Orthorexia nervosa, eating patterns and personality traits: a cross-cultural comparison of Italian, Polish and Spanish university students

Eleonora Gambaro,Ewa Wojtyna,Carla Gramaglia,Marco Marchetti,Marco Sarchiapone,Patrizia Zeppegno,Claudia Delicato,Conxa Perpiñá,Daniela Ferrante,Anna Brytek-Matera,María Roncero

doi:10.1186/s12888-019-2208-2

Abstract

BackgroundThe amount of research about orthorexic attitudes and behaviours has increased in the last five years, but is still mainly based on descriptive and anecdotal data, yielding a variety of prevalence data and inconsistent results. The interplay between socio-cultural context and orthorexia has been poorly investigated and is still far from being understood.MethodMulticentre, cross-sectional study involving Italian (N = 216), Polish (N = 206) and Spanish (N = 242) university students, assessed through a protocol including informed consent, socio-demographic and anamnestic data sheet and self-administered questionnaires (ORTO-15, Eating Attitudes Test- 26 [EAT-26], Temperament and Character Inventory [TCI]).ResultsHigher prevalence of orthorexia (as described by the ORTO-15 cutoff) was found in Poland. Female gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), current Eating Disorder, dieting, EAT-26 score ≥ 20 and low/medium Persistence were associated with orthorexia in the whole sample. The cross-cultural comparison showed several differences among the three subgroups of students.ConclusionsThe associations found between orthorexic attitudes, self-reported current eating disorder, BMI and adherence to a dieting need to be supported by further research. The differences among students from the three countries seem to suggest a possible rolve for cultural elements in the construct of orthorexia.

Highlights

The amount of research about orthorexic attitudes and behaviours has increased in the last five years, but is still mainly based on descriptive and anecdotal data, yielding a variety of prevalence data and inconsistent results
The associations found between orthorexic attitudes, self-reported current eating disorder, Body Mass Index (BMI) and dieting may be explained by the great attention paid to the individual responsibility for health, typical of Western societies
Differences in the frequency of orthorexic attitudes and behaviors among the Italian, Polish and Spanish samples can be related to the role of gastronomic culture, Mediterranean diet, convivial and social value attributed to eating and main approaches aimed at improving one’s health

Summary

Introduction

The amount of research about orthorexic attitudes and behaviours has increased in the last five years, but is still mainly based on descriptive and anecdotal data, yielding a variety of prevalence data and inconsistent results. Despite the increase in the amount of research about this topic in the last five years [11, 13], the literature on ON is still mainly represented by descriptive and anecdotal data, often with inconsistent results [14], and its prevalence in the general population has been recently estimated to be less than 1% [8]

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