Nutritional awareness, eating behaviour, body mass index, and estimated resting metabolic rate in physical education students: A descriptive, analytical and correlational study
- 1An-Najah National University
Abstract
BackgroundUniversity life can influence food choice even among physically active students. This study examined nutritional awareness, emotional, external, and restrained eating, body mass index (BMI), and estimated resting metabolic rate (RMR) in physical education students, and assessed differences by sex and academic level.
MethodsA descriptive, analytical and correlational design was used. The sample included 160 physical education students (95 women and 65 men; mean age 20.42 {+/-} 1.53 years) from An-Najah National University. Nutritional awareness was assessed with a 15-item scale, and eating behaviour with the 33-item Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. BMI was calculated from measured height and body mass, and RMR was estimated using an equation developed for athletes. Correlations, group comparisons, robust interaction models, and hierarchical regression were applied.
ResultsNutritional awareness was high (3.73 {+/-} 0.81), whereas emotional (3.11 {+/-} 1.18), external (3.20 {+/-} 0.95), and restrained eating (3.25 {+/-} 1.11) were moderate. Higher awareness was associated with less emotional (r = -0.617) and external eating (r = -0.652), but greater restrained eating (r = 0.644; all q < 0.001). These associations remained after adjustment. Men reported more external eating, while women reported more restrained eating. Eating patterns also varied by academic level. BMI and estimated RMR showed weaker and less consistent associations with eating behaviour.
ConclusionsNutritional awareness was closely associated with reported eating behaviour, whereas BMI and estimated RMR were less informative. Sex and academic-level differences suggest that nutrition education for physical education students may be more useful when adapted to specific behavioural patterns. The findings represent associations and group differences and do not establish causal relationships.
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BibTeX
@misc{qadumi2026nutritional,
title = {{Nutritional awareness, eating behaviour, body mass index, and estimated resting metabolic rate in physical education students: A descriptive, analytical and correlational study}},
author = {A. a. QADUMI and R. A. Qadumi and A. A. Qadoume and M. Al-Atrash and R. K. Qutob and S. H. Amad and M. A. Qadoumi and Q. M. Nairat and A. K. Qaddoum},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.06.26364876},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.26364876v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Nutritional awareness, eating behaviour, body mass index, and estimated resting metabolic rate in physical education students: A descriptive, analytical and correlational study
AU - A. a. QADUMI
AU - R. A. Qadumi
AU - A. A. Qadoume
AU - M. Al-Atrash
AU - R. K. Qutob
AU - S. H. Amad
AU - M. A. Qadoumi
AU - Q. M. Nairat
AU - A. K. Qaddoum
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.06.26364876
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.26364876v1
AB - BackgroundUniversity life can influence food choice even among physically active students. This study examined nutritional awareness, emotional, external, and restrained eating, body mass index (BMI), and estimated resting metabolic rate (RMR) in physical education students, and assessed differences by sex and academic level. MethodsA descriptive, analytical and correlational design was used. The sample included 160 physical education students (95 women and 65 men; mean age 20.42 {+/-} 1.53 years) from An-Najah National University. Nutritional awareness was assessed with a 15-item scale, and eating behaviour with the 33-item Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. BMI was calculated from measured height and body mass, and RMR was estimated using an equation developed for athletes. Correlations, group comparisons, robust interaction models, and hierarchical regression were applied. ResultsNutritional awareness was high (3.73 {+/-} 0.81), whereas emotional (3.11 {+/-} 1.18), external (3.20 {+/-} 0.95), and restrained eating (3.25 {+/-} 1.11) were moderate. Higher awareness was associated with less emotional (r = -0.617) and external eating (r = -0.652), but greater restrained eating (r = 0.644; all q < 0.001). These associations remained after adjustment. Men reported more external eating, while women reported more restrained eating. Eating patterns also varied by academic level. BMI and estimated RMR showed weaker and less consistent associations with eating behaviour. ConclusionsNutritional awareness was closely associated with reported eating behaviour, whereas BMI and estimated RMR were less informative. Sex and academic-level differences suggest that nutrition education for physical education students may be more useful when adapted to specific behavioural patterns. The findings represent associations and group differences and do not establish causal relationships.
ER -