"Mindful eating: a comparative study between medical and non-medical students of Tanta University".

Most university students (94.4%) report adopting mindful eating principles, with medical students (97.6%) doing so more often than non-medical students (91.3%). Medical study increases the likelihood of adopting mindful eating by about 73.8% compared with non-medical study. Among medical students, males scored higher on the disinhibition subscale than females; among non-medical students, females scored higher on the awareness subscale than males. Nearly three-quarters of participants (74.3%) had a Body Mass Index of 25 or above. Medical students were less likely (17.4%) than non-medical students (34.0%) to have a Body Mass Index of 25 or higher. Higher mindful eating scores were associated with lower Body Mass Index.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Mindful eating serves as a therapeutic intervention for recognizing and gradually altering the established daily eating habits and patterns. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of adoption of principles of mindful eating among medical and non-medical university students and to detect the effect of adoption of mindful eating on the Body Mass Index of the studied subjects. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 576 undergraduate students using a structured self-administered questionnaire comprising sociodemographic data, perceived weight and height and Mindful Eating Questionnaire. The majority of the studied students (94.4%) were used to adopt Mindful eating. The percentages of medical and non-medical students were used to adopt Mindful eating were (97.6% and 91.3%, respectively). A statistically significant association was detected between the type of the study (faculty) and adoption of mindful eating (P-value = 0.001). Medical study permits adopting mindful eating by about 73.8% more than non-medical studies. Medical male students showed higher scores for the disinhibition subscale than females (P-value = 0.025) while non-medical female students showed higher scores for the awareness subscale than males (P-value = 0.006). Nearly three fourths of the studied subjects (74.3%) had Body Mass Index ≥ 25. The percentage of medical students (17.4%) having Body Mass Index ≥ 25 was less than the percentage of their non-medical peers (34.0%). The association between the type of the study (faculty) and Body Mass Index categories was statistically significant (P-value = < 0.001). The higher scores on the Mindful Eating Questionnaire overall and on each of the categories except the awareness score had been associated with lower Body Mass Index. Most of the students adopting Mindful eating (75.4%) had Body Mass Index < 25 as compared to their peers who did not adopt Mindful eating where more than one third of them (43.8%) had Body Mass Index ≥ 25. The association between Mindful eating summary score categories and Body Mass Index categories was statistically significant (P-value = 0.016). A significant negative weak correlation was detected between Mindful eating summary score categories and Body Mass Index categories (P-value = 0.044). Academic background reinforces the potential of mindful eating as a viable strategy for promoting healthier eating habits and effective weight management among university students.