To the question about the prevalence of prenosological forms of eating disorders among students of a medical university

Abstract

Today eating disorders and metabolic disorders are increasingly observed among the adult and children’s population. One of the ways to prevent these pathologies is the timely detection and correction of prenosological forms, one of them is orthorexia neurosa. The aim of our study was to identify the prevalence and characteristics of the manifestation of orthorexia nervosa (ON) among students. A survey was conducted among 60 students of a medical university with the «ORTO-15» and the «Food Frequency Questionnaire questionnaires» to obtain the necessary data. We took into account the height and weight of students and calculated body mass index (BMI) according to the Kettle’s formula. The results were statistically processed and calculated the average value (M), the deviation from the average (m). The correlation dependence between the values was estimated by the nonparametric Spearman’s coefficient (p). The data were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05 and a significance level of at least 95 %. The study showed a high prevalence of orthorexia nervosa among the examined individuals (in 80 % of cases, signs of ON were determined). The average BMI was 24.35 ± 5.3 among men and 20.9 ± 4.7 among girls. The normal BMI values among men were determined reliably more often than among girls (p˂0.05). In this case, a correlation between the values of BMI and the severity of signs of orthorexia nervosa was not found among students. According to the results of the «Food Frequency Questionnaire», a significant concern was identified with nutrition issues, both among girls and men. The above allowed us to conclude that the subjects examined constituted a risk group for the formation of mental disorders and eating disorders.