Eating behaviors, attitudes toward health and eating, and symptoms of orthorexia nervosa among students

Abstract

The adoption of a balanced diet positively affects the state of human health; however, excessive focus on proper eating may lead to obsession about foods, described as orthorexia nervosa (ON). The aim of the study was to assess eating behaviors and concerns regarding health and eating among students with symptoms of ON. The participants were 1120 college students from seven universities in Poland enrolled in health-related majors (n = 547) and other majors (n = 573). The students completed the ORTO-15 test, Health Concern Scale (HCS) and Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ-6). Afterwards, eight dietary patterns were derived based on principal component analysis (PCA) (‘Sweets & snacks’, ‘Legumes & nuts’, ‘Fruits & vegetables’, ‘Refined bread & animal fats’, ‘Dairy products & eggs’, ‘Fish’, ‘Meat’, ‘Fruit & vegetable juices’). Pearson's correlation, chi-square test, Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance ANOVA were used for further analyses. The mean ORTO-15 score was 36.6 ± 4.2. Students of health-related majors were characterized by significantly lower ORTO-15 scores than students of majors not related to health (p < 0.001). The symptoms of ON were not determined by gender and BMI. The higher symptoms of ON were associated with more frequent consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and meat, and less frequent consumption of sweets, snacks, refined bread and animal fats. Students with an ‘ON score <35’ were characterized by lower eating concerns than students with an ‘ON score between 35 and 39’ (p = 0.044). There was no significant association between symptoms of ON and health concerns. Nevertheless, in order to confirm this result, research should be continued with the use of other scales measuring health attitudes and symptoms of ON.