Prevalence of Orthorexia in Groups of Students with Varied Diets and Physical Activity (Silesia, Poland)

Abstract

(1) Background: The literature emphasizes the role of many factors influencing the onset of eating disorders (EDs) and their mutual influence on each other. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the prevalence of orthorexic behaviors in groups of health-related and non-health-related students in terms of their differential health behaviors—diet and physical activity levels. (2) The study included 300 individuals representing two equal groups of fields of study, which for the study were called the health-related field (HRF) and the non-health-related field (NRF). (3) Results: Based on the results of the dietary assessment, it was found that the best dietary model was characterized by the HRF group; in this group, 97.2% of students were characterized by a very good and good dietary mode. The NRF group, on the other hand, was dominated by a sufficient dietary mode for 64.4% of all cases in this group (94 people), while the dietary model marked as “good” was less popular, at 24.6% of this group (36 people). (4) Conclusions: Based on the cited self-research and information from the literature, it can be concluded that the problem of orthorexia is still a new issue at the level of social sciences, medical sciences, and health sciences. The psychometric tools used in this study allowed us to demonstrate the prevalence of the aforementioned eating disorders in the sample groups of students.

Associations between Orthorexia Nervosa, Body Self-Image, Nutritional Beliefs, and Behavioral Rigidity

“…Guglielmetti et al (2022) [22], in a study conducted in Italy, evaluated the prevalence of orthorexia in 671 students of health sciences, economic-humanities, sports sciences, and dietetics and nutrition, also using the Ortho-15. The prevalence of orthorexia was 30%, and no statistical difference in the risk of orthorexia among students from the four university courses was found, which are divergent results from that found by Grajek et al (2022) [23], who found a more frequent risk of orthorexia nervosa in students from health areas. Together, the results of these studies point to the need to continue investigating the prevalence of orthorexia nervosa in students from different areas of knowledge, with the aim of verifying whether replication of the results of one of the two aforementioned studies could be found.…”

“…The Ortho-15 was the first instrument built to measure orthorexia nervosa, having been validated in several countries. Despite some recent studies [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] questioning the lack of clarity in the validation process of the Ortho-15, pointing out that robust standardization methods were not used and suggesting a more refined verification of the instrument, the Ortho-15 was, and still is, an instrument used to assess orthorexia nervosa in many studies [ 22 , 23 , 24 ].…”

Eating disorders as a consequence of improperly managed weight reduction - a study among women with moderate physical activity

“…According to another study by one of the authors of the present study, Grajek, it appears that the risk of orthorexia is higher in people who are characterized by a rational diet and higher physical activity. In addition, according to data from the EAT-26 questionnaire, the authors of the studies estimated that there is a higher risk of eating disorders among people with specialized knowledge (dietetics students) [25,26].…”

Traditional, Vegetarian, or Low FODMAP Diets and Their Relation to Symptoms of Eating Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study among Young Women in Poland

“…Unfortunately, despite the desire to use the most reliable questionnaires possible, one questionnaire has been updated—a more recent tool than the ORTO-15 is the ORTO-R. Nevertheless, the ORTO-15 was validated in Poland, and this questionnaire was used in the study [ 50 ]. Given that this is a cross-sectional study based on the subjective assessment of the subjects, the results and conclusions should be treated as preliminary information, and further research should be conducted.…”