Men and women who use dating apps may be at increased risk of controlling their weight in unhealthy ways, a study suggests.

Axar.az reports citing BBC.

The US research, based on a survey of 1,700 adults, found vomiting, laxative use and fasting were most common.

But they said a direct link could not be proved and more research was needed to explore the relationship.

Eating disorder charity Beat said dating app users who may be at risk should be offered support.

Online dating has grown in popularity in recent years, with apps used by men and women to find romantic and sexual partners.

People using the apps evaluate potential partners based on a number of attributes, include physical appearance.

In this study, published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, researchers compared the behaviour of people who used dating apps with those who did not.

They found that dating app users had significantly higher odds of engaging in six unhealthy weight control behaviours - vomiting, using laxatives, fasting, using diet pills, using muscle-building supplements, and using anabolic steroids.

From the 1,726 adults surveyed, 183 women and 209 men said they used dating apps.

In that group, around half of men and women reported fasting to control their weight and one in five women and one in three men said they would vomit for weight control.

One in four women and 40% of men said they used laxatives.

Men who used dating apps were much more likely than women to use steroids and supplements to build up their muscles.

Dr Alvin Tran, lead author of the study from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston, said they also found higher rates of these unhealthy behaviours among ethnic minorities.

However, he said no conclusions could be drawn on the cause of the behaviour or in which direction they worked.