Exploring longitudinal relationships between fitness tracking and disordered eating outcomes in college-aged women.

Objective: A growing body of research, primarily cross-sectional, suggests a relationship between the practice of tracking one's food intake and exercise behaviors using fitness-tracking smartphone applications ("apps") or wearable devices ("wearables") and disordered eating symptomatology. The aim of the present study was to explore longitudinal relationships between fitness tracking and disordered eating outcomes among college-aged women, as well as to determine whether the individual-level risk factors of pre-existing eating concerns, perfectionism, and rumination about food moderated the relationship.

Method: N = 68 female undergraduates used the MyFitnessPal app for 8 weeks while completing a series of self-report measures.