Relationship between smartphone addiction and eating disorders and lifestyle among Chinese college students

Jun Wang; Qing-Hong Hao; Wei Peng; Yang Tu; Lan Zhang; Tian-Min Zhu

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1111477

Relationship between smartphone addiction and eating disorders and lifestyle among Chinese college students

Front Public Health. 2023 May 19:11:1111477. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1111477. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jun Wang¹, Qing-Hong Hao², Wei Peng³, Yang Tu⁴, Lan Zhang¹, Tian-Min Zhu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
² Longgang District Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital of Shenzhen City, Shenzhen, China.
³ Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing, China.
⁴ Chongqing University Cancer Hospital, Oncology Treatment Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing, China.
⁵ School of Rehabilitation and Health Preservation, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Purpose: Smartphone addiction has been a matter of serious concern among society and parents because of its high incidence and serious negative effects. This study aimed to determine the association between smartphone addiction and eating disorders and lifestyle changes among college students.

Methods: The present article is a descriptive, cross-sectional study involving 1,112 college students from several universities in Chengdu, China. The data were collected by using the Chinese version of the Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI) and the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26). In addition, the information on sociodemographic, lifestyle, and smartphone use were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire.

Results: The prevalence of smartphone addiction among the students involved in the study was 22.6%, of which 10.4% were at risk for eating disorders. Female students had higher MPAI scores and EAT-26 scores than male students (p < 0.001). The proportion of male students with a risk of eating disorders was significantly higher than that of female students (p < 0.05). The total EAT-26 scores of students with smartphone addiction were higher than that of others (p < 0.001). The correlation analysis indicated that the MPAI scores were significantly positively correlated with the EAT-26 scores, depression and anxiety, difficulty in falling asleep at night, the frequency of eating fast food and drinking carbonated soft drink (p < 0.01). In addition, the MPAI scores were significantly negatively correlated with skipping breakfast and the frequency of physical activity (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Smartphone addiction is significantly associated with eating disorders, eating habits, and lifestyle. The influence of dietary habits and lifestyle needs to be considered for the prevention and development of an intervention for smartphone addiction among college students.

Keywords: college students; eating disorders; lifestyle; relationship; smartphone addiction.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Feeding and Eating Disorders* / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Internet Addiction Disorder* / epidemiology
Male
Smartphone
Students

Grants and funding

This trial was funded by the Xinglin Scholar Research Promotion Project of Chengdu University of TCM (XSGG2019007) and the Key R&D Project of Sichuan Province (2019YFS0175).