Establishing Relationship between “Stress” and “Eating” Leading to Overweight among College Students in Sultanate of Oman

Kusum Lata Mishra, Ganesh Prasad Mishra
(Waljat College of Applied Sciences, Sultanate of Oman)

Abstract: In the 21st century College going students live in stressful environment and often they “Eat” to deal with the “Stress”. This study examines the relationship between “Stress” and “Eating” of college going students leading to overweight and the factors affecting the behavior in the Sultanate Oman. Students (male and female) n = 220 between the age of 18-22 were conveniently sampled. The research questionnaire developed by Brittany Gower, Christina E. Hand, and Zachariah K. Crooks, was used in this research which was prepared by using Compulsive Eating Scale developed by (Kagan & Squires, 1984) and the stressful situations questionnaire SSQ by (Hodges and Fellings, 1970). The results were compared using Carl Pearson, coefficient of correlation (r). The null hypothesis was rejected and correlation between “Stress” and “Compulsive eating” was found to be positive. The research proves the findings that “Emotional eating” and “Fast foods” are used to relive “Stress” by the college going students in Oman.

Key words: compulsive eating; emotional eating; overweight; stress

JEL code: M10