Monitoring eating and activity: Links with disordered eating, compulsive exercise, and general wellbeing among young adults

Abstract

Objective To explore the relationships between the use of food intake and activity monitoring tools with compulsive exercise, eating psychopathology, and psychological wellbeing. Method Participants (N = 352; mean age 21.90 years) indicated their use of activity and food intake monitoring tools, and completed the Compulsive Exercise Test (CET), Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE‐Q), and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). Results Users of monitoring tools reported significantly higher CET and EDE‐Q scores than nonusers. Positive associations were detected between the frequency of activity monitoring tool use with CET and EDE‐Q scores. Participants who reported using monitoring tools primarily to manage weight and shape reported higher levels of eating and compulsive exercise psychopathology than those who reported using tools to improve health and fitness. Discussion Features of compulsive exercise and eating psychopathology are elevated among users of food intake and activity monitoring tools; and particularly among those who report using the tools for weight and shape purposes. Longitudinal and experimental research is needed to further our understanding of these observed associations, and specifically to explore the prospective relationships between monitoring tool use, eating psychopathology, and compulsive exercise.

Engagement with MyFitnessPal in eating disorders: Qualitative insights from online forums

“…As with previous findings (Eikey et al, ; Eikey & Reddy, ), there was variability in whether commenters viewed engagement as facilitating or worsening psychosocial factors, such as negative feelings (e.g., “stress”), and eating disorder‐related behaviors and outcomes (e.g., restricting, weight loss). Such heterogeneity suggests moderators in the relationship between engagement with calorie‐counting and fitness‐tracking technologies, and eating disorder‐related symptomatology, which could explain the inconsistencies in previous research (Embacher Martin et al, ; Hefner et al, ; Plateau et al, ; Simpson & Mazzeo, ). A user's motivational stage of change regarding eating disorder recovery (cf.…”

“…For example, we identified prerecording calorie-containing items before consumption as a potentially important pattern of engagement in people with high levels of eating psychopathology. However, if such prerecording is characteristic of someone who has, on average, few daily eating episodes (i.e., is restricting), this pattern of engagement could explain the previously observed lack of an association between the frequency of caloriecounter use and eating disorder symptomatology (Plateau et al, 2018). In contrast, such an association might be found if frequency of use were assessed differently-for example, "When you consume calories, how often do you use a calorie-counting application or device?"…”

“…Accordingly, these devices and applications have been the focus of recent research, which has been predominantly cross‐sectional in nature. While results vary, these studies generally suggest that use of these technologies—particularly fitness trackers—is positively associated with eating disorder‐related symptomatology (Embacher Martin, McGloin, & Atkin, ; Hefner et al, ; Plateau, Bone, Lanning, & Meyer, ; Simpson & Mazzeo, ).…”

“…While results vary, these studies generally suggest that use of these technologies-particularly fitness trackers-is positively associated with eating disorder-related symptomatology (Embacher Martin, McGloin, & Atkin, 2018;Hefner et al, 2016;Plateau, Bone, Lanning, & Meyer, 2018;Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017).…”

“…However, in relation to eating psychopathology, the previously outlined research has assessed a narrow conceptualization of engagement. Specifically, the self-report studies either assessed use dichotomously (i.e., user vs. nonuser;Embacher Martin et al, 2018;Levinson et al, 2017;Linardon & Messer, 2019;Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017;Tan et al, 2016) or assessed the frequency of use (Hefner et al, 2016;Plateau et al, 2018). The risk of such narrow assessment of engagement is that patterns of use that are particularly indicative of eating disorders might remain undetected.…”