Orthorexia Nervosa: An Examination of the Prevalence, Correlates, and Associated Impairment in a University Sample

Orthorexia nervosa is characterized by an obsession with eating “pure” or “healthy” foods. Despite emergent interest, few studies have been published about orthorexia to date. This study examined the phenomenology, correlates, and associated impairment of orthorexia in 404 undergraduate students. A battery of self-report questionnaires assessed orthorexia symptoms, related functional impairment, disordered eating, perfectionism, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, appearance anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. In total, 35.4% of participants endorsed elevated orthorexia symptoms, with primary concerns related to guilt associated with dietary transgressions and experiencing control when eating in a desired manner. Orthorexia symptoms demonstrated small to medium correlations with associated impairment variables, perfectionism, disordered eating, appearance anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Mean differences were observed across all variables (except depressive symptoms) between individuals elevated and not elevated on orthorexia symptoms. Collectively, this study suggests a relatively high frequency of orthorexia symptoms using current methods (which have significant limitations) and demonstrate fairly modest associations with psychological symptomology.