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Young adulthood is a sensitive phase that comes with many developmental tasks. Successful mastery of these challenges is crucial not only for long-term physical and mental health. A positive relationship with one's own body and associated healthy dietary and behavioral patterns are essential building blocks for healthy adolescence and adult life. But being overly concerned with healthy food may lead to decreased quality of life and negative (mental) health outcomes. This study was conducted via a cross-sectional online questionnaire including the Düsseldorfer Orthorexieskala(DOS), the WHO Quality of Life BREF and questions about life style and nutritional habits. We investigated the prevalence of ON and its relationship with different aspects of quality of life and lifestyle factors (sport and nu trtional habits) in a sample of young adults in Austria. No significant difference in the DOS-scores of male and female participants were found and no significant difference between students and non-students. High DOS-scores significantly impair all three domains of QoL. We did not find a significant relationship between high DOS-scores and taking nutritional supplements or being vegan, vegetarian or omnivore. Participants with high DOS-scores spent significantly more hours per week with sport/exercising.
Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) describes a pathological, unhealthy fixation with eating healthy food. This study intends to further understand ON and its possible link to the use of social media, and specifically, to test the prevalence of ON in an opportunity sample with the use of two ON measures – the ORTO-15 and the Tereul Orthorexia Scale (TOS); to use and validate a new ON measure (TOS); to examine the relationship between ON and social media use, with a focus on Instagram users; and to further understand the participants’ interpretations of the possible link between eating patterns and social media use. This study uses a convergent design and a mixed methods approach, which employs both statistical and thematic analysis (TA). Data from 201 participants suggested a high prevalence of ON across the sample, and the results also reinforced the validity of the TOS measure (α = .86). ORTO-15 scores showed significant differences between age groups, genders, and Instagram users and non-Instagram users. The TA generated three overall themes: ‘The Importance of Belonging’, ‘Health as Art’ and ‘Craving’. The high prevalence in the sample may have been a result of the researcher’s recruitment method, and the ON measures may have categorised individuals on non-medically prescribed diets as ‘orthorexic’. Both the quantitative and qualitative results offer evidence to support a possible link between ON and social media use, specifically Instagram. Further research should be done to establish official criteria and measures for ON and the effect of social media on eating patterns.