Relationship between nutritional status and bigorexia and orthorexia in young men engaging in recreational sports activities in gymnasiums

The tendency towards bigorexia and the sensitivity in eating attitudes, manifested as orthorexia, are frequently observed among young men engaging in recreational sports. This study aims to examine the relationship between muscle dysmorphia, orthorexia tendencies, and eating attitudes in young men who engage in recreational sports. The research involved 244 young men aged 18-40 who are involved in bodybuilding. The demographic characteristics of the participants were queried, and their anthropometric measurements were taken. The Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory (MDDI), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Orthorexia-11 (ORTO-11), Muscle-Oriented Eating Test (MOET-TR), and Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale (MASS) were administered, and a retrospective 24-hour dietary recall was obtained from the participants. According to the EAT-26, 10.7% of the participants were found to have an eating disorder. Based on the average scores from ORTO-11, 72.5% of the participants were identified as having orthorexia tendencies. It was found that 45% of the participants had a muscle-oriented diet, and 25% had a high level of muscleoriented diet. According to the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory, 46.7% of the participants were found to have bigorexia. It was determined that as the scores on the MDDI increased, the scores on the Muscle-Oriented Eating Test (p<0.05, r=0.366) also increased. Additionally, as the scores on the MDDI increased, the scores on the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale (p<0.05, r=0.473) also increased. In conclusion, it was found that young men who engage in recreational sports have high tendencies towards orthorexia and body image disorders, but there is no significant relationship between bigorexia and orthorexia. Keywords: Orthorexia, Bigorexia, Eating Attitudes And Behaviors