The Orthorexia Nervosa tendencies and related factors of final year students in some faculties of Trakya University

Eating disorders are recognized as a significant health issue and have been associated with various environmental and sociocultural factors. Orthorexia nervosa refers to an obsessive concern with correct nutrition to the extent that it interferes with a person's daily functioning. Health anxiety is defined as "the exaggerated interpretation of bodily changes as symptoms of illness, despite the absence of any actual disease." Food literacy is a set of interrelated knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary to plan, manage, select, prepare, and consume foods to meet one's needs and regulate food intake. In our study, we aimed to identify the sociodemographic variables that may be associated with susceptibility to orthorexia nervosa among senior students at certain faculties of Trakya University. We also aimed to explore whether there is a relationship between susceptibility to orthorexia nervosa and factors such as education type, health anxiety, and food literacy. The research was conducted in the Spring Term of the 2023-2024 Academic Year using a questionnaire consisting of 72 questions. This included 18 questions developed by the researchers based on literature, 24 questions from the Orthorexia Nervosa Inventory (ONI), 18 questions from the Health Anxiety Scale, and 12 questions from the Food Literacy Short Form. The questionnaire was administered to a total of 467 students. In our study, no relationship was found between the students' gender, enrollment in faculties offering health and nutrition courses, having a chronic disease diagnosis, alcohol consumption habits, and their ONI score. The ONI score was found to be higher in students who engaged in physical activity, followed a special diet, had a higher body mass index, reported greater health anxiety, had higher food literacy scores, and had another eating disorder diagnosis.