Disordered eating behaviors, food insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduate students in the United States: a systematic review.

IF 5.7 3区医学 Q2 NUTRITION & DIETETICS

Journal of Eating Disorders Pub Date : 2026-06-20 DOI:10.1186/s40337-026-01604-y

Bridget Murphy Hussain, Meredith Hannigan, Danielle Conklin, Mackenzie Gordon, Aletha Huckins, Audrey Beauvais

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Eating disorders are highly prevalent among undergraduate students at colleges and universities in the United States (US). These behaviors may be associated with food insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic, as both represent stressors that may be difficult for young adults to independently manage and cope with, turning to maladaptive coping strategies that are characteristic of disordered eating. The aim of this systematic review was to understand the relationship between eating disorders, defined by DSM-5 criteria, and food insecurity among undergraduate college students in the US, with additional consideration for the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Global Health (Ovid), PsycInfo, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Psychology Database were searched from 2014 to 2024 to capture eating disorders as defined by the DSM-5 criteria, searching terms representing eating disorders, food insecurity, and COVID-19. Articles were screened independently by 2 researchers using inclusion criteria agreed upon by all authors.

Results: Disordered eating was associated with food insecurity and changes in behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All studies were cross sectional with the number of participants ranging from 98 to 1996. Due to heterogeneity in assessment tools used in studies pooling of data and direct comparison of findings was limited. While no study measured eating disorders, food insecurity, and COVID-19 together, studies did reveal that food insecurity and COVID-19 were both associated with emotional eating that may indicate a greater risk for binge eating disorder.

Conclusions: While the overall data is limited, studies examining the effect of food insecurity or COVID-19 on undergraduate eating behaviors found that students experienced a significant increase in depressive and anxious symptoms contributing to disordered eating patterns. This may have a long-term impact on academic and health outcomes for young adults.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42024577588.

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美国大学生饮食失调、粮食不安全和新冠肺炎大流行：一项系统综述

背景：饮食失调在美国高校本科生中非常普遍。这些行为可能与粮食不安全和2019冠状病毒病大流行有关，因为两者都是压力源，年轻人可能难以独立管理和应对，从而转向适应不良的应对策略，这是饮食失调的特征。本系统综述的目的是了解DSM-5标准定义的饮食失调与美国本科生食品不安全之间的关系，并额外考虑COVID-19大流行的影响。方法：检索2014 - 2024年PubMed、Cochrane Library、Scopus、Global Health （Ovid）、PsycInfo、Nursing and Allied Health Literature Cumulative Index to care and Allied Health Literature （CINAHL）和Psychology Database，获取DSM-5标准定义的饮食失调，检索代表饮食失调、食物不安全和COVID-19的术语。文章由两名研究人员独立筛选，采用所有作者同意的纳入标准。结果：饮食失调与COVID-19大流行导致的粮食不安全和行为改变有关。所有的研究都是横断面的，参与者的数量从98到1996不等。由于研究中使用的评估工具的异质性，数据汇集和结果的直接比较受到限制。虽然没有研究将饮食失调、粮食不安全和COVID-19一起衡量，但研究确实表明，粮食不安全和COVID-19都与情绪性饮食有关，这可能表明患暴饮暴食症的风险更大。结论：虽然总体数据有限，但研究粮食不安全或COVID-19对大学生饮食行为影响的研究发现，学生的抑郁和焦虑症状显著增加，导致饮食模式紊乱。这可能会对年轻人的学业和健康结果产生长期影响。系统评审注册：PROSPERO注册号CRD42024577588。

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来源期刊

Journal of Eating Disorders Neuroscience-Behavioral Neuroscience

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

17.10%

发文量

161

审稿时长

16 weeks

期刊介绍： Journal of Eating Disorders is the first open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing leading research in the science and clinical practice of eating disorders. It disseminates research that provides answers to the important issues and key challenges in the field of eating disorders and to facilitate translation of evidence into practice. The journal publishes research on all aspects of eating disorders namely their epidemiology, nature, determinants, neurobiology, prevention, treatment and outcomes. The scope includes, but is not limited to anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and other eating disorders. Related areas such as important co-morbidities, obesity, body image, appetite, food and eating are also included. Articles about research methodology and assessment are welcomed where they advance the field of eating disorders.