Orthorexia nervosa and its association with narcissism in fitness center users.

Abstract

PurposeOrthorexia nervosa (ON) is an eating behavior where patients obsessively try to reach health through “purity” of food. Narcissism is a personality trait characterized with the self-belief of grandiosity, importance and need of appreciation. Both of these conditions are connected through self-image in way of reaching perfection through health and body image, whereas one of the ways for reaching it is exercising. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate ON and its possible association with narcissism in fitness center users.MethodsThe study included 1017 fitness center users and three questionnaires were used for the assessment: general information, ORTO-R and Narcissistic personality inventory-13 (NPI-13).ResultsThere was a significant negative correlation (r = − 0.467, p < 0.001) between the ORTO-R score and the NPI-13 score. Comparison of the ORTO-R score between different durations of using a fitness center showed statistically significant differences (H = 134.72, p < 0.001). The subjects who are using the fitness center for less than 1 year have the highest ORTO-R score, while those who are using it 1–3 years have the lowest ORTO-R score. Moreover, multiple linear regression showed that ORTO-R score retained significant association with NPI-13 (β ± SE, − 0.416 ± 0.026, p < 0.001) and the duration of using a fitness center (0.576 ± 0.068, p < 0.001) after model adjustment for age and BMI.ConclusionThese results are implying that fitness center users could possibly be vulnerable of developing ON and that there is a strong association between ON and narcissism in this population. However, future larger-scale longitudinal studies are needed to address these findings.Level of evidenceLevel V, cross-sectional survey-based study.