Magnitude and factors associated with emotional eating among pre-university students: a cross-sectional study in urban Mysuru, Karnataka

Background: Emotional eating is a phenomenon in which individuals use food as a way of coping with negative emotions such as depression, anxiety, and stress. This study aimed to estimate the magnitude of emotional eating among pre-university students of urban Mysuru, to assess the factors associated with it, and to evaluate its relationship with anthropometric parameters and academic performance of the study participants. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 460 pre-university students in urban Mysuru. 5 out of 8 colleges were selected through simple random sampling and the number of participants to be included from each college through probability proportionate to size technique. At the college level, participants were selected through simple random sampling using their attendance register. Students assenting and whose college principals consented were included while students diagnosed with and/or on treatment for eating disorders and neurotic psychiatric disorders were excluded. Results: The magnitude of emotional eating was found to be 49.8%. Associated factors included gender, monthly allowance, screen time, frequency of skipping meals, food frequency of sweets, snacks, ice-cream, chocolates, and fast food, and stressors such as relations with people, personal, academic, and environmental factors. No correlation was found between emotional eating and body mass index, female waist-to-hip ratio, and examination results. In contrast, a positive correlation was found with male waist-to-hip ratio. Conclusions: With emotional eating being distinctly prevalent among pre-university students, students must be educated to identify their stress triggers and effectively manage them with positive coping techniques to establish healthy relationships with food.