Eating disorderstend to occur in young women, meaningundergraduate students representa risk group. This study aims to identify eating behaviors and body image as risk factors for eating disorders in medical students. It is a cross-sectional study with a random and representative sample that used self-reported body mass index (BMI) , the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) , the Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh (Bite) , and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) . Statistics were descriptive with Chi-squared and ANOVA tests and a significance level of p<0.05. Mean (SD) of age and BMI were 20.8 (2.2) years and 21.5 (2.6) kg/m². The prevalences were: 27.7% presented distorted body image by BSQ; 31.7% expressed abnormal eating behavior and 6.3% were at risk for bulimia by BITE, and 7.9% presented moderate/severe symptoms, and 19% were at risk of developing eating disorders by EAT-26. A significant association was found between BMI, body image and risk for TCA. Medical students were at a sub-clinical level of risk or early stage of eating disorderand requireattention so that these disorders do notharm their health and professional practice.
Eating Disorders; Bulimia; Anorexia; Body Image; Medical Education
