Online media exposure and weight and fitness management app use correlate with disordered eating symptoms: evidence from the mainland of China

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Abstract

Background

The relationship between online media exposure and disordered eating symptoms has been reported in western regions. Though the prevalence of eating disorders and access to the Internet increased substantially in recent years, relevant evidence is rare in mainland China. This study aims to evaluate the association between online media exposure or weight and fitness management app use and disordered eating symptoms in Chinese mainland young adults, and the mediation effect of disordered eating cognition.

Methods

353 Chinese mainland female and 142 male young adults completed online questionnaires consisting of demographic information, Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire 6.0 (EDE-Q 6.0), and items relating to online media exposure and weight and fitness management app use. Through correlation analysis, the relationship between online media exposure or weight and fitness management app use and disordered eating symptoms was examined, separately by sex. The mediation effect of disordered eating cognition on the relationship between online media exposure or weight and fitness management app use on disordered eating behaviors was investigated with two moderated mediation models.

Results

Young female adults in the Chinese mainland presented higher disordered eating symptoms and were more engaged in online media and weight and fitness management app use than males. Online media exposure and weight and fitness management app use showed a significant correlation with disordered eating behaviors in males and females. Disordered eating cognition mediated the relationship between online media exposure or weight and fitness management app use and disordered eating behaviors. This effect was significantly higher in females.

Conclusion

Online media exposure and weight and fitness management app use play a crucial role in the generation of disordered eating symptoms in Chinese mainland young adults, especially in females. The mediation analysis suggested the importance of prevention and intervention of disordered eating cognition. Monitoring and scientific guidance of online media are necessary.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40337-022-00577-y.

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Most cited references 51

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Assessment of eating disorders: interview or self-report questionnaire?

Christopher Fairburn, Sarah Beglin (1994)

A detailed comparison was made of two methods for assessing the features of eating disorders. An investigator-based interview was compared with a self-report questionnaire based directly on that interview. A number of important discrepancies emerged. Although the two measures performed similarly with respect to the assessment of unambiguous behavioral features such as self-induced vomiting and dieting, the self-report questionnaire generated higher scores than the interview when assessing more complex features such as binge eating and concerns about shape. Both methods underestimated body weight.

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Epidemiology of Eating Disorders: Incidence, Prevalence and Mortality Rates

Frédérique Smink, Daphne van Hoeken, Hans W. Hoek (2012)

Eating disorders are relatively rare among the general population. This review discusses the literature on the incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of eating disorders. We searched online Medline/Pubmed, Embase and PsycINFO databases for articles published in English using several keyterms relating to eating disorders and epidemiology. Anorexia nervosa is relatively common among young women. While the overall incidence rate remained stable over the past decades, there has been an increase in the high risk-group of 15–19 year old girls. It is unclear whether this reflects earlier detection of anorexia nervosa cases or an earlier age at onset. The occurrence of bulimia nervosa might have decreased since the early nineties of the last century. All eating disorders have an elevated mortality risk; anorexia nervosa the most striking. Compared with the other eating disorders, binge eating disorder is more common among males and older individuals.

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Is Open Access

Health App Use Among US Mobile Phone Owners: A National Survey

Paul Krebs, Dustin Duncan (2015)

Background Mobile phone health apps may now seem to be ubiquitous, yet much remains unknown with regard to their usage. Information is limited with regard to important metrics, including the percentage of the population that uses health apps, reasons for adoption/nonadoption, and reasons for noncontinuance of use. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine health app use among mobile phone owners in the United States. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1604 mobile phone users throughout the United States. The 36-item survey assessed sociodemographic characteristics, history of and reasons for health app use/nonuse, perceived effectiveness of health apps, reasons for stopping use, and general health status. Results A little over half (934/1604, 58.23%) of mobile phone users had downloaded a health-related mobile app. Fitness and nutrition were the most common categories of health apps used, with most respondents using them at least daily. Common reasons for not having downloaded apps were lack of interest, cost, and concern about apps collecting their data. Individuals more likely to use health apps tended to be younger, have higher incomes, be more educated, be Latino/Hispanic, and have a body mass index (BMI) in the obese range (all P<.05). Cost was a significant concern among respondents, with a large proportion indicating that they would not pay anything for a health app. Interestingly, among those who had downloaded health apps, trust in their accuracy and data safety was quite high, and most felt that the apps had improved their health. About half of the respondents (427/934, 45.7%) had stopped using some health apps, primarily due to high data entry burden, loss of interest, and hidden costs. Conclusions These findings suggest that while many individuals use health apps, a substantial proportion of the population does not, and that even among those who use health apps, many stop using them. These data suggest that app developers need to better address consumer concerns, such as cost and high data entry burden, and that clinical trials are necessary to test the efficacy of health apps to broaden their appeal and adoption.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Wenyan Xu: xuwenyan@fudan.edu.cn

Jue Chen:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9924-2573

chenjue2088@163.com

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Eat Disord

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Eat Disord

Title: Journal of Eating Disorders

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 2050-2974

Publication date (Electronic): 25 April 2022

Publication date PMC-release: 25 April 2022

Publication date Collection: 2022

Volume: 10

Electronic Location Identifier: 58

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.16821.3c, ISNI 0000 0004 0368 8293, Department of Clinical Psychology, Shanghai Mental Health Center, , Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, ; No. 600 South Wanping Road, Shanghai, 200030 People’s Republic of China

[2 ]GRID grid.8547.e, ISNI 0000 0001 0125 2443, School of Social Development and Public Policy, , Fudan University, ; No. 600 Guoquan Road, Shanghai, 200433 People’s Republic of China

Author information

Jue Chen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9924-2573

Article

Publisher ID: 577

DOI: 10.1186/s40337-022-00577-y

PMC ID: 9036716

PubMed ID: 35468844

SO-VID: dd3df3c1-b1ab-4ab6-9b7d-bddad7afc123

License:

Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

History

Date received : 5 November 2021

Date accepted : 30 March 2022

Funding

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001809, National Natural Science Foundation of China;

Award ID: 82071545

Award Recipient : Jue Chen

Funded by: Clinical Science and Technology Innovation Project of Shanghai Hospital Development Center

Award ID: SHDC12019129

Award Recipient : Jue Chen

Funded by: the grants from Shanghai Municipal Health Commission

Award ID: 2019ZB0201

Award Recipient : Jue Chen

Funded by: Shanghai clinical research center for mental health

Award ID: 19MC1911100

Award Recipient : Jue Chen

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Keywords: online media,weight and fitness management app,disordered eating,chinese mainland,young adults

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Keywords: online media, weight and fitness management app, disordered eating, chinese mainland, young adults

Online media exposure and weight and fitness management app use correlate with disordered eating symptoms: evidence from the mainland of China

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Most cited references 51

Assessment of eating disorders: interview or self-report questionnaire?

Epidemiology of Eating Disorders: Incidence, Prevalence and Mortality Rates

Health App Use Among US Mobile Phone Owners: A National Survey

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