title: Association between Eating Behavior and Academic Performance in University Students.
abstract: To determine the association between academic performance and eating behavior in university students in Chile.
  
  
  
  A total of 680 college students, 409 (60%) women and 271 (40%) men, were randomly recruited and the mean age of the entire sample was 26. The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), which evaluates 3 dimensions of eating behavior-cognitive restriction (limiting own intake), uncontrolled eating (inclination to eat), and emotional eating (control of food intake in the context of negative emotions)-was used. Academic performance was measured by the grade point average (GPA) and was associated with eating behavior.
  
  
  
  Women had significantly higher scores in the "emotional eating" dimension than men (p = 0.002). The eating behavior analysis showed that female students with higher GPAs (above 5.5) had statistically significantly lower uncontrolled eating scores (p = 0.03) and higher cognitive restriction scores (p = 0.05) than women with lower academic performance (below 5.5). There were no significant associations between eating behavior and academic performance in men.
  
  
  
  A positive association between eating behavior and academic performance was observed in female university students in Chile. Further studies are needed to explore the causes of this association and determine how to improve the nutritional habits of this population.
authors.affiliation: a Unidad de Salud del Observatorio Regional de Paz y Seguridad (ORPAS) , Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins , Santiago , CHILE.
authors.forename: Macarena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valladares
authors.affiliation: b Programa de Magíster en Ciencias Químicas y Biológicas , Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins , Santiago , CHILE.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Durán
authors.affiliation: c Departamento de Ciencias Pedagógicas , Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins , Santiago , CHILE.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matheus
authors.affiliation: e Carrera de Nutrición y Dietética , Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad San Sebastian , CHILE.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Durán-Agüero
authors.affiliation: e Carrera de Nutrición y Dietética , Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad San Sebastian , CHILE.
authors.forename: Ana María
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Obregón
authors.affiliation: d Dirección de Investigación , Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins , Santiago , CHILE.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Tagle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004644:Emotions; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D000068356:Self-Control; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities
keywords: academic performance; eating behavior; healthy nutritional habits; university students