Dating app use and unhealthy weight control behaviors among a sample of U.S. adults: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background 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. Methods 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 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. Conclusions 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. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40337-019-0244-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Swipe-based dating applications use and its association with mental health outcomes: a cross-sectional study

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Unhealthy weight control behaviors among a sample of U.S. journalists

“…Future research should build upon our findings by using a larger, more diverse sample to better assess whether UWCBs and binge eating vary across journalists who identify as racial/ethnic minorities (Austin et al, 2011;Story, French, Resnick, & Blum, 1995;Tran et al, 2019). Future work will also need to include a more expansive survey with added questions about body image concerns and the underlying motivations for weight control.…”