THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONAL STATES ON THE EATING HABITS OF ADOLESCENTS

Na prehrambene navike adolescenata bitno mogu utjecati različita emocionalna stanja koja dovode do poremećaja u hranjenju, posebno među mladima od 15 do 19 godina. Osnovni cilj ovoga istraživanja, provedena na uzorku od 915 učenika splitskih srednjih škola, bio je ispitati povezanost prehrambenih navika i emocionalnih stanja adolescenata, odnosno ispitati učestalost potencijalno rizičnih ponašanja i stavova bitnih za razvoj poremećaja hranjenja. Istraživanje je pokazalo povezanost određenih emocionalnih stanja i prejedanja, i to u većoj mjeri kod učenica nego kod učenika. Naime, emocije i emocionalna stanja za koje smo utvrdili da su u većoj mjeri povezani s prejedanjem jesu: potištenost, tuga, stres, samoća, ljutnja, dosada, pa čak i sreća. Kod sudionika istraživanja uočene su različite emocionalne promjene, posebice negativna emocionalna stanja. Podatci dobiveni u ovome istraživanju mogu biti polazište javnozdravstvenim projektima zaštite i unaprjeđenja mentalnoga zdravlja adolescenata u odgojno-obrazovnome sustavu, kao i projektima udruga civilnoga društva.Eating habits of adolescents can be significantly influenced by different emotional states, leading to eating disorders, especially among young people aged 15 to 19. The main objective of this research conducted on a sample of 915 students of secondary schools in Split, was to investigate the link between eating habits and emotional states of adolescents, that is, to investigate the frequency of potentially high-risk behaviors and attitudes significant for the development of an eating disorder. The research has shown that there is a link between certain emotional states and overeating, and that this link is more pronounced in female than in male students. We have concluded that the following are the emotions and emotional states predominately associated with overeating: lower mood, sadness, stress, loneliness, anger, boredom and even happiness. Different emotional changes have been observed among the research participants, especially negative emotional states. Data obtained from this research can be a starting point for public health projects aimed at protection and improvement of mental health of adolescents in the educational system, as well as for projects of the civil society organizations