Correlation of Eating Disorders on BMI of College Women in Gyeong-gi Province

경기 일부지역 여대생의 체질량지수와 섭식장애의 상관관계 연구

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between body mass index (BMI), satisfaction of perceived somatotype, and eating disorder of 133 female college students from Gyeong-gi province. The average weight is $55.3{\pm}8.8kg$, and the BMI is categorized into three groups: underweight, normal weight, and overweight. In terms of the satisfaction for perceived somatotype, 58.6% of the total respondents replied "unsatisfied," which consists of 14% of the underweight group, 37.6% of the normal weight group, and 6.8% of the overweight group. This reveals that the negative association between the satisfaction levels of perceived somatotype and BMI in the normal weight group is statistically significant (p<0.001). Among three eating disorder scores, the first factor, the drive for thinness, shows significant difference (p<0.005) among groups with 2.82 points in the underweight group, 3.38 points in the normal weight group, and 3.86 points in the overweight group; such result shows that there is a drive for being skinny even within the underweight group. Second, the satisfaction levels of perceived somatotype type shows significant dissatisfaction among all groups with 3.41 points in the underweight group, 4.15 points in the normal weight group and 4.73 points in the overweight group. Third, the bulimia degree reveals a significant difference within each group, 2.15 points in the underweight group, 2.33 points in the normal weight group, and 2.78 points in the overweight group. Overall, more than half of the female college students are dissatisfied with their body shapes despite the fact that they are under or within the normal weight. In addition, the drive for being skinny and dissatisfaction levels of perceived somatotypes appear to be significantly higher with higher BMI levels.