Introduction:

Beauty patterns established by society and disseminated by the media have caused that adolescents present eating disorders; therefore, prevention strategies are developed to counteract this problem.

Objective:

Evaluate the effect of a universal prevention program of eating disorders in students from a junior high school in the State of Mexico.

Methods:

Quantitative longitudinal study. The sample consisted of five intervention groups (n = 183) and a control group (n = 38), to which the dietary attitudes test (EAT-23) was applied. The test was applied before and after the intervention of a nutritional program. Student's t-test was used for samples related to pre-testing and post-testing of the intervention group.

Results:

Statistically significant differences were observed in the subscale of eating patterns and styles (t = 1.94, p = 0.05) and in the questions ¨I like to eat with other people¨ and I feel that food controls my life¨, positive changes were seen in both questions.

Conclusions:

Interactive programs generate greater results than those based on the transmission of knowledge, hence specific programs must be developed for media literacy and thus generate a critical attitude towards the pressure exerted by advertising and fashion.

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