Lifestyle-Related Risk Factors of Orthorexia Can Differ among the Students of Distinct University Courses.

Monica Guglielmetti,Ilaria Silvia Rossella Gorrasi,Cinzia Ferraris,Ottavia Eleonora Ferraro,Giovanni Abbate-Daga,Elisabetta Carraro,Anna Tagliabue,Simona Bo

doi:10.3390/nu14051111

Monica Guglielmetti, Ilaria Silvia Rossella Gorrasi + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14051111

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Journal: Nutrients	Publication Date: Mar 6, 2022
Citations: 6	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Turin, University of Pavia

Abstract

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is defined as the excessive attention on healthy eating, and studies especially focused on food quality ON prevalence in university students can be extremely variable. The objective of this study is to investigate whether there was a difference in ON risk between health-scientific, economic-humanistic, sport sciences and dietetics and nutrition students, and to evaluate if lifestyle-related ON risk factors (dieting, physical activity, drugs and supplements use) could have an impact in different ways in determining ON risk among students attending these four programs. Participants were recruited at the University of Pavia and received a two-section questionnaire including demographic and lifestyle information and the ORTO-15 questionnaire. A total of 671 students (54% F e 46% M) completed the questionnaire (median age 21.00 (IQR 20.00–23.00), median BMI 21.77 kg/m2 (IQR 20.06–23.66 kg/m2)). The 31.2% had ORTO-15 test scores < 35, and were considered at risk of having ON. No differences were found in ON risk among the students attending the four university courses. Dieting was confirmed as the major ON risk factor for health-scientific, economic-humanistic and sport sciences students. The type of sport practiced was an important determinant of ON risk only for the economic-humanistic course, while supplements use was statistically different between sport sciences students with or without ON. Our findings may suggest that lifestyle-related risk factors of orthorexia can differ among the students of distinct university courses, but these results need to be supported by further longitudinal and prospective studies.

Highlights

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is defined as an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy food
In dietetics and nutrition students we found a statistically significant difference as regards minutes of sport per week practiced (Table 2, p = 0.014), but this evidence was not confirmed by logistic regression analysis
In our study we found a percentage of subjects at risk of ON similar to those reported in previous studies on Italian University students [13,24,27]

Summary

Introduction

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is defined as an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy food. The term was first introduced in 1997 by the physician Steven Bratman [1], from the Greek “ortho” (meaning “straight” or “correct”) and “orexia,” (meaning appetite), and it indicates extreme attention on food quality rather than food quantity [2]. It is a recently identified condition; some authors tried to clarify its diagnostic criteria [3–5], to date, there is no agreement on the universal definition of ON diagnostic criteria. Dunn and Bratman proposed criteria [4] which underlined the obsessive–compulsive behavior in choosing, planning, buying, preparing, and consuming/eating healthy food that individuals with ON express [4]. BMI shows both negative [12] and positive [17,18] associations, while dieting [9,14–16] and excessive physical activity [19–21] have been widely documented as possible risk factors

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