Eating disorder symptoms in Brazilian university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To synthesize the risk of eating disorder (ED) symptoms in Brazilian university students through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Secondary goals were to analyze whether any specific majors were related to higher ED risk and whether any regions of Brazil had higher proportions of college students at risk of ED. Methods: The procedures followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, and a search was conducted in three electronic databases (MEDLINE, LILACS, and SciELO). Results: Thirty-three studies were included in the analysis, of which 14 were included in the meta-analysis. All included studies used self-report questionnaires, the most frequent of which was the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). None of the studies used a structured interview to diagnose ED. A meta-analysis of studies with a cutoff ≥ 20 for the EAT-26 (n=5) found 14.9% (95%CI 12.8-17.2%) positive screenings, while those with a cutoff of t ≥ 21 (n=9) found 13.3% (95%CI 11.3-15.6%) positive screenings. There was a significantly higher proportion of positive screenings among nutrition majors than all other majors combined (26.5 and 20.5%, respectively). Conclusion: Nutrition students seem to be at higher risk of ED. Further research should investigate whether positive screenings translate to actual ED diagnoses.

Transtornos de la alimentación: desafío para el profisional de la salud / Transtornos da alimentaçäo: um desafio ao profissional de saúde / Alimentacion disorders: challenge for the professional of the health

La aparición de los transtornos de la alimentación como un motivo de consulta cada vez más comun en los equipos de atención de salud del adolescente hace necesaria una reflexión acerca de la manera de abordar estas problemáticas. El presente trabajo hace na breve descipción de los trastornos de la alimentación, sus características y las particularidades del abordaje de estas patologías. Enfatiza que el manejo de la relación consultante-profesional es clave para el desenvolvimiento del tratamiento desde sus diversas intervenciones (clínicas, nutricionales y psicológicas)