Investigation of the Orthorexia Nervosa Tendencies and Healthy Eating Attitudes of Health Sciences Faculty Students

Aim: Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an eating disorder characterized by excessive concern for healthy nutrition and food quality. Physical and mental health problems may occur in individuals who obsess about healthy eating in the long term. In this study, healthy nutrition attitudes and orthorexic tendency levels of university students were examined. Method: Attitude Scale for Healthy Nutrition (ASHN) and Orthorexia Nervosa Scale (ORTO-11) were applied to 370 students studying at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Results: According to the students’ ASHN mean score, it was determined that their attitudes towards healthy nutrition were at a high level (71.26±10.27). The mean ORTO-11 score of the students was 27.47±4.79, and the orthorexic tendency among the students was at an moderate level. It has been found that the most ON tendencies are in Nursing department students (13.2%). Students with high orthorexic tendency were at the level of 9.5% (n=35). A significant relationship was found between the ASHN and ORTO-11 results of the students. It was determined that individuals with high attitudes towards healthy nutrition also had high orthorexic tendencies. Conclusion: It is necessary to prevent healthy eating attitudes and behaviors from turning into obsessions and to develop diagnosis and treatment methods for ON eating disorder. It is also of great importance for individuals to have knowledge about adequate, balanced, healthy nutrition in terms of protecting public health.