Background: Stress is thought to influence human eating behavior. As young adults transition from school to university and move in to an independent living situation, there is a high risk for unhealthy eating pattern. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the relationship between academic stress and eating pattern among the student nurses. Method: A correlational study was conducted. A selfadministered questionnaire was used including structured questions on demographic characteristics, rating scale for academic stress and eating pattern to assess the academic stress and eating pattern. The convenient sample technique was used to select 100 student nurses from a selected College of Nursing in Uttar Pradesh, India. Result: 65% of the study subjects were found to have moderate academic stress. A little more than half of the study subjects were having unhealthy eating pattern and rest were found to have healthy eating pattern. There was statistically significant correlation between academic stress of the student nurses and their eating pattern. No significant statistical relationship was found between academic stress of student nurses and their demographic variables, i.e., gender, community and body mass index. No significant statistical relationship was found between eating pattern of student nurses and their demographic variables, i.e., gender, community and body mass index. The study also revealed some common unhealthy eating pattern among studentnurses, such as meal skipping (62%), eating outside (73%), midnight snacking (69%) and fast food consumption (59%) were prominent among them. Conclusion: Result confirmed that there was positive relation between academic stress and eating pattern. Some unhealthy eating habits particularly meal skipping, eating outside, midnight snacking and food consumption were common among student nurses and were associated with stress.

Keywords: Academic Stress; Eating Pattern and Student Nurses.