<p>Association of Orthorexic Tendencies with Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, Eating Attitudes and Exercise</p>

Abstract

Purpose The term orthorexia nervosa is used to describe the pathological fixation associated with consuming healthy food. It is assumed that orthorexia nervosa shares some phenomenological features with anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and other mental disorders. Individuals with orthorexic tendencies may have high physical activity as well as a healthy diet. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of orthorexia nervosa with obsessive-compulsive symptoms, eating attitudes, and several sociodemographic features. Patients and Methods We included 63 patients diagnosed with OCD, 63 healthy volunteers who perform physical exercises at least three days a week, at least 30 minutes a day, and 63 healthy volunteers who do not perform physical exercises regularly. Sociodemographic data form, Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, ORTO-11 Scale, Eating Attitude Test, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders (SCID-5 CV) were administered to all participants. OCD data form was also applied to patients with OCD diagnosis. Results We found a statistically significant relationship between current order-symmetry obsessions and orthorexic tendencies in patients with OCD (p<0.05). There was no relationship between the severity of the disorder and orthorexia nervosa in patients with OCD (p>0.05). Orthorexic tendencies were found to increase as impaired eating attitudes increased in participants who regularly performed physical exercises and patients with OCD (p<0.05). The orthorexic tendencies of participants who regularly performed physical exercises were higher than those diagnosed with OCD and healthy individuals who did not perform physical exercises. Conclusion The absence of a significant relationship between disorder severity and orthorexia nervosa in patients diagnosed with OCD and the increase in orthorexic tendencies as the deterioration in eating attitudes increases in both patients with OCD and the participants who regularly perform physical exercises suggest that orthorexia nervosa may be closer to the eating disorders group than obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Studies with large samples and different diagnoses are needed to determine the place of orthorexia nervosa in diagnosis and classification systems.

The Mediating Role of Orthorexia in the Relationship between Physical Activity and Fear of COVID-19 among University Students in Poland

“…Numerous studies showed a positive association between ON and physical activity or exercise addiction [49,[70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85]. Segura-García et al [81] indicated athletes presented higher ON scores than the control group.…”

“…Bert et al [71] found that ON (using EHQ) can be predicted by endurance sport practice (sports with predominantly aerobic activity > 150 min/week) in Italian athletes (b = 2.407, 95% CI = 0.27;4.54). Moreover, Yılmaz et al [84] found higher orthorexic tendencies (ORTO-15) in participants who regularly performed physical exercises than those diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and healthy individuals who did not perform physical exercises.…”

Italian Adaptation of the Düsseldorf Orthorexia Scale (I-DOS): Psychometric Properties and Prevalence of Orthorexia Nervosa Among an Italian Sample.

“…This nding reveals that the two conditions may have similar cognitive and behavioral characteristics, as some authors suggest [48]. For example, individuals with ON spend most of their time in ritualistic behaviors and excessive efforts to select and prepare healthy food, similar to patients with obsessive and compulsive disorder (OCD) [49]. Moreover, ON is typically characterized by obsessions (e.g., overthinking about food preparation, in ated concern over contamination and impurity) and impaired social functions like OCD [50].…”

Adherence to Mediterranean Diet and Tendency to Orthorexia Nervosa in Professional Athletes

“…They did not find a significant difference between the two groups; however, they did determine that a higher volume of exercise significantly affects the risk for ON behavior. Moreover, recently, a study was conducted in Turkey on patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), physically active healthy controls and non-active controls [44]. The findings showed that physically active individuals had the highest ON tendencies between the three groups.…”