How the obsession to eat healthy food meets with the willingness to do sports: the motivational background of orthorexia nervosa.

PURPOSE

Given its relevance, the present study sought to reveal the motivational background of orthorexia nervosa (ON) and to examine its association to do sports.

METHODS

A total number of 739 participants completed a self-administered, online questionnaire including questions related to sports and three scales: Ortho-11-Hu, Motivation for Healthy Behaviors in Orthorexia Nervosa Questionnaire (MHBONQ) and Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI). The age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 72 years (M = 29.67, SD = 10.18) and 79.16% of them were female. The majority of the subjects trained 3-4 times a week (37.2%), usually for 1-2 h per week (25.8%).

RESULTS

According to the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, social desirability, guilt over skipping training and health anxiety were the strongest predictors of ON with explaining 46% of the variance of ON.

DISCUSSION

The results of the present study suggested that obsessive features of sport activities (guilt over skipping training, counting calories during training) play an important role in ON. People with a higher level of ON tend to reach other people's respect, protect their general health and regulate negative emotional states through healthy eating.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level V, descriptive cross-sectional study.