Disordered eating behavior, health and motives to exercise in young men: cross-sectional population-based MOPO study

Abstract

BackgroundBeing overweight is an increasing problem among young people, among whom disordered eating behavior is linked with weight problems as well as unhealthy weight control. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether health factors and motives to exercise differ in young men by the type of disordered eating behavior.MethodsThe population-based, cross-sectional MOPO study consisted of 2,096 young Finnish men (mean age 17.9, SD 0.7) attending compulsory call-ups for military service in the Oulu area in 2010, 2011, and 2013. They responded to a questionnaire that included two subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 indicating drive for thinness and bulimic behavior and questions on health, physical activity, and motives to exercise. The association between disordered eating behavior and related factors was analyzed by binary logistic regression.ResultsAltogether, 6.9 % (n = 145) of the men had symptoms of disordered eating, i.e., 5.4 % had a drive for thinness (n = 114) and 3.7 % had bulimic behavior (n = 77). Drive for thinness was associated with a perception of being overweight (OR 3.7; 95 % CI 2.2–6.1), poor self-rated health (2.3; 1.2–4.4), more leisure sitting time (1.1; 1.0–1.2), and body-related exercise motives (body acceptance: 3.0; 1.7–5.2; weight loss: 2.5; 1.4–4.4). Bulimic behavior was positively associated with poor self-rated health (2.6; 1.1–5.8) and several motives to exercise, i.e., due to another person’s suggestion (2.8; 1.6–4.8), competitive sports (2.1; 1.2–3.7), body acceptance (2.1; 1.1–3.9), and weight loss (1.9; 1.1–3.3), but inversely associated with health/fitness-related exercise motives (health promotion: 0.3; 0.1–0.5; muscular strength or physical performance: 0.5; 0.2–0.9).ConclusionsIn young men, disordered eating behavior was associated with being overweight, having poor self-rated health, and having a greater amount of leisure sitting time as well as non-health-related motives to exercise. In order to recognize those at risk for disordered eating behavior, evaluating these factors could be beneficial.

Characterization and correlates of exercise among adolescents with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

“…Previous literature has also described the female athlete triad, which refers to the interrelationship among energy availability, menstrual function, and bone mineral density (International Olympic Committee Medical Commission Work Group Women in Sport, 2005;Joy et al, 2014;Mountjoy et al, 2014;Nattiv et al, 2007), and highlights a large overlap of sports and EDs in female athletes. However, less research on EDs has focused on males (Mitchison, Hay, Slewa-Younan, & Mond, 2014;Murray, Griffiths, & Mond, 2016), where exercise may be more centrally implicated in illness presentations of AN (Murray, Griffiths, Rieger, & Touyz, 2014;Nurkkala et al, 2016) and sex differences in the frequency, duration, and types of exercise remain largely unknown.…”

Do Disordered Eating Behaviours Have Long‐term Health‐related Consequences?

“…Disordered eating behaviors have been shown to be associated with several mental health problems both among adolescent girls and boys (Herpertz-Dahlmann et al 2008, Steinhausen, Gavez & Winkler Metzke 2005) and cross-sectionally among women and men (McBride et al 2013). A cross-sectional association between disordered eating and poor self-rated health has been observed earlier among young Finnish men (Nurkkala et al 2016). Yet, we are aware of only two longitudinal studies investigating the psychological and physical well-being of adult women with disordered eating behaviors.…”

“…A possible factor influencing the relationship between disordered eating and health is physical activity. Physical activity is important for general health and well-being (Kuykendall, Tay & Ng 2015, Warburton, Nicol & Bredin 2006), but disordered eating behaviors may contribute to unhealthy physical activity behaviors (Lichtenstein et al 2017, Nurkkala et al 2016) that may have negative health consequences. Future studies should explore the long-term relationship between physical activity and disordered eating behaviors to understand their joint effects on health and well-being.…”

“…Disordered eating is relatively common among adolescents and young adults (Herpertz-Dahlmann et al 2008, Croll et al 2002, Loth et al 2015, Solmi et al 2014, Neumark-Sztainer et al 2011, Liechty, Lee 2013, Nurkkala et al 2016, Reba-Harrelson et al 2009, Wade, Wilksch & Lee 2012, McBride et al 2013). In practice, the threshold between normal and disordered eating is difficult to define (Ackard, Fulkerson & Neumark-Sztainer 2007).…”

“…In practice, the threshold between normal and disordered eating is difficult to define (Ackard, Fulkerson & Neumark-Sztainer 2007). For this reason, continuous measures such as Eating Disorder Inventory-2 are useful tools for measuring disordered eating behaviors in the population (Keel et al 2007, Nurkkala et al 2016).…”