Eating Attitudes and Body Image Dissatisfaction among Naga Girl Students

Background: The indigenous cultures are considered as immune to eating disorders due to their ascribed positive values towards fatness and body weight. Recent studies established prevalence of disordered eating behaviour and associated risk among indigenous college women. The Naga tribes of India, who live predominantly in the North-Eastern states, adapted a “performative culture” characterised by western lifestyle. Aim: We conducted a research on Naga College-going women to assess the prevalence of disordered eating and associated risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 111 Naga girl students enrolled in a popular University in Nagaland state of India.  A pre-tested self-report questionnaire with standard scales for assessing weight concerns, eating attitudes, body image dissatisfaction and fat talk responsiveness was used. Results: A larger proportion of the participants had normal weight (73.9%).  Though disordered eating was less prevalent (6.3%), the participants had moderate levels of risk factors such as weight concerns, body image dissatisfaction and fat talk responsiveness.  We found that 63.41% of the normal weight and 80% overweight participants thought to reduce weight.  Among participants, 68.5% had no concern with shape, barring few over-weight students had high body image dissatisfaction (Mean = 47.2). While under-weight and normal weight students had similar levels of fat talk engagement, overweight respondents had highest fat talk scores (Mean = 27.6). Conclusions: This study demonstrated the low prevalence of disordered eating behaviour and moderate levels of risk factors among female Naga tribal students, indicating slow internalisation of Western thinness ideals among the girls.