Vegan or vegetarian diets don’t automatically signal eating-disorder risk, new analysis finds.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 24 studies (25,223 people) found no meaningful overall difference in eating-disorder symptoms between vegetarians/vegans and meat-eaters. Diet choice is driven by varied reasons (animal welfare, health, environment), and the meaning of restriction matters more than the diet label itself. Most studies were cross-sectional, so causality can’t be established, and samples were largely Western with a female majority. The findings caution against treating veganism/vegetarianism as a warning sign for disordered eating and instead suggest assessing motives, levels of restriction, distress around food, and nutritional adequacy.
