Relationship among Obesity Awareness, Emotional Eating and Obesity on Middle School Children

INTRODUCTION: The study was carried out as a cross-sectional study to evaluate the relationship among obesity awareness, emotional eating and obesity on middle school children.
METHODS: The sample of the study comprised a total of 421 children who are 10-14 years of age and attend the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The data were collected using a socio-demographic data collection form, the Obesity Awareness Scale and the Emotional Eating Scale. The heights and weights of the children were measured by the researchers and their body mass index (BMI) percentile were calculated. The data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation analyses.
RESULTS: Of the children, 14.7% were obese, 13.8% were overweight according to the BMI percentile. There was no relationship between obesity, obesity awaraness and emotional eating (p>.05).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The study found that emotional eating and obesity awareness were not affected the middle school children’s obesity.