Understanding gendered connections: investigating the relationship between body dissatisfaction and healthy eating in a sample of first-year college students

Abstract Objective We investigated the path of body dissatisfaction to intentional healthy eating behaviors. Participants We had 2038 participants from a predominantly first-year college student sample. Methods Path models, including a multiple-group model, were used to test the hypotheses. Results Our conceptual model included the variables of recent eating behavior, body dissatisfaction, and healthy eating. We also hypothesized that weight status would moderate the association between body dissatisfaction and perceived self-control. Among women, there was a direct association between recent eating behavior and body dissatisfaction and between body dissatisfaction and healthy eating behaviors. Weight status was not a significant moderator, and perceived self-control was not a significant mediator. Among men, the one significant association was between body dissatisfaction and healthy eating intention. Discussion The findings highlighted gender differences. During this vulnerable developmental period, the path between body dissatisfaction and healthy eating is stronger for women than men.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Journal of American College Health

• Publication date

  2025-08-06

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/07448481.2025.2537090PMID 40768756
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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