Abstract

Nutritional behavior (NB) is a set of human behavioral actions that are a main part of one’s daily life. Aim of investigation were to study the prevalence of different types of eating behavior (EB) and their impact on health and quality of life (QoL) among the urban population. The survey was conducted in 4 polyclinics in Baku (patients and visitors), four nearby schools (parents), and 14 various firms and offices (employees). International questionnaires were used DEBQ and SF-36. Total of 1612 fully completed questionnaires were analyzed. The prevalence of external type was 22.7 ± 1.6%, emotiogenic type 21.3 ± 1.1%, and restrictive type 20.2 ± 2.0%. A mixed type of EB was identified, comprising 27.7 ± 1.1% of cases. No significant age-related differences were found in the first two types; however, the restrictive type was more common among young individuals (aiming to maintain body shape) and elderly individuals (over 70) following diets for medical reasons- 19.0 ± 2.2% and 22.7 ± 2.3%, respectively. A similar trend was observed in the mixed type -26.6 ± 2.1% and 19.8 ± 1.9%. Overall, health self-assessments were unsatisfactory. However, the proportion of respondents rating their health as “fairly good” was highest in the mixed type - 34.3 ± 2.2%, compared to ≤ 22.7 ± 2.3% in other types (P < 0.001). QoL indicators were also generally low, except for the mixed type, which showed an average score of 53.4 ± 2.1 points, whereas other types did not exceed 43.5 ± 2.4 points (P < 0.01). At various life stages, individuals tend to exhibit a blend of different NB types, supporting the relevance of distinguishing a mixed type, which is associated with better health and QoL outcomes. It is advisable to clarify the most consumed foods and their caloric content within this mixed type of EB.