Eating Disorders and the Risk of their Development in Students according to the Level of Personal Anxiety

The research examined eating disorders and the risk of their development in students according to the level of personal anxiety  from a gender perspective. An analysis showed a connection  between the level of personal anxiety and compulsive and external  types of eating behavior in female students. The sample group  consisted of 70 people, of whom 52,9 % had a high level of personal anxiety (the proportion of girls was 83,8 %). 95,7 % of students had either compulsive (64,2 %) or external (21,4 %) eating disorder. At  this age, an eating disorder does not affect body weight. However, if  the level of personal anxiety increases, it escalates the risk of  developing at least three types of eating disorders by 11,5 times. With an increase in the level of personal anxiety, the risk of  developing external overeating increases by 12,5 times and the risk  of developing a compulsive type of eating behavior increases by 1,5  times. The research revealed some gender features of eating  disorders development: girls with a high level of personal anxiety  proved to have a 5,68 times higher risk of developing various eating  disorders. However, a study in the ability to cope with stress in  students with different levels of personal anxiety with regard to  gender did not show any statistically significant differences in the  study groups. The research demonstrated that there is a need in  psycho-preventive measures that would shape rational nutrition  stereotypes in students.