RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN A CRITICAL LIFE EVENT AND EATING BEHAVIOR IN HIGH-SCHOOL-STUDENTS

This study describes the impact of a major school examination on eating behaviour in 225 high‐school students 15–19 years old where each student served as his own control. Food eaten was recorded on the day of an examination (D0) and on a control day (D7) identical to the former but without a stressful school event. Results revealed that the total energy intake (2225 ± 49 kcal vs 2074 ± 48 kcal; p ⩽ 0.01) and amount of fat in the diet (38.3 ± 0.5 per cent vs 36.8 ± 0.6 per cent; p ⩽ 0.05) were significantly increased on the day of the examination. Energy intake in girls was affected by the stressful event (+ 135 kcal; p ⩽ 0.05) while the level of fat in the diet was modified in boys (+ 1.9 per cent; p ⩽ 0.05) on day D0. The ninetieth and tenth percentiles for the energy variable showed that students who had low‐energy intake on the control day increased their intake on the day of the examination while students whose energy input was high on the control day decreased consumption on the day of the examination. These results suggest that a major stressful event in school may induce significant changes in eating habits in high‐school students. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd