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Relationship between eating disorders and internet and smartphone addiction in college students

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Purpose

This study was planned and conducted to determine the relation between eating behavior disorder and smartphones and the internet in college students.

Methods

This research was performed on a total of 437 college students, including 116 males and 321 females. A questionnaire questioning the general characteristics (age, sex, department, socioeconomic status, skipping meal, number of main meals and snacks in a day, sleeping duration, doing physical activity, height, and body weight) of students was used. In addition, Eating Attitude Test-40 (EAT-40), Young’s Internet Addiction Scale, and Smartphone Addiction Scale were used to measure eating behavior disorders, internet addiction, and smartphone addiction, respectively. Height and body weight were measured in accordance with the method.

Results

12.6% of the students participating in the study were at risk for eating disorders. Female students had higher EAT-40 scores than male students. 13% of students had potential internet addiction. According to Pearson chi-square test, the prevalence of potential internet addiction (36.4%) in students with eating disorder was higher than those without eating disorder (9.7%) (p < 0.05). Pearson correlation analyses displayed that Smartphone Addiction Test score associated positively with EAT-40 score (r = 0.277) and Internet Addiction Test score (r = 0.665) and students' body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.121). In addition to these, students’ duration of staying on the internet correlated with their BMI (r = 0.137). Males had a higher rate of potential internet addiction than females (22.4% in males and 9.7% in females, respectively) (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The present results suggest that students’ duration of using the internet affects smartphone addiction and internet addiction, both of which influence eating behavior disorder. In addition, both smartphone and internet addiction and eating behavior disorder correlated positively and significantly with overweight.

Level of evidence

Level V: cross-sectional descriptive study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ankara University Health Sciences Institute, Ziraat, Şehit Ömer Haluk Sipahioğlu Bulv. 7 Blok No:33, 06110, Ankara, Turkey

    Fatma Tayhan Kartal

  2. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Science, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Nurcan Yabancı Ayhan

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  1. Fatma Tayhan Kartal
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Correspondence to Fatma Tayhan Kartal.

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Authors declare that there is none conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Written approval form was signed by the students who agreed to participate in the study and Ethical Commission Approval numbered 2019/2 and dated 14.02.2019 was obtained from Gümüşhane University Ethics Commission.

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All participants provided informed consent prior to their participation.

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The article is part of the Topical Collection on Food and Addiction.

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Tayhan Kartal, F., Yabancı Ayhan, N. Relationship between eating disorders and internet and smartphone addiction in college students. Eat Weight Disord 26, 1853–1862 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-01027-x

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