Exploring the Association Between Internet Use and Dietary Habits of Adolescents and University Students in Greece: A Pilot Study.
Background/Objectives: Adolescents and university students appear to be at increased risk for internet addiction (IA), while disordered eating behavior (DEB) is common in these age groups. At the same time, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) has declined in many countries. This study aimed to...
| Published in: | Nutrients Vol. 18; no. 7; pp. 1085 - 1100 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
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MDPI
Apr2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=192958909&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 192958909 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 20726643 B0TT jtl: Nutrients issn: 20726643 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 18 iid: 7 pid: 97109 pub: MDPI artinfo: ui: 192958909 192958909 192958909 10.3390/nu18071085 192958909 ppf: 1085 ppct: 15 formats: tig: atl: Exploring the Association Between Internet Use and Dietary Habits of Adolescents and University Students in Greece: A Pilot Study. aug: au: Stavraki, Christina Georgiadis, Nikolaos Kornarou, Eleni Tsitsika, Artemis K. Sergentanis, Theodoros N. Vassilakou, Tonia affil: Department of Public Health Policy, University of West Attica, 11521 Athens, Greece sug: subj: Disordered Eating Behavior Risk Factors Internet Addiction Complications Food Habits In Adolescence Students, College Students, High School Risk Assessment Patient Compliance Mediterranean Diet Human Pilot Studies Cross Sectional Studies Greece Surveys Questionnaires Adolescence Young Adult Descriptive Statistics Chi Square Test Univariate Statistics Multiple Logistic Regression Data Analysis Software Confidence Intervals Odds Ratio Sex Factors Male Female Bivariate Statistics Adolescent: 13-18 years Male Female ab: Background/Objectives: Adolescents and university students appear to be at increased risk for internet addiction (IA), while disordered eating behavior (DEB) is common in these age groups. At the same time, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) has declined in many countries. This study aimed to explore the potential association between IA, DEB and MD compliance among high school and university students. Methods: A total of 212 students aged 15–24 years participated in this cross-sectional study conducted in Greece. Data were collected via an online questionnaire including the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), KIDMED, and EAT-26 scales. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Most participants demonstrated normal internet use (69.8%), while 23.1% showed mild IA and 7.1% moderate IA. Regarding dietary habits, 9.4% had low MD adherence, 52.8% moderate and 37.7% high adherence. A total of 15.6% scored above the EAT-26 cut-off, indicating risk for disordered eating behavior. IA was only significantly associated with urbanization (p = 0.014). MD adherence was not associated with gender, urbanization, financial or education status. Multivariate logistic regression showed that female gender (OR = 9.28, 95% CI: 2.10–40.91, p = 0.003) and moderate IA (OR = 6.70, 95% CI: 1.71–26.35, p = 0.006) were significant predictors of disordered eating, while educational status and MD adherence were not significant predictors. Conclusions: Moderate IA and female gender were strongly associated with an increased risk for disordered eating. Further qualitative and clinical studies are needed to better understand the interaction between IA, eating behaviors, and dietary patterns in young people. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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