The purpose of the study was to investigate whether there was a significant positive correlation between disordered eating behaviours and mental health concerns (depression, anxiety and stress).

A master survey was electronically circulated to young males and females (age 15-30 years) residing in the city of Mumbai, India during the national lockdown in the month of May 2020. The survey included the DASS-21 questionnaire (depression, anxiety and stress score) and the EDE-Q (Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire). Subscale and global scores were processed. One-tailed Pearson’s correlation was conducted to investigate the relation between EDE-Q global score and DASS-21 subscale scores. One hundred and eighteen (n=118) respondents took the survey. The mean scores for the depression, anxiety and stress subscales were 15.25 (moderate), 9.94 (moderate) and 16.28 (mild) respectively. Out of the four EDE-Q subscales, the mean score of shape concern appeared to be the highest (2.39 ± 1.6), followed by weight concern (1.96 ± 1.59), restriction (1.31 ± 1.37) and eating concerns (0.92 ± 1.19). The mean global EDE-Q score was 1.65 ± 1.22. A positive correlation was found between EDE-Q global scores and DASS-21 subscale scores i.e. depression (r=0.49; p<0.01) anxiety (r=0.31; p<0.01) and stress (r=0.41; p<0.01). The present study gives insight into mental health conditions and eating behaviours present within an Indian sample during the national lockdown. It opens avenues for discussion for the need of multidisciplinary healthcare teams to provide holistic eating disorder care.