Disordered eating (DE) is becoming increasingly prevalent, and fitness professionals may be at elevated risk due to profession-specific pressures such as increased physique-focus and emphasis on exercise. This review aimed to synthesise existing evidence surrounding the prevalence of DE amongst fitness professionals. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) process. The databases Ovid (EMBASE, MEDLine, PsycINFO), CINAHL, Prospero, Scopus, Web of Science and ProQuest were searched for studies published between 2004 and 2024. Studies were included if they assessed for DE in fitness professionals using a DE assessment instrument with specific cut-off scores. A total of nine studies, represented in 14 articles were included in the review. High levels of DE were evident amongst fitness professionals (personal trainers, group fitness instructors). Personal trainers exhibited higher rates compared to other fitness professionals, whilst high-performance coaches showed the lowest. Methodological inconsistencies, such as variation in assessment tools and small sample sizes reduce the generalisability of findings. However, findings suggest that DE is a concern amongst fitness professionals and should be addressed by appropriate education and screening programmes.

Compared to psychosocial factors, medications remain less well recognized as precipitating factors for eating disorders. This study aims to identify medications potentially associated with eating disorders using the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.

Social media use has been implicated in the development and maintenance of eating disorder (ED) symptoms, yet most existing research has focused on general social media engagement rather than addictive patterns of use. This study expands that work by examining Instagram-a widely used social media platform-and the role of Instagram addiction, defined as a compulsive and dysregulated pattern of engagement, in ED symptoms. Additionally, prior research has largely assumed that social media use precedes ED symptoms, despite the theoretical plausibility of a bidirectional relationship. This study aimed to examine prospective, bidirectional associations between Instagram addiction and core ED symptoms.

Restrained eaters are individuals who chronically attempt to restrict caloric intake for weight loss or maintenance. However, only a minority of this population sustains long-term dietary control. Based on the conceptual separation between motivational wanting (cue-driven desire) and hedonic liking (consumption pleasure) proposed by the incentive-sensitization theory, this study investigated differences in food reward processing between low-disinhibited restrained eaters (LD-REs, n = 29) and high-disinhibited restrained eaters (HD-REs, n = 30). By assessing changes in wanting and liking ratings for high-calorie snacks under hunger and satiety states, we identified significantly distinct reward processing patterns between groups. Specifically, HD-REs exhibited higher wanting ratings than LD-REs across both physiological states, despite comparable liking ratings between groups. Crucially, during the transition from hunger to satiety, LD-REs demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in wanting than HD-REs, while liking changes showed no significant group difference. These results suggest that dysregulation in restrained eating is primarily associated with an imbalance in the motivational component of food reward, rather than the hedonic component. This study provides preliminary behavioral evidence highlighting distinct food reward patterns between LD-REs and HD-REs subgroups, contributing to a more nuanced theoretical framework for understanding individual differences in eating behavior regulation.

Disordered eating is a public health concern linked with many adverse outcomes. Research has identified disparities in disordered eating prevalence across multiple social positions, but less work has examined sexual orientation as a primary consideration alongside other marginalized positions. This study examines prevalence of disordered eating behaviors across sexual orientation in combination with race/ethnicity and gender among young adults.

The association between sociocultural pressure and muscle dysmorphia (MD) is well-documented, yet the psychological variables involved require further investigation. This cross-sectional study examined a statistical model in 95 male exercisers in Spain (M age = 34.40) to explore the roles of appearance motivation and cognitive flexibility. Specifically, it tested the indirect association between the perceived influence of appearance ideals and MD symptoms through appearance motivation, and whether cognitive flexibility moderated this relationship. The overall model accounted for 48 % of the variance in MD symptoms (R = 0.48), controlling for age. Results indicated a significant indirect association through appearance motivation (b = 0.16, 95 % CI [0.03, 0.36]). Additionally, a significant moderation was found (p = .043); the positive association between the influence of appearance ideals and MD symptoms was weaker for individuals with higher levels of cognitive flexibility. These findings are consistent with a model where MD symptom endorsement is linked to appearance motivation, while higher cognitive flexibility is related to a less pronounced association between sociocultural pressures and MD symptoms. Cognitive flexibility is highlighted as a potential protective correlate, suggesting that interventions could target motivational patterns and cognitive skills.

Body talk, both negative (i.e., fat talk and muscle talk) and positive, reflects how people discuss their bodies verbally and is closely linked to eating disorder (ED) pathology in younger populations. However, these variables have remained largely unexamined in older adults. Given their increasing vulnerability to ED, the study addressed the research gap by investigating body talk and ED pathology in the Chinese older adults. Based on implicit theories, the moderating role of growth mindset of self-regulation was explored to further inform interventions.

Diagnoses of eating disorders often evolve over time, yet research in China is scarce. Thus, this study aims to explore the evolution of eating disorder diagnoses and symptom development characteristics in the Chinese cultural context through high-quality retrospective examination, and to analyze risk factors for common symptom development.

The transformation framework conceptualizes social media as reshaping traditional peer influences and could enhance understanding of disordered eating. This cross-sectional study examined (1) independent associations of friend dieting and social media exposure with eating pathology, (2) whether social media exposure moderates the relationship between friend dieting and eating pathology, and (3) explored whether sex and age moderate independent and combined effects of friend dieting and social media exposure on eating pathology.

Although the association between health values and eating behaviors has been shown in previous research, its underlying mechanism remains unclear, especially among US college students. Guided by Self-Determination Theory, this cross-sectional study examined direct and indirect associations between health values and eating behaviors through body appreciation. In total, 2425 students (58 % women; mean age = 20.3 years) participated during Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. Pearson's correlation coefficient and PROCESS macro were applied to assess relationships between health values, body appreciation and eating behaviors (intuitive eating and emotional eating). Health values were divided into values for physical health (VPH) and values for social and emotional health (VSEH). Results indicated that VPH was positively related to intuitive eating and negatively related to emotional eating, both directly (β = 0.15, β = -0.08, P < 0.001) and indirectly via body appreciation (β = 0.09 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.08, 0.12; β = -0.09, 95 %CI: -0.11, -0.07). VPSH was directly (β = 0.11, P < 0.001) and indirectly (β = 0.09, 95 %CI: 0.07, 0.11) related to higher intuitive eating, while indirectly reducing emotional eating via body appreciation (β = -0.09, 95 %CI: -0.12, -0.08), with no direct association. This study highlights that health values were positively related to intuitive eating and negatively related to emotional eating, and body appreciation explained at least some of these relationships. These findings provide foundation for future longitudinal studies to investigate whether health values predict the development of eating behaviors through changes in body appreciation.

Experiencing loss of control (LOC) while eating is distressing to men and associated with many negative outcomes. Yet, investigations of LOC eating have focused on women. Some data suggest the factors that contribute to the onset and maintenance of these behaviors differ for men. The current study explored whether specific stressors, body dissatisfaction, dieting, hunger, food cravings, and food exposure were associated with same- and next-day LOC eating in young men. Participants included 41 men (18-35y; Mage = 25.4 ± 5.4) who reported engaging in 4 ≥ LOC eating episodes in the prior month. They completed a 14-day ecological momentary assessment protocol. The following predicted higher odds of same-day LOC eating: seeing/smelling appetizing foods; seeing other people eat/prepare appetizing foods; hearing other people talk about appetizing foods; ease of access to appetizing food; and problems with family members and money (odds ratios ≥1.43, ps ≤ 0.0382). The following predicted next-day LOC eating: craving one or more foods; seeing other people eat/prepare appetizing foods; hearing other people talk about appetizing foods; and problems with family members and physical pain (odds ratios ≥1.54, ps ≤ 0.0430). Problems with school/work, friends, and romantic relationships, dieting, hunger, and body dissatisfaction were not significantly associated with same- or next-day LOC eating. After applying a Benjamini-Hochberg correction, only seeing other people eat/prepare appetizing foods was associated with higher odds of same-day LOC eating (p corrected = 0.0136); all next-day associations were non-significant. Data suggest that exposure to appetizing foods in various forms may be the experience most closely related to young men's risk for LOC eating.

Research shows that body dissatisfaction can contribute to risky alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences among college students. The present study examined if rumination and engagement in food and alcohol disturbance (FAD; i.e., disordered eating behaviors used to compensate for alcohol-related calories [FAD-calories] or enhance alcohol's effects [FAD-intoxication]) are potential mechanisms indirectly linking body dissatisfaction to alcohol use and related consequences in college students. Specifically, we tested whether higher body dissatisfaction relates to greater alcohol use/consequences via greater ruminative thinking (i.e., problem-focused thoughts, anticipatory thoughts, counterfactual thinking, and repetitive thoughts) and FAD frequency by motive (FAD-intoxication and FAD-calories). College students (N = 3362; M = 19.47, SD = 2.24; 70.2 % female; 61.5 % White non-Hispanic) from six U.S. universities who reported past-month alcohol use completed measures of body dissatisfaction, rumination, FAD, alcohol outcomes, BMI, and negative affect. Our estimated path model (i.e., body dissatisfaction → rumination facets → FAD frequency by motive → alcohol use quantity/consequences; covarying for BMI and negative affect) showed two significant double-mediated associations. Specifically, greater body dissatisfaction was associated with more alcohol use quantity/consequences via greater endorsement of problem-focused thoughts and both FAD motives. These findings suggest that those who experience body dissatisfaction may ruminate more (particularly engaging in problem-focused thoughts); which in turn may relate to more frequent engagement in FAD-intoxication and/or FAD-calories, which subsequently may contribute to more alcohol use and related consequences. Interventions looking to reduce FAD and alcohol-related harms should target both body image dissatisfaction and ruminative thinking.

Youth from immigrant families navigate multiple cultures concurrently, and culture largely influences how disordered eating behaviors and cognitions (DEBC) present. Enculturation (i.e., maintaining one's heritage traditions, values, beliefs, etc. while living within the dominant culture) may - in contrast to acculturation - function as a protective factor against DEBC and body-image issues. Considering eating disorders' deleterious outcomes, understanding whether enculturation can be leveraged to protect against DEBC is important; however, there is a dearth of research in this area. To address this gap, associations among generational status, enculturation, and DEBC (assessed by the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (EPSI)) were investigated in 467 college students using analysis of covariance and multiple linear regression models. Enculturation and generational status were associated as hypothesized, but positively, which was contrary to hypotheses. Generational status and enculturation did not individually influence DEBC, but generational status moderated the relationship between enculturation and Negative Attitudes toward Obesity, an EPSI subscale. Among the first-generation group, enculturation was positively associated with Negative Attitudes toward Obesity while for the third- and fourth-generation groups, enculturation was negatively associated with Negative Attitudes toward Obesity. The association between generational status, enculturation, and DEBC is nuanced and complex, but certain aspects of DEBC may be particularly important factors for first-generation individuals. Future research should investigate these relationships within specific cultural, racial, and ethnic groups and among non-college populations.

This study aimed to compare eating pathology between heterosexual and sexual minority (SM) undergraduate women and explore the relation between eating pathology and minority stress in SM undergraduate women. Undergraduate women at a Southeastern university (N = 547; 38 % SM, 62 % heterosexual) completed a one-time online survey (2023-2024) measuring eating pathology, internalized stigma, and stigma concealment. We analyzed descriptive statistics and Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAS). SM undergraduate women reported more body dissatisfaction and shape/weight overvaluation (p < .001) and no difference in dietary restraint (p = .78) compared with their heterosexual counterparts. For SM undergraduate women, dietary restraint was linked to stigma concealment (p < .05). These findings suggest that although SM undergraduate women experience unique stressors related to eating pathology, they are at similar risk of restrictive eating pathology to heterosexual undergraduate women. In addition to typical university life stressors, providers should be aware of the potential impact of stigma on SM female students' eating behaviors/cognitions.

This study aimed to validate the Eating Disorders-15 (ED-15) in a clinically diverse sample of Mexican patients with eating disorders (EDs). Given the increasing prevalence of EDs in Latin America and the need for validated assessment tools, this study evaluated the psychometric properties of the ED-15 in this specific cultural and clinical context.

Epidemiological and clinical studies highlighted that food addiction is a clinically relevant phenomenon. A large number of studies investigated its link with personality traits. However, a systematic overview and a meta-analysis of these results is lacking.

Body composition requirements for U.S. Army Soldiers may increase risk of negative body image and unhealthy dietary behaviors, which may in turn lead to poor nutrition. This study aimed to determine whether negative body image was associated with worse diet quality in U.S. Army Soldiers and whether dietary restraint and emotional eating served as mediators. A cross-sectional study of U.S. Army Soldiers who completed the Military Eating Behavior Survey was conducted (N = 427, 93 % male, 23 ± 5 years of age). Diet quality was calculated using the Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015) to assess total HEI, adequacy, and moderation components. Linear regression models were used to examine associations between body image, dietary restraint, emotional eating, and diet quality. Mediation models were tested to measure the indirect effect of dietary restraint and emotional eating on the association between body image and diet quality. Results demonstrated that higher concern with body image was associated with higher dietary restraint (B = 0.12, p < .0001) and higher emotional eating (B = 0.07, p = .0001). Dietary restraint was positively associated with Total HEI-2015 score (B = 1.10, p < .0001) and HEI-2015 moderation (B = 0.32, p < .0001) and adequacy (B = 0.78, p < .0001) scores. In mediation analyses, there was a significant indirect effect of body image on diet quality through restraint (a:0.25, b:0.41, c':-0.12, ab:0.10; 95 % bootstrap CI: 0.06, 0.15) and emotional eating (a:0.18, b:-0.15, c':0.05, ab:-0.04; 95 % bootstrap CI: -0.07, -0.01). Findings suggest that dietary restraint and emotional eating may be differentially associated with body image and diet quality. Whether these relationships persist over time is unclear.

Adolescent girls and mothers are vulnerable to poor body image outcomes, which are often reinforced through fat talk, a self-disparaging body-related conversation. Depression may exacerbate this risk, particularly among those engaging in fat talk. This study examined the associations, among mother-daughter dyads, between fat talk and restrictive, emotional, and external disordered eating, eating disorder symptoms, and body dissatisfaction, as well as whether depression moderated these associations.

Food insecurity (FI) is a serious public health concern linked to negative physical and mental outcomes, including eating disorder symptoms. However, little is known about its relationship with muscularity-oriented disordered eating (MODE), which involves eating behaviours aimed at increasing muscle mass and decreasing body fat. This study examined the association between FI and MODE, as well as the potential indirect effects of depression and anxiety. A sample of 394 undergraduate students (72.34 % women) from a Canadian university completed online self-report measures of FI, MODE, depression, and anxiety. Linear regression analyses indicated that FI was significantly positively associated with MODE, even when controlling for gender. Indirect effects analyses further revealed that this association was partially explained by depression and anxiety in women, suggesting that psychological distress may play a key role in linking FI to MODE. Importantly, our findings provide evidence that MODE is not limited to individuals with greater financial resources to access high-protein diets and supplements. Food insecurity does not preclude engagement in MODE, emphasizing the need for theoretical models and interventions that consider FI as a potential risk factor. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to clarify the temporal relationship between FI, MODE, and mental health factors, as well as explore these associations in more diverse populations.

Recent US-based datasets (Ns > 1000) show over 1-in-4 adults suffer from clinically significant eating disorder (ED) symptoms. Methods for preventing subthreshold problems from becoming full-threshold EDs are needed. An 8-week, single-arm feasibility study of a mobile heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) app supported strong acceptability and preliminary efficacy for reducing ED symptoms. The present study investigated potential mechanisms of change from pre- to post-intervention.

Disordered eating (DE) is primarily observed in endurance athletes and sports that emphasize aesthetics. However, DE prevalence, exercise dependence (EXD), body dissatisfaction, and fueling habits in resistance-trained individuals-particularly CrossFit® athletes-are not well understood. CrossFit® promotes a culture that encourages strong, athletic, and muscular bodies. Both CrossFit® and endurance athletes often strive for low body fat percentages to enhance performance, which may contribute to body dissatisfaction, EXD, and eating concerns. This cross-sectional study investigated DE prevalence and its associations with EXD risk, body dissatisfaction, and fueling habits in female CrossFit®-only (CO) versus CrossFit® plus endurance (CE) athletes.