The Psychological Tapestry of Orthorexia Nervosa: Unpacking its Intricate Relationship with Self-Esteem, Anxiety, and Eating Attitude

BackgroundOrthorexia nervosa is a pathological obsession concerning healthy eating with associated restrictive behavior. They firmly restrict their diet, eating only things that they believe are pure or beneficial.PurposeThis study aimed to understand the orthorexia nervosa tendencies among young adults and their association with anxiety, self-esteem, and eating attitude.MethodPurposive sampling was employed for selecting 274 young individuals to participate in this cross-sectional research. Data was collected from an online survey using Test of Orthorexia Nervosa-17, generalized anxiety disorder-7, Rosenberg self-esteem inventory, and eating attitude test-26.ResultThere were 210 females and 64 males. We identified a tendency of orthorexia nervosa in 105 (38.32%) of participants. A high score on disordered eating attitude was found in people with a tendency for orthorexia nervosa. Level of education (negative), self-esteem and eating attitude (positive) predicted orthorexia nervosa.DiscussionStudy has shown a statistically significant relationship between orthorexia nervosa and eating attitude. Further clinical study is necessary to determine the cause-and-effect link to psychiatric comorbidities.Translation to Health Education PracticeFocusing on consuming healthy food is desirable; however, young adults need education regarding the physiological and mental implications of pathological obsession of eating healthy food.