Orthorexia and Eating Attitudes in Health Sciences Students

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of eating disorders and orthorexia nervosa has steadily increased and this situation may lead to severe  physical, psychological, and social disorders.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of disordered eating attitudes  and orthorexia tendencies among university students studying in various Health Sciences departments in Turkey.

Subjects and Methods:  The study subjects were selected from Health Sciences Faculty students. Among the students who accepted the  study, 639 people were reached by simple random sampling method. The EAT-40 and ORTO-15 which are validated instruments for the  screening of abnormal eating behaviors and orthorexia nervosa respectively, were used as measurement tools.

Results: The majority of  the students who participated in the study were found to exhibit orthorexic tendencies, and male students had a higher orthorexic  tendency in comparison to female students (p = 0.022). More specifically, the students studying in the Department of Nutrition and  Dietetics had lower orthorexic tendencies compared with the students from other departments. There was no significant relationship  between BMI values and the mean ORTO-15 scores, whereas the mean EAT-40 score was found to increase statistically significantly with  increased BMI (p = 0.038). There was a statistically significant difference between the departments and classes in terms of mean EAT-40  scores, whereas no difference was found regarding gender.

Conclusion: Orthorexia nervosa is a common problem for university  students studying in health-related departments. Interestingly, the orthorexic tendencies of girls and students studying in the Nutrition  and Dietetics department were found to be lower in this study. It was determined that all students except the Nutrition and Dietetics  department had orthorexia tendencies. More comprehensive studies are needed to better understand orthorexia nervosa and healthy  lifestyle interaction.