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Multicenter Study
. 2019 Jul 30;19(1):235.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2208-2.

Orthorexia nervosa, eating patterns and personality traits: a cross-cultural comparison of Italian, Polish and Spanish university students

Carla Gramaglia  1   2 , Eleonora Gambaro  1   2 , Claudia Delicato  2 , Marco Marchetti  3 , Marco Sarchiapone  3 , Daniela Ferrante  2 , María Roncero  4 , Conxa Perpiñá  4   5 , Anna Brytek-Matera  6 , Ewa Wojtyna  7 , Patrizia Zeppegno  8   9
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Orthorexia nervosa, eating patterns and personality traits: a cross-cultural comparison of Italian, Polish and Spanish university students

Carla Gramaglia et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: The amount of research about orthorexic attitudes and behaviours has increased in the last five years, but is still mainly based on descriptive and anecdotal data, yielding a variety of prevalence data and inconsistent results. The interplay between socio-cultural context and orthorexia has been poorly investigated and is still far from being understood.

Method: Multicentre, cross-sectional study involving Italian (N = 216), Polish (N = 206) and Spanish (N = 242) university students, assessed through a protocol including informed consent, socio-demographic and anamnestic data sheet and self-administered questionnaires (ORTO-15, Eating Attitudes Test- 26 [EAT-26], Temperament and Character Inventory [TCI]).

Results: Higher prevalence of orthorexia (as described by the ORTO-15 cutoff) was found in Poland. Female gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), current Eating Disorder, dieting, EAT-26 score ≥ 20 and low/medium Persistence were associated with orthorexia in the whole sample. The cross-cultural comparison showed several differences among the three subgroups of students.

Conclusions: The associations found between orthorexic attitudes, self-reported current eating disorder, BMI and adherence to a dieting need to be supported by further research. The differences among students from the three countries seem to suggest a possible rolve for cultural elements in the construct of orthorexia.

Keywords: Cross-cultural comparison; Eating patterns; Orthorexia nervosa; Personality traits.

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Conflict of interest statement

Carla Maria Gramaglia currently acts as an Editorial Board member for BMC Psychiatry. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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