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Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of, and attitudes toward, vegetarianism and veganism. We also assessed the association between vegetarianism/veganism and eating disorder, depressive, and somatic symptoms. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey in adults in Germany that was representative in terms of age, gender, and educational level was carried out. Data from 2449 adults (53.5% females) were included. Mean age was 49.6 (SD 17.1) years. A total of 5.4% of participants reported following a vegetarian or vegan diet. While the majority of participants agreed that vegetarian diets are healthy and harmless (56.1%), only 34.8% believed this to be true of vegan diets. The majority of participants also believed that a vegetarian (58.7%) or vegan (74.7%) diet can lead to nutritional deficiency. Female gender, younger age, higher education, lower body mass index (BMI), and higher depressive and eating disorder symptoms were found to be associated with vegetarianism/veganism. We did not find increased physical complaints in the group of vegetarians/vegans. Our results point toward a moderate prevalence of vegetarianism/veganism among the general population. Our findings suggest that health care professionals should keep eating disorder pathology, affective status in mind when dealing with individuals who choose a vegetarian/vegan dietary pattern.
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1 Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada (GRID:grid.417184.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0661 1177); Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (GRID:grid.17063.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2157 2938)
2 Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada (GRID:grid.417184.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0661 1177)
3 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany (GRID:grid.10423.34) (ISNI:0000 0000 9529 9877)
4 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany (GRID:grid.410607.4); Integrated Research and Treatment Center AdiposityDiseases, Behavioral Medicine Research Unit, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany (GRID:grid.9647.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2230 9752)
5 Institute for Nutritional Medicine, Else Kroener-Fresenius-Centre for Nutritional Medicine, School of Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (GRID:grid.9647.c)
6 Integrated Research and Treatment Center AdiposityDiseases, Behavioral Medicine Research Unit, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany (GRID:grid.9647.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2230 9752)