Relationship between orthorexia nervosa and self-esteem in Tunisian medical students

Abstract

IntroductionThe effect of self-esteem in eating disorders has been investigated in several studies, but it’s still not extensively investigated in orthorexia nervosa.ObjectivesTo study the prevalence and factors associated with orthorexic eating behaviors in medical students and it’s relation with self-esteem.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey among medical students of the faculty of medicine of Sfax (Tunisia). Participants completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. We collected their sociodemographic and clinical data. Orthorexia nervosa (ON) was assessed using the self-reported scale, ORTO-15. We used the Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale to assess self-esteem.ResultsNinety five medical students completed the survey. The mean age was 25.8±3.4 years and the sex ratio (F/M) was 3.75. The average body mass index was 23.64±3.53 kg /m2.Fifty-eight percent of the students (58%) reported that they were dissatisfied with their eating habits, and 27.4% tried to control their weight. Several methods of weight control were used, the most frequent (65.4%) were diet and physical exercise, none resorted to laxatives and 8.4% consulted a nutritionist.Self-esteem was very low in 27.1% and low in 34.7% of the students.Overall, the prevalence of orthorexia among our participants was 52.6%. The mean score of the ORTO-15 was 39.19±4.48.Orthorexia was significantly correlated with the use of weight control measures (p=0.035) and physical activity (p=0.042).Students with low self-esteem had higher tendency for orthorexia but with no significant correlation.ConclusionsOur study supports a non-negligible frequency of orthorexic behaviors in medical students but future studies are needed to assess the direct effect of self-esteem on orthorexia.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared