Adopting vegetarian and vegan eating patterns: Associations with disordered eating behaviors among young adult college students

Introduction: Vegan and vegetarian diets are increasingly popular, though there is concern that disordered eating can drive, emerge, or intensify from the choice to adopt dietary restrictions. Objective: We sought to ascertain whether disordered eating or weight-control behaviors are associated with newly adopting a vegetarian/vegan diet during college and to assess symptom awareness and treatment utilization. Methods: Data came from 11,503 students in the Healthy Minds Study spanning 2015-2021. We examined associations between (i) the SCOFF eating disorder screener and (ii) symptom-specific items from the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, and recent adoption of a vegan/vegetarian diet. Participants' knowledge of eating disorder symptoms and experiences with treatment utilization were also assessed. Results: Five-hundred thirty-two participants (similar to 5 %) reported adopting a vegan/vegetarian diet. Compared to students who did not change eating patterns, those who adopted vegetarianism/veganism had higher past-month prevalence of binge eating (25 % vs, 16 %), compulsive exercise (18 % vs. 9 %), and fasting (12 % vs. 8 %). Each behavior was significantly associated with greater odds of having recently adopted a vegetarian/vegan diet. A positive SCOFF screen (2+ items) was associated with 1.79-times (95 % CI: 1.48, 2.16) greater odds of newly adopting a vegetarian/vegan diet. There were no observed differences between groups with respect to knowledge of eating disorder symptoms or treatment-seeking attitudes and behaviors. Discussion: Disordered eating or weight-control behaviors were prevalent in this population of young adults and were associated with adopting a vegetarian/vegan diet, though awareness and help-seeking were not elevated among those with higher eating disorder risk.