Orthorexia Nervosa: A cross-sectional study among athletes competing in endurance sports in Northern Italy

• Published in: PloS one 2019-08, Vol.14 (8), p.e0221399-e0221399
• Main Authors: Bert, Fabrizio, Gualano, Maria Rosaria, Voglino, Gianluca, Rossello, Paola, Perret, Jean Paul, Siliquini, Roberta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anorexia; Anorexia nervosa; Anxiety; Athletes; Athletes - psychology; Biology and Life Sciences; Body Mass Index; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Continuity (mathematics); Correlation analysis; Cross-sectional studies; Demographics; Diagnosis; Diagnostic systems; Diet - psychology; Dietitians; Eating disorders; Endurance sports; Exercise; Fatigue tests; Feeding and Eating Disorders - epidemiology; Feeding and Eating Disorders - physiopathology; Feeding and Eating Disorders - psychology; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; Food; Food habits; Food quality; Gender; Health Behavior; Health care; Health sciences; Health surveys; Humans; Italy - epidemiology; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Orthorexia nervosa; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Population; Psychology, Sports; Public health; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Research and Analysis Methods; Social Sciences; Sports; Sports Medicine; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221399

Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is an eating disorder marked by an excessive control over the quality of the food eaten. Some groups present a higher prevalence of ON and people practicing sports seems to be a population at risk. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of ON in endurance athletes and to compare their prevalence with the ones recorded in the sedentary population and in athletes playing other sports. A cross-sectional survey was carried in Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, among 549 participants in local sports events aged between 18 and 40 years old. The questionnaire assessed socio-demographic characteristics, physical activity, nutrition and diet, the ORTO-15 questionnaire and Eating Habits Questionnaire (EHQ). The sample was stratified according to the minutes of sport practiced in a week and the type of sport played. Crosstab chi-square analyses to determine group differences on categorical variables (e.g. gender), and ANOVAs or t tests to determine group differences on continuous variables were performed. When required, post hoc analyses were performed. Linear and logistic regressions were performed in order to investigate potential predictors of orthorexia. The EHQ mean scores ware significantly higher in people who practice sports >150 minutes/week. EHQ score resulted to be positively correlated with endurance sport practice >150 minutes/week, with a coefficient of 2.407 (I.C.95% [0.27;4.54], p = 0.027). Analyses carried out suggested a correlation between endurance sport practice and ON. Further studies should be performed to identify diagnostic criteria and to compare different questionnaire used to assess them.