Body image dissatisfaction, disordered eating attitudes and nutritional status among female undergraduate students in Lagos, Nigeria

Body image dissatisfaction (BID) is associated with the development of disordered eating attitudes, which can eventually lead to eating disorders. This study was conducted to assess body image dissatisfaction, disordered eating attitudes and nutritional status of female undergraduate students in Lagos as a baseline for an online intervention study. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select 1009 from the intervention group (University of Lagos) and 1005 students from the control group (Lagos State University). Data were collected using semi-structured self-administered questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were taken following standard procedures. Perceived body size was determined by using the Pulver’s Figure Rating Scale Silhouette. Disordered eating was assessed using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). Data were analysed using a statistical program IBM SPSS (version 25) with a significant level set at p ≤0.05. Chi-squared tests were used to detect differences in proportions for categorical variables. Fisher’s exact test was used where cell sizes were less than five, independent-samples t-tests were used to test for differences in the means of continuous variables. The mean age of the students was 20.7±2.0 years for intervention and 20.9±2.2 years control groups. The prevalence of body image dissatisfaction was 57.0% and 60.6% among intervention and control groups, respectively. The prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity were 13.5%, 18.3% and 7.2%, respectively for the intervention group and 13.3%, 19.5% and 8.0% respectively for the control group. The prevalence of disordered eating attitudes was 5.2% and 4.7% for intervention and control groups, respectively. Only the control group demonstrated a significant positive association between nutritional status and body image dissatisfaction as well as body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating. There was no statistically significant difference in nutritional status, body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating attitudes among the students in the intervention and control groups. Although the prevalence of BID and overweight/obesity was high, the rate of disordered eating was low. The study showed a significant positive association between BMI and body image dissatisfaction as well as body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating among undergraduates in Lagos. Body Image dissatisfaction, overweight/obesity are higher than reported in the past although the prevalence of disordered eating was low among university undergraduates in Lagos. Interventions that address these three parameters are needed among university undergraduates to prevent increase in disordered eating, eating disorders and other related health consequences. Key words: Nutritional Status, Underweight, Overweight, Obesity, Body Image Dissatisfaction, Disordered Eating