Dating app users are more likely to control their weight in unhealthy ways| BMC Journal

Title: Dating app use and unhealthy weight control behaviors among a sample of U.S. adults: a cross-sectional study
Journal:
Alvin Tran, Christian Suharlim, Heather Mattie, Kirsten Davison, Madina Agénor and S. Bryn Austin
Published: 2019/05/31
Digital Identifier: 10.1186/s40337-019-0244-4
original link:
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A recent study published in the open-access journal
found that dating app) use may be associated with unhealthy weight control behaviors, including vomiting, laxative use, or diet pills.A team of researchers from Harvard's Chen Zengxi School of Public Health analyzed data from 1,726 U.S. adults who enrolled in a physical activity study at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and filled out an online questionnaire about their use of dating apps in the past 30 days and six unhealthy weight control behaviors over the past 12 months.
, lead author of the study, said: "To our knowledge, our study is the first to explore the relationship between dating applications and unhealthy weight control behaviors. Comparing people who didn't use the dating app with those who used the dating app, we found that people who used the dating app were significantly more likely to adopt the six unhealthy weight control behaviors in our survey. The six behaviors we investigated were vomiting to control weight, laxative use, dieting, dieting, weight loss medications, muscle-boosting ingredients, and the use of assidative steroids. The
found that out of 1,726 participants, 183 women and 209 men used dating apps. Women who used the dating app were 2.3-26.9 times more likely to control their weight in unhealthy ways than those who did not use the dating app, while men who used the dating app were 3.2-14.6 times more likely to use unhealthy methods to control their weight.
most common unhealthy methods of weight control are dieting, vomiting, and laxative use. Among those who used the dating app, 44.8 percent (82) of women and 54.1 percent (113) of men admitted to dieting, and 22.4 percent (41) Women and 36.4 per cent (76) of men had vomited, 24 per cent (44) of women and 41.1 per cent (86) of men had used laxatives to control their weight. Other more commonly used unhealthy behaviors include the use of diet pills and the use of assylated steroids/muscle-boosting ingredients.
Tran said: "We found that among minorities, especially black Americans, the proportion of people who use unhealthy behavior to control their weight is higher, consistent with other previous studies. However, we did not find any correlation between this ratio and sexual orientation. The
authors caution that because the study is horizontal, there is no causal relationship between the use of dating apps and unhealthy weight control behaviors.
Tran said: "While we don't know if the participants in the study had unhealthy weight control behaviors before using dating apps, we are concerned that these image and appearance-focused apps could exacerbate unhealthy behaviors." With the rapid growth of dating applications in the United States, there are more and more studies on the relationship between the use of dating apps and body anxiety and unhealthy weight control behaviors, and we need to learn more about the effects of dating apps on healthy behaviors and consequences. ” Online dating has become increasingly popular over the years. Few research studies have examined the association between dating apps and disordered eating. In this study, we evaluated the association between dating app use and unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) among a sample of U.S. adults.Our sample includes 1769 adults who completed an online survey assessing dating app use and UWCBs in the past year. Survey assessed participants’ self-reported frequency of using dating apps within the past 30 days and engagement in six UWCBs with the purpose of lowering weight or changing their body shape within the past 12 months. UWCBs included vomiting, laxative use, fasting, diet pill use, muscle building supplement use, and use of anabolic steroids.Results of multivariate logistic regression models suggest dating app users had substantially elevated odds of UWCBs compared with non-users (odds ratios [OR] range = 2.7—16.2). These findings were supported by results of additional gender-stratified multivariate logistic regression analyses among women and men.This study’s findings contribute to the limited literature exploring the association between dating app use and adverse health outcomes, particularly UWCBs. While additional longitudinal and representative research is needed, public health professionals ought to explore dating app use as a potential risk factor for UWCBs.(
) is the first open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing leading research in the science and clinical practice of eating disorders. It disseminates research that provides answers to the important issues and key challenges in the field of eating disorders and to facilitate translation of evidence into practice.
(Source: Science.com)