Inappropriate eating behavior: a longitudinal study with female adolescents

290 adolescents aged between 11 and 14 years old participated in the three research stages (T1: first four months, T2: second four months and T3: third four months). The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was applied to assess the IEB. Weight and height were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI) in the three study periods. Analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to analyze the data, adjusted for the scores of the Body Shape Questionnaire and the Brazil Economic Classification Criteria.

Results:

Girls at T1 showed a higher frequency of IEB compared to T2 (p=0.001) and T3 (p=0.001). The findings also indicated higher values for BMI in T3 in relation to T1 (p=0.04). The other comparisons did not show statistically significant differences.

Conclusions:

IEB scores of female adolescents declined over one year.

feeding behavior; adolescent; eating disorders

Variable	T1	T2	T3
Age (years)	12.4±1.5	12.5±1.6	12.7±1.6
Weight (kg)	48.8±11.6	47.9±11.5	48.9±12.2
Height (m)	1.55±0.86	1.55±0.88	1.55±0.70
BMI (kg/m²)	19.47±3.76	20.03±3.67	20.15±4.15^*
BSQ	79.96±35.29	68.95±35.29	64.83±32.97
BECC	18.93±4.89	17.44±4.22	18.08±4.15

Variable	T1		T2		T3
Variable	Min	Max	Min	Max	Mín	Max
Weight (kg)	21.7	84.5	23.2	89.0	25.0	93.3
Height (m)	1.24	1.76	1.27	1.80	1.30	1.72
BMI (kg/m²)	12.8	31.8	13.2	32.5	13.1	34.1

	EAT-26	Age	Weight	Height	BMI	BSQ	CCEB
T1
EAT-26	–	0.02	0.13	-0.15	0.21^*	0.62^**	0.25^*
Age	–	–	0.38^**	0.45^**	0.29^*	0.09	0.11
Weight	–	–	–	0.58^**	0.94^**	0.78^**	0.04
Height	–	–	–	–	0.28^*	0.17	0.08
BMI	–	–	–	–	–	0.69^**	0.16
BSQ	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.14
T2
EAT-26	–	-0.14	0.15	-0.07	0.25^*	0.58^**	0.23^*
Age	–	–	0.08	0.14	0.10	0.05	0.08
Weight	–	–	–	0.64^**	0.89^**	0.71^**	0.06
Height	–	–	–	–	0.23^*	0.14	0.07
BMI	–	–	–	–	–	0.64^**	0.05
BSQ	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.09
T3
EAT-26	–	0.03	0.08	-0.06	0.13^*	0.61^**	0.20^*
Age	–	–	0.18	0.33^*	0.08	0.08	0.04
Weight	–	–	–	0.58^**	0.94^**	0.75^**	0.03
Height	–	–	–	–	0.28^*	0.12	0.10
BMI	–	–	–	–	–	0.60^**	0.06
BSQ	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.12

Variable	T1	T2	T3
Prevalence (%) of classifications
EAT-26<21	75.9	90.4	94.8
EAT-26≤21	21.2^*	9.6	5.2^**
Mean (SD) of EAT-26
EAT-26	15.88 (1.06)^*	11.88 (1.26)	11.75 (1.36)^**

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