Orthorexia nervosa in gay men—the result of a spanish-polish eating disorders study

Abstract

Background The purpose of this exploratory study was to identifying demographic factors and unique predictors of ON e.g., the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the use of social media and the Grindr ® dating application among a sample group of Spanish and Polish identifying gay men. Methods The study was conducted in Poland and Spain between March and June 2021 using questionary: ORTO-15. Data was collected using a three-section self-administered questionnaire. The first section contained demographic data, the second part was the Polish and Spanish version of the Orto-15, and the third part was the Polish and Spanish version of the EAT-26. Results Total enrollment was 394 gay men. In regression proportional hazards single model, significant predictors of ON were: age (OR = 0.964, 95% CI, 0.944–0.984), BMI (OR = 0.895, 95% CI, 0.848–0.944), staying in an informal relationship compared to being single (OR = 2.138, 95%CI, 1.225–3.732), occasional use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (OR = 4.667, 95%CI, 1.186–18.362) and use of the Grindr application (OR = 5.312, 95%CI, 3.373–8.365). Instagram users had lower risk of ON (OR = 0.479, 95%CI, 0.279–0.822). The multivariate analysis showed that Grindr usages (OR = 4.72; 95%CI, 2.89–7.72) correlated with higher risk of ON. Higher BMI (OR = 0.913, 95%CI, 0.861–0.98) and daily use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (OR = 0.142, 95%CI, 0.03–0.674) is associated with lower risk of ON. Conclusions The most important predictors of orthorexia nervosa in gay men are: low BMI and the use of Grindr. The effect of daily usage of PrEP is associated with lower risk, and occasional use is associated with increased risk, of orthorexia nervosa.

Overall proportion of orthorexia nervosa symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis including 30 476 individuals from 18 countries

“…In this systematic review and meta-analysis, 34 studies used the <35 cutoff point [ 20 , 29 , 30 , 33 , 37 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 46 , 49 , 55 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 64 - 67 , 69 - 71 , 73 - 77 , 81 - 84 , 88 , 90 , 92 , 93 , 96 ], 64 studies used the <40 cutoff point [ 10 , 20 , 29 - 39 , 42 - 45 , 47 - 54 , 56 - 58 , 61 - 65 , 68 , 70 , 72 - 76 , 78 - 101 ], and 23 studies used both cutoff points [ 20 , 29 , 30 , 33 , 38 , 49 , 56 , 64 , 65 , 70 , 73 - 76 , 81 - 84 , 88 , 90 , 92 , 93 , 96 ]. Based on the <35 cutoff point, all the studies were cross-sectional.…”

“…According to sex, 64 studies reported the overall proportion of ON symptoms in both men and women [ 10 , 29 - 38 , 40 - 44 , 46 - 50 , 53 - 55 , 57 - 59 , 61 - 68 , 71 , 73 - 91 , 93 - 101 ], and nine studies only included one sex (i.e. only women [ 39 , 45 , 51 , 52 , 60 , 70 , 72 , 92 ] or men [ 69 ]). The remaining two studies [ 20 , 56 ] did not report proportions stratified by sex.…”

“…Two studies did not specify the country since it was performed via social media [ 64 , 92 ]. Two studies were conducted in two countries [ 30 , 69 ].…”

Weight stigma and fat phobia in Poland – attitudes towards people living with obesity and the level of knowledge about obesity among the social media internet respondents and medical professionals

“…Authors found that use of the Grindr application was a significant predictor of orthorexia nervosa, whereas use of Instagram decreased the risk. Grindr usage is associated with body image distortion and feelings of sexual objectification, weight stigma, and social comparisons ( 35 ).…”

Maternal Bonding as a Protective Factor for Orthorexia Nervosa Risk in Dietetics Students

“…Different methods of measuring it, such as the participants’ skinfolds, waist circumference, or waist-to-hip ratio, would be interesting to study. An additional limitation is that we did not explore the effect of the use of social media [ 95 ] or dating apps [ 96 ], presented as significant risk factors for ON by other investigators.…”