Aizonia

Curr Res Educ (2017) 3(3), 105-115

Orthorexia Nervosa is described as a psychopathological preoccupation about healthy food. Investigation of the relationship of orthorexic tendencies with other eating disorder tendencies and gender among a group of university students was aimed as purpose of the presented study. Participants are 100 university students (57 females, 43 male) who volunteered to answer the scales when study explained to them. Orthorexic tendencies were measured by ORTO-11 scale and eating attitudes were measured by YTT-40 and REZZY scales. Intercorrelations among variables revealed that orthorexic tendencies and eating attitudes are all tended to rise together. On the other hand no significant correlation was found between YTT-40 and ORTO-11 scores. It was thought that lack of any significant correlation between YTT-40 and ORTO-11 scores can be interpreted as another indication of the differences in terms of characteristic symptoms between Anorexia Nervosa and Orthorexia Nervosa. Results points out that REZZY scale seems more related than YTT-40 in terms of covering orthorexic symptoms. According to findings, females’ orthorexic tendencies (which measured by ORTO-11) and eating disorder tendencies (which measured by REZZY and YTT-40) are higher than males’. Overweight group showed lower orthorexic tendencies than participants who has normal weight, which is parallel with the results that reveals when orthorexic tendencies decline body mass index scores of participants’ rise as a result of not being pathologically preoccupied with 'healthy' eating. It is hoped that the findings of the present study by combining with other related studies will be helpful regarding building a model for this disorder and to debates about classification of orthorexia nervosa. Besides findings are also important in terms of treatment plans regarding this disorder. As mentioned in literature too, more future investigations are needed about orthorexia nervosa. More research with various participants and perhaps with various measurement tools can be suggested for clarification of existing unanswered questions in this relatively young area of investigation.

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