Villa Manuel, Opawsky Nicole, Manriquez Sara, Ananías Nicole, Vergara-Barra Pablo, Leonario-Rodriguez Marcell
Nutrition and Dietetics School, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Mayor, Temuco, Chile.
Departament of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile.
J Eat Disord. 2022 Jan 11;10(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s40337-022-00529-6.
Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is characterized by an excessive, obsessive concern with healthy eating generating psychological complications and even malnutrition at a caloric and protein level. Current evidence suggests that people with greater food knowledge are the most likely to be affected, placing nutrition students as a populational risk group. Since there are no nationwide studies dealing with orthorexia nervosa in this risk group, the present pilot study intends to identify risk factors for orthorexia nervosa in a sample of Nutrition and Dietetics students in Chile.
A descriptive cross-sectional pilot study was done on 90 Nutrition and Dietetics students from a Chilean university, representing 70% of its population. The ORTHO-11-ES instrument was applied to determine ON risk, along with consulting about attitudinal, physical-clinical and social variables. Statistical tests were performed in GraphPad PRISM 8.0®, applying probability ratios and personal correlation, between the sociodemographic variables and the risk of orthorexia nervosa. This study was approved by the university Ethics Committee based on the Helsinki Declaration.
23.3% of the studied population was at risk of suffering ON. Associated variables were being in the second year of their major (OR 2.22), coming from a charter school (OR 3.00) and cohabitation being limited to ≤ 1 person (OR 2.47). Particularly, declared physical activity limits are associated to the risk of suffering ON (Sedentary OR 2.42, Heavy OR 3.53), as well as time spent on the social network Instagram (< 1 h OR 2.77, > 3 h OR 1.80).
There is an ON risk prevalence of 23.3% in the present pilot sample under study, indicating that years of study, cohabitation, secondary educational establishment, physical activity and Instagram use constitute associated factors for the studied condition. Some results vary from international evidence, describing a dual nature in the variables for Instagram time and declared physical activity for ON risk. This study needs replication in more representative samples and longitudinal character with control groups which can confirm the studied elements as ON risk factors. Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an expression created to indicate a possible new eating disorder characterized by excessive and obsessive preoccupation with healthy eating. Some of its most distinctive traits include marked anxiety over food, exaggerated fear over the appearance of some diseases and shame about physical appearance. This ultimately impacts food choice, planning, acquisition, preparation and consumption, creating psychological complications along with some associated with malnutrition. Considering that Nutrition students are an at-risk group, the present pilot study evaluated its prevalence and associated factors in a specific sample in Chile. Conditions associated with the risk of orthorexia nervosa identified in the present study include: number of hours spent using Instagram, limited cohabitation, extreme physical activity, and number of years in the major. These results should be taken cautiously, with their association confirmed in follow-up studies.
神经性正食症（ON）的特征是对健康饮食过度、强迫性关注，从而产生心理并发症，甚至在热量和蛋白质水平上导致营养不良。目前的证据表明，食品知识较丰富的人群最容易受到影响，营养专业学生成为一个有患病风险的群体。由于尚无针对该风险群体中神经性正食症的全国性研究，本试点研究旨在确定智利营养与饮食专业学生样本中神经性正食症的风险因素。
对智利一所大学的90名营养与饮食专业学生进行了描述性横断面试点研究，占该专业学生总数的70%。应用ORTHO - 11 - ES工具来确定神经性正食症风险，并咨询态度、身体临床和社会变量。在GraphPad PRISM 8.0®中进行统计检验，应用概率比和个人相关性分析社会人口统计学变量与神经性正食症风险之间的关系。本研究经大学伦理委员会根据《赫尔辛基宣言》批准。
23.3%的研究人群有患神经性正食症的风险。相关变量包括处于专业学习第二年（比值比2.22）、来自特许学校（比值比3.00）以及同居人数≤1人（比值比2.47）。特别地，宣称的身体活动限制与患神经性正食症的风险相关（久坐比值比2.42，高强度比值比3.53），以及在社交网络Instagram上花费的时间（<1小时比值比2.77，>3小时比值比1.80）。
在本研究的试点样本中，神经性正食症风险患病率为23.3%，表明学习年限、同居情况、中等教育机构、身体活动和Instagram使用是该研究疾病的相关因素。一些结果与国际证据不同，描述了Instagram使用时间和宣称的身体活动对神经性正食症风险变量的双重性质。本研究需要在更具代表性的样本中进行重复，并采用有对照组的纵向研究，以确认所研究的因素为神经性正食症风险因素。神经性正食症（ON）是一个用来表示一种可能的新饮食失调症的术语，其特征是对健康饮食过度且强迫性地关注。它最显著的一些特征包括对食物的明显焦虑、对某些疾病表象的过度恐惧以及对外表的羞耻感。这最终会影响食物的选择、计划、获取、准备和消费，产生心理并发症以及一些与营养不良相关的问题。鉴于营养专业学生是一个有风险的群体，本试点研究评估了其在智利一个特定样本中的患病率及相关因素。本研究中确定的与神经性正食症风险相关的条件包括：使用Instagram的时长、有限的同居情况、极端的身体活动以及专业学习年限。这些结果应谨慎对待，其关联性需在后续研究中得到证实。
