Evaluation of eating behaviors and orthorexia nervosa tendencies of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic process

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is accepted as an important public health problem that negatively affects the daily life and eating habits of individuals from all age groups in Turkey as well as all over the world. In this study, it was aimed to examine the nutritional habits of the students and to evaluate their orthorexia nervosa tendencies. In this research, which was carried out with the data of 322 volunteer university students (281 foundations, 41 states) between the ages of 18-24; Demographic characteristics, eating habits and anthropometric measurements were taken with the online data collection form, and eating behavior disorders were evaluated with the ORTO-15 and Eating Attitude Test (YTT) scales. 84.5% (n=272) of the participants with a median age of 21 years (18-24 years) were female and 15.5% (n=50) were male. According to body mass index classification, 67.4% (n=217) were found to be in the normal range (p<0.05). It was determined that 77.6% (n=250) of the students were orthorexic, and 5.6% (n=18) were at high risk for anorexia nervosa. It was determined that 62.1% (n=200) of the participants had changed their eating habits during the pandemic and 34.5% (n=111) had an increased body weight (p>0.05). With the data obtained from the food consumption register, fiber, vitamin C and potassium intake with ORTO-15 score; Significant correlations were found between EAT score and energy, carbohydrate, vitamin B2 and iron intake (p<0.05). In addition, the application of hybrid education model on students' orthorexic tendencies; On the other hand, it was determined that the online education model had a significant effect on the EAT result (p<0.05). In the light of these results, in order to reduce the prevalence of secondary health problems caused by eating behavior disorders, it is recommended that health policies for educational institutions should be developed in accordance with today's conditions, and multidisciplinary health teams, including dietitians, should be established and take an active role.