Young adults who use diet and fitness apps regularly are more likely to develop negative habits related to food, exercise and body image, Flinders University researchers have found.

PhD candidate in clinical psychology, Isabella Anderberg, said while the mobile apps could benefit people by prompting them to exercise, their focus on dietary restriction and weight loss could lead to excessive behaviours — particularly for those with pre-existing concerns about their body image.

“We found that young adults who use diet and fitness apps have greater disordered eating symptoms, such as harmful or restrictive diets, and have negative thoughts about body image when compared to those that don’t use them,” she said.

The researchers reviewed 38 studies to examine links between the use of the apps and the risk of developing obsessive behaviour over weight loss, body image, calorie counting and exercise.

They cited industry data that said 311 million people globally used health apps to track their meals, calories and exercise in 2023.

Many are designed like a game that hooks people in, a technique Ms Anderberg called “gamification”.

She said a high focus on things like calorie counting was more likely to be problematic from a body image perspective.

“For some people, this might become obsessive and also cause feelings of guilt if certain diet or exercise goals aren’t being met,” she said.

Brief use

Chad DiMauro, from Adelaide’s south, said he had tried a calorie-counting app but dropped it after two days.

“I was trying to lose weight after a bit of a blow-out and thought calorie counting was the way to go,” he said.

“It did give me an idea about how little I needed to eat in order to lose weight, but that’s about it.”

He said the app was designed in a way that could be addictive for some, and suggested people only used them briefly to get an idea of how many calories were in their regular foods, then stop.

“It can be another obsession over losing weight, spending too much time jumping on the scales and things like that,” Mr DiMauro said.

“Then you’ve got to input how much exercise you’ve done, how much you’ve been eating, and it just becomes a full-time job.”

Ms Anderberg said it was possible that the social media “reward aspect”, where people posted their exercise efforts on social media for “likes”, could also drive excessive behaviour.

“However, it’s more likely that appearance ideals are driving some of these effects,” she said.

“Like social media, many of these apps may contain lots of imagery around beauty that users are exposed to.”

It’s not all bad

A different study led by University of SA, which also included researchers from Flinders, synthesised data from 206,873 people across 47 studies and last year reported that digital health tools such as mobile apps could significantly improve health and wellbeing.

It said the findings were consistent across different age groups and health populations, indicating the health apps could help underpin broader public health concerns.

Researchers also recommended further investigation to understand impacts among specific groups of people.

Senior author for the more recent Flinders University study, Professor Ivanka Prichard, said some users also reported positive experiences such as increased awareness and motivation.

“[But] the broader implications for mental health need careful consideration, especially among vulnerable populations like adolescents,” Professor Prichard said.

She said warnings on the apps could be of benefit to some people, such as those with a “pre-existing body-image or eating concern”.

Professor Prichard said more research was required to fully explore the benefits and “unintended consequences connected to their use”.

Ms Anderberg said her team was focused on educating people about the risks, along with health professionals that might recommend the apps.

“We’re in the works with other research, which will hopefully assist in developing further education,” she said.

“We are also conducting a study where we’re speaking to a range of professionals in the fitness, nutrition and mental health fields about these apps.”