Abstract

Background: Eating disorders are prevalent psychiatric conditions characterized by abnormal eating behaviors, body image disturbances, and significant health consequences. Previous studies have shown rising rates among young adults, particularly university students. Objective: This study aimed to assess the frequency of eating disorder risk among undergraduate students. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 114 undergraduate students. Demographic data were collected, and participants completed the SCOFF questionnaire to screen for risk of eating disorders. Responses were analyzed descriptively, and chi-square tests were used to compare observed proportions against expected distributions. Results: The mean age of participants was 21.42 ± 1.8 years, with females comprising 62.4% of the sample. Overall, 72 (63.2%) students showed a potential risk for eating disorders. Specifically, 42 (36.8%) reported making themselves sick due to feeling uncomfortably full (p = 0.005), 48 (42.1%) worried about loss of control over eating (p = 0.092), 18 (15.8%) had lost more than one stone in 3 months (p < 0.0001), 42 (36.8%) perceived themselves as fat when others said they were too thin (p = 0.005), and 66 (57.9%) felt that food dominated their lives (p = 0.092). Conclusion: A considerable proportion of undergraduate students exhibited behaviors suggestive of eating disorder risk, particularly self-induced vomiting, perceived fatness, and rapid weight loss. These findings underscore the importance of early screening and preventive interventions in this population.

References

1. Udo, T., & Grilo, C. M. (2019). Psychiatric and medical correlates of DSM-5 eating disorders in a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 52(1), 42–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23004

2. Lee, J. E., Namkoong, K., & Jung, Y. C. (2017). Impaired prefrontal cognitive control over interference by food images in binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. Neuroscience Letters, 651, 95–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2017.04.054

3. Treasure, J., Duarte, T. A., & Schmidt, U. (2020). Eating disorders. Lancet (London, England), 395(10227), 899–911. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30059-3

4. Fitzpatrick, K. K., & Lock, J. (2011). Anorexia nervosa. BMJ Clinical Evidence, 2011, 1011.

5. Hudson, J. I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H. G., & Kessler, R. C. (2007). The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biological Psychiatry, 61(3), 348–358. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.03.040

6.Ganson, K. T., Murray, S. B., & Nagata, J. M. (2021). Associations between eating disorders and illicit drug use among college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 54(7), 1127–1134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23493

7. Schmidt, U., Adan, R., Böhm, I., Campbell, I. C., Dingemans, A., Ehrlich, S., Elzakkers, I., Favaro, A., Giel, K., Harrison, A., Himmerich, H., Hoek, H. W., Herpertz-Dahlmann, B., Kas, M. J., Seitz, J., Smeets, P., Sternheim, L., Tenconi, E., van Elburg, A., … Zipfel, S. (2016). Eating disorders: The big issue. The Lancet. Psychiatry, 3(4), 313–315. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(16)00081-X

8. Reinking, M. F., & Alexander, L. E. (2005). Prevalence of disordered-eating behaviors in undergraduate female collegiate athletes and nonathletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 40(1), 47–51.

9. Kirk, G., Singh, K., & Getz, H. (2001). Risk of eating disorders among female college athletes and nonathletes. Journal of College Counseling, 4(2), 122–132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2001.tb00192.x

10. Hamilton A, Mitchison D, Basten C, Byrne S, Goldstein M, Hay P, et al. Understanding treatment delay: perceived barriers preventing treatment-seeking for eating disorders. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2021;12:00048674211020102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674211020102

11. Hart LM, Granillo MT, Jorm AF, Paxton SJ. Unmet need for treatment in the eating disorders: a systematic review of eating disorder specifc treatment seeking among community cases. Clin Psychol Rev. 2011;31(5):727–35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.03.004

12. Rowe E. Early detection of eating disorders in general practice. Aust Fam Physician. 2017;46(11):833–8.

13. Morgan JF, Reid F, Lacey JH (1999) The SCOFF questionnaire: assessment of a new screening tool for eating disorders. BMJ 319:1467–1468 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.319.7223.1467

14. Hill LS, Reid F, Morgan JF, Lacey JH (2010) SCOFF, the development of an eating disorder screening questionnaire. Int J Eat Disord 43:344–351. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.20679

15. Tavolacci MP, Ladner J, Grigioni S, Richard L, Déchelotte P, Ladner J. Eating disorders and associated health risks among university students. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2015;47(5):412-420.e1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2015.06.009

16. Laghari ZA, Warsi J, Memon MQ, Lashari K, Soomro AM. Detection of eating disorders in university students using SCOFF questionnaire. Int J Dev Res. 2014;4(8):1634-1637.

17. Eisenberg D, Nicklett EJ, Roeder K, Kirz NE. Eating disorder symptoms among college students: prevalence, persistence, correlates, and treatment-seeking. J Am Coll Health. 2011;59(8):700-707. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2010.546461

Downloads

Published

01-01-2026

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025): December

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Mazhar Ali Chandio, Kailash Chander (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

License and Copyright Policy

All articles published in Precision Medicine and Health Journal are open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

This license permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the following conditions are met:

  1. Attribution – Appropriate credit must be given to the original author(s) and the source, a link to the Creative Commons license must be provided, and any changes made must be indicated.

  2. Non-Commercial – The material may not be used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from the copyright holder (the author(s) or the journal).

  3. Integrity – If changes are made to the work (e.g., translation, adaptation, summary), these must be clearly indicated.

Authors retain copyright of their articles and grant Precision Medicine and Health Journal the right of first publication. Authors may also deposit the final published version in institutional or subject repositories, or share it on academic social networks, provided proper citation to the original publication in this journal is included.

For commercial use of published material, permission must be obtained from the editorial office at editor@pmhjournal.com.

License Link:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

How to Cite

Eating Disorders Among Undergraduate Students at Al-Biruni Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Hyderabad. (2026). Precision Medicine and Health Journal, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.65459/000000004