Helpful or harmful? The comparative value of self-weighing and calorie counting versus intuitive eating on the eating disorder symptomology of college students

Abstract

V cross-sectional descriptive study.

Relationships between patterns of weight‐related self‐monitoring and eating disorder symptomology among undergraduate and graduate students

“…Our findings align with previous research documenting that WRSM is common among college students, emphasizing the importance of understanding potential consequences and correlates of WRSM (Graham & Laska, 2012; Gunnare et al, 2013; Klos et al, 2012; Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017). Similar to previous studies, we found self‐weighing (Ogden & Whyman, 1997; Pacanowski, Loth, Hannan, Linde, & Neumark‐Sztainer, 2015) and calorie counting (Romano et al, 2018; Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017) were associated with increased eating disorder symptomology among our sample of college students. In addition to calorie counting, we also found increased symptomology for more passive forms of dietary self‐monitoring.…”

“…We were able to identify unique patterns of use (e.g., knowing nutrition facts/calories), providing insight into how these behaviors are used in this population and how diverse patterns of use are associated with eating disorder symptomology (Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017). Additionally, we identified differences in use of WRSM by BMI, as has been shown for singular behaviors like calorie counting (Plateau, Bone, Lanning, & Meyer, 2018; Romano et al, 2018). Observed differences in WRSM by BMI was not unexpected as individuals with higher BMIs are more likely to be trying to lose weight (Malinauskas, Raedeke, Aeby, Smith, & Dallas, 2006) and WRSM is considered an integral part of behavioral weight management interventions (Jensen et al, 2014).…”

“…Further, college‐age individuals who engage in self‐weighing are more likely to experience heightened eating disorder symptomology (Walsh & Charlton, 2014), weight preoccupation (Klos et al, 2012), and body dissatisfaction compared with those who do not weigh themselves (Mercurio & Rima, 2011; V. Quick, Larson, Eisenberg, Hannan, & Neumark‐Sztainer, 2012). Calorie counting is also cross‐sectionally associated with eating concern, dietary restraint (Simpson & Mazzeo, 2017), and increased eating disorder symptomology (Romano, Swanbrow Becker, Colgary, & Magnuson, 2018) among college students.…”

Interoception and disordered eating: A systematic review

“…Publication dates of the articles ranged from 1974 (Garfinkel et al, 1974) to (e.g. Berner et al, 2018Romano et al, 2018). The majority of studies used a cross-sectional design (n=78), nine used longitudinal observational designs, seven used quasi-experimental pretest-posttest designs (one of which only ran a cross-sectional comparison of interoception), seven used an experimental design, and two used a cross-sectional family-based design.…”

Recognition of cooking activities through air quality sensor data for supporting food journaling

“…In particular, in this paper we concentrate on the technical solutions and evaluation of the modules for recognizing cooking activities. Advanced solutions for conversational interfaces [7], human-computer interaction [27], usability [34], and diet analysis [17], including calorie count [29] and adaptive interfaces for supporting behavior change [25], will be addressed in future work.…”