ABSTRACT
Objective@#To explore the relationship between depression, anxiety, stress and food addiction among primary and secondary school students in Yixing City, so as to provide reference and suggestions for maintaining healthy eating behavior and psychological health intervention and promotion among primary and secondary school students in Yixing City.@*Methods@#From December 2022 to February 2023, a stratified cluster random sampling method was used to select 4 180 primary and secondary school students from four primary and secondary schools in Yixing City, Jiangsu Province. A questionnaire survey was conducted using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and related behavior questionnaires. The data was analyzed using χ 2 test, Wilcoxon, Kruskal Wallis H rank sum test, and binary Logistic regression.@*Results@#The prevalence of food addiction among primary and secondary school students in Yixing City was 0.98% (41 students), and there was no statistically significant difference in the comparison of food addiction, depression, anxiety, and stress scores among students of different genders and age groups ( Z/H = -1.34- 5.74, P >0.05). There was a positive correlation between food addiction and binge eating behavior, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms ( r=0.14-0.23, P <0.01). The results of binary Logistic regression showed that anxiety ( OR=5.68, 95%CI =1.74- 18.55 ) and stress ( OR=5.41, 95%CI =2.20-13.32) were positively correlated with the occurrence of food addiction in primary and secondary school students ( P <0.01).@*Conclusions@#The risk of food addiction among primary and secondary school students with anxiety and stress symptoms is higher than that of the general population. Guidance and intervention on student mental health should cover the entire compulsory education and high school period, in order to improve the mental health level of students and reduce the occurrence of food addiction behavior.