Risk of orthorexia nervosa in nutrition students at a university in Entre Ríos

Abstract

Introduction: orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an obsessive behavior towards healthy eating, focusing on quality and not quantity, making a selection of “pure” foods and taking into account their preparation.

Objectives: to identify the risk of suffering from ON in nutrition students at a university in the province of Entre Ríos. The specific objectives were to relate the risk of suffering from NO in nutrition students with age, sex, year of study and permanence in the career; and to determine the relationship between the risk of suffering from ON and the type of diet they practiced.

Materials and method: the study was carried out at a university in Entre Ríos between August and September 2023. People of both sexes, aged ≥18 years, participated. All of them gave their consent to participate. Data collection was carried out using a digital questionnaire developed in Google Forms consisting of the ORTHO-15 instrument, questions on sociodemographic characteristics and type of diet. In addition, age, sex, year of study, permanence in the career from the time of entry until the time of study were searched for. For the statistical analysis, Chi-Square, Student’s t-, and Mann-Whitney U were used, with a confidence level of 95%. This study was assessed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidad Adventista del Plata through Resolution No.83/23.

Results: 97 people surveyed were reached. 84.5% of the respondents were at risk of ON. No statistically significant association was found between ON and sex, diet pattern, year of study and permanence in the career. On the other hand, a statistically significant difference was found between the risk of ON and age. The participants were divided into two groups, based on risk. Those at risk of ON had a median of 21 years old, and those with low risk of ON had a median of 23 (p=0.028).

Conclusions: the results of the study indicate a high risk of ON in nutrition students. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing this disease and implementing preventive measures throughout the Nutrition career.