Prevalence and Relationship of Orthorexia Nervosa with Self-Esteem and Lifestyle Satisfaction in Indian Married Women

Abstract

Orthorexia nervosa is an eating disorder revolving around an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy and the quality and nutritional value of the food. Through review of available studies on orthorexia nervosa a gap in knowledge is established, especially in context of India. It has also been found to be more prevalent in women and to be overlapping with other eating disorders and mental health issues. Further the difference in the cognitive ideation of other eating disorders and orthorexia nervosa is highlighted to explain the difference in the associating factors of the disorder from that of general factors often studied in light of eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa etc. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Orthorexia Nervosa in Indian married women. The purpose here is also to elaborate and explore the relationship of self-esteem and lifestyle satisfaction with orthorexia nervosa. A sample of 128 Indian married women is taken from different parts of the country and is administered through an online survey. The survey consists of three questionnaires namely, ORTO-15 by Donini and colleagues for assessing orthorexic tendencies, Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) by Diener for assessing lifestyle satisfaction and Rosenberg’s self-esteem questionnaire by Rosenberg for assessing self-esteem levels in the sample group. The data is analyzed for calculating Bivariate correlation (Pearson’s constant) as well as simple linear regression to establish the nature of relationship between self-esteem and orthorexia nervosa and lifestyle satisfaction and orthorexia nervosa. The results indicate a high prevalence of orthorexia nervosa in the sample with an average of 89.80% of the total sample showing orthorexic tendencies. Further through correlational analysis, no linear relationship was found between self-esteem and orthorexia nervosa (r = -0.17, p>0.05) as well as lifestyle satisfaction and orthorexia nervosa (r = -0.052, p>0.05). Lastly simple linear regression of the variables against orthorexia nervosa indicates a lack of linear relationship of self-esteem (R Square = 0.0003) and lifestyle satisfaction (R Square = 0.0029) with orthorexia nervosa. A high prevalence of Orthorexia Nervosa can be concluded in the sample of Indian married women with no linear relationship with self-esteem and lifestyle satisfaction. This study acts to fill the gap in knowledge around Orthorexia Nervosa in India and encourages to study further associates of the disorder in different sample groups.