The Network Landscape of Non-Clinical Eating Behaviors in India

Eating behaviors and their associated cognitions exist along a biopsychosocial continuum, yet their structural organization remains largely unmapped in non-Western contexts. Adopting a dimensional network perspective, this study characterizes the architecture of non-clinical eating behaviors in India--a region defined by a unique interplay of cultural, structural, and psychological influences. We utilized Mixed Graphical Models (MGMs) to estimate a weighted network of 35 variables from a geographically diverse Indian cohort (N=1,508). Our analysis reveals that the Indian eating behavior landscape is a highly optimized, small-world system (S=54.64) defined by a dual-layered hierarchy of influence. We found that structural and cultural variables--notably HomeTypes and Religion--serve as the primary local anchors (highest Expected Influence), driving the state of their immediate modules. Conversely, systemic integration across the entire network is maintained by a "socio-economic and regulatory bridge" comprising Employment, Education, and Self-Esteem. These nodes exhibited the highest betweenness centrality, functioning as the critical "highways" that link disparate socio-economic, psychological, and behavioral modules. Notably, while Shape and Weight Concern were highly predictable, they functioned as local cluster nodes rather than global integrators--directly challenging the body-image-centric models dominant in Western literature. These results demonstrate that in the Global South, structural social determinants form the primary scaffold of the biopsychosocial system. Our findings provide a data-driven blueprint for systemic, culturally attuned public health interventions that prioritize structural stability alongside individual regulatory resilience. Significance StatementWhile eating behaviors are traditionally conceptualized as individual psychological phenomena, this study reveals that in the Global South, they are fundamentally anchored by systemic social determinants. Using network science to map the biopsychosocial landscape of a large Indian cohort, we demonstrate a specific hierarchy of influence: while cultural and living conditions (e.g., religion and home type) act as local anchors for behavior, socio-economic factors (employment and education) and core psychological traits (self-esteem) function as the primary structural bridges that integrate the entire system. This architecture provides an empirical corrective to Western-centric models that prioritize body image as the central driver of eating pathology. Our findings suggest that in developing economies, public health strategies may be most effective when they target these "upstream" structural integrators, reframing eating behavior as a systemic expression of social, economic, and cultural stability.