Prevalência e fatores associados a transtornos alimentares em universitários: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence and factors associated with eating disorders in college students. Methods: This is a literature review in the Pubmed, Lilacs and Scielo databases, published between 2018 and 2023, in Portuguese and English. The studies were selected from the reading the titles. Then, the summaries of the texts selected in the previous step were read. And finally, the selected texts were read in full for data extraction. Results: Seven articles were selected in which 77% were women and 85.7% were health students. In four studies, 22.9% of students showed signs of the disorder and in three studies, 18.2% were at risk for developing ED. The main associated factors were: high study load, living far from family, high consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, low practice of physical activity, rapid emotional, physical and body image changes, overweight, more conflicting families, consumption of slimming drugs, following a diet, high concern with ingested calories, fear of gaining weight and professional success. Final considerations: The prevalence of risk and/or indicative of ED is high among university students. It is essential to carry out projects at universities, with a multidisciplinary team, aimed at identifying risk groups for ED, in order to reduce this prevalence and strengthen the good relationship with your body.