The comparison of eating attitude and general health among native and non-native girl students of Tehran City universities, Iran

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the attitude toward nutrition and general health in native and non-native students. METHODS: The statistical population of this study included all female students with emphasis on the students who were studying at Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Iran, in the year 2017-2018. According to the Morgan’s table, a sample of 320 people was selected using the convenience sampling method and was divided into two groups of 160 people. Regarding the purposefulness of the emphasis on the indigenous and non-homogeneous nature of the students by matching the groups (in order to control the variables of gender, economic status, marital status, age, and educational level), the non-native group was first identified and then the native group was matched. In this research, Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) (Garner and Garfinkel, 1979) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) (McDowell et al., 1996) were used. To analyze the data obtained from independent t-test, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and multivariate regression, SPSS software was used. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between attitude toward nutrition and general health in native and non-native students. CONCLUSION: Higher attention should be paid to non-native students’ nutrition.