Weight status, percent body fat, eating habits, depression, and food addiction in Palestinian university students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Obesity and excess adiposity among university students are important public health concerns. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Al-Quds University students using both body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (PBF), and to examine their associations with eating habits, depressive symptoms, and food addiction. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 Al-Quds University students aged 18 years and older. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire that assessed sociodemographic characteristics, eating habits, depressive symptoms, and food addiction. Height and weight were measured to calculate BMI, and body composition was assessed to determine PBF. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Pearson correlation, and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis. Based on BMI classification, 31.7% of participants were classified as having overweight or obesity, whereas 61.0% were classified as over fat according to PBF. Male students had a significantly higher prevalence of overweight/obesity than female students according to BMI (43.2% vs. 24.2%, P  < 0.001), while female students had a significantly higher prevalence of excess body fat than male students according to PBF (71.4% vs. 44.9%, P  < 0.001). Eating-habits category was not significantly associated with BMI or PBF, and depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with either adiposity indicator. However, eating habits were significantly associated with depression level ( P  = 0.029). In multivariable analysis, male sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.28, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.30–3.98), older age (aOR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.04–2.91), and severe food addiction (aOR = 8.06, 95% CI: 2.01–32.37) were associated with higher odds of overweight/obesity. Excess adiposity was common among Al-Quds University students, and PBF identified a substantially greater proportion of students with excess adiposity than BMI alone. Male sex, older age, and severe food addiction were associated with overweight/obesity, whereas general eating-habits category and depressive symptoms were not independently associated with adiposity in the reported analyses. These findings support the value of combining BMI with body-composition assessment in university populations and highlight the need for integrated university-based health strategies.