BODY MASS INDEX, BODY IMAGE SATISFACTION, AND EATING ATTITUDES AMONG FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

Body image and eating behavior are central to psychological and physical well-being during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, a period of heightened self-evaluation against cultural standards of attractiveness. This cross-sectional study examined the relationships among Body Mass Index (BMI), body image satisfaction, and eating attitudes in 417 female undergraduate students from public and private sector universities in Lahore, Pakistan. Participants, recruited through purposive sampling and an online survey, reported their height and weight (from which BMI was calculated) and completed a Body Image Questionnaire and the 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). Pearson correlations showed that higher BMI was strongly associated with more disordered eating attitudes (r = .988, p < .001) and with lower body image satisfaction (r = -.928, p < .001), and that greater body image satisfaction was strongly associated with healthier eating attitudes (r = -.876, p < .001). Simple linear regression showed that BMI significantly predicted eating attitudes (β = .988, R² = .976) and body image satisfaction (β = -.928, R² = .862), and that body image satisfaction significantly predicted eating attitudes (β = -.876, R² = .767). The findings suggest that weight status, body evaluation, and eating attitudes are closely interconnected among young Pakistani women, highlighting the need for integrated psychological and nutritional interventions on university campuses.