Diet-monitoring app users show more disordered eating attitudes, study finds

Young women who use diet-monitoring apps report more disordered eating attitudes and more orthorexic tendencies than nonusers, according to a cross-sectional survey of 386 female participants aged 17 to 35 recruited in Australia. The study, published in Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, also found that one dimension of perfectionism, concern over mistakes, moderated the link between app use and orthorexic tendencies.

The research was conducted by Isabella Anderberg, Eva Kemps and Ivanka Prichard, who set out to examine how diet-monitoring app use relates to perfectionism, disordered eating attitudes and orthorexic tendencies. Because these apps focus predominantly on numerical values and goals, such as calorie counts and weight change goals, the authors proposed that perfectionism may contribute to maladaptive outcomes related to their use.

Participants completed an online survey. The researchers used correlation analysis, independent samples t-tests and chi-square analysis to examine relations between variables and differences between groups, and tested moderation using PROCESS Model 1.

The results showed that users of diet-monitoring apps scored higher than nonusers on concern over mistakes, with an effect size of d = -0.32, on disordered eating attitudes, with d = -0.83, and on orthorexic tendencies, with d = -0.86.

Concern over mistakes moderated the relationship between diet-monitoring app use and orthorexic tendencies, accounting for a small amount of variance. In other words, the association between app use and orthorexic tendencies differed depending on participants’ level of concern over mistakes, although the authors characterize this moderating effect as small.

By contrast, perfectionism did not appear to play the same role for broader disordered eating attitudes. The authors conclude that individuals who experience broader disordered eating attitudes related to diet-monitoring apps may do so regardless of their level of perfectionism.

The study is classified as Level III: a cross-sectional analytic study. This design means the data capture a single point in time, so the findings show associations between app use and eating-related attitudes rather than demonstrating that app use causes these outcomes. The sample consisted of young adult women in Australia, and the authors state that further research is needed to replicate and confirm the results.

The authors conclude that perfectionism, in particular concern over mistakes, is an important variable in the context of diet-monitoring apps. The findings suggest that while these apps may accompany greater attention to healthy eating, the numerical focus of calorie counting and weight goals may be relevant to understanding which users develop maladaptive relationships with food, a question the authors say requires further study.

Subject of Research: Associations between diet-monitoring app use, perfectionism, disordered eating attitudes and orthorexic tendencies in young Australian women

Article Title: Digitally driven: diet-monitoring app use, perfectionism, and eating concerns

Article References: Anderberg, I., Kemps, E., & Prichard, I. (2026). Digitally driven: diet-monitoring app use, perfectionism, and eating concerns. Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-026-01909-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s40519-026-01909-6

Keywords: diet-monitoring apps, perfectionism, concern over mistakes, disordered eating attitudes, orthorexia, calorie counting, cross-sectional survey, young women, Australia, eating behaviors, Digitally, driven