Prevalence and correlates of Orthorexia Nervosa amongst undergraduate medical students of Gujarat, India- A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) defines as an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating and diets that can starve the body of basic nutrition. A person with ON can spend a great deal of time in planning, preparing, purchasing and consumption of specific food items that they find healthy. Contrary to other eating disorders, a person with ON gives a lot of emphasis on quality rather than quantity of food. There is an ongoing debate regarding its validity as a diagnosis. AIMS: To identify the prevalence of ON and to observe its possible relationship with social media use. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst undergraduate students from medical colleges in Gujarat, India. Study participation was anonymous; participants were enrolled using WhatsApp groups. The questionnaire included following data: gender, height, weight, year of study, social media use and ORTO-7. ORTO-7 a seven-item scale found to have a strong and stable factor structure, used for evaluating ON (Cut-off score <= 19 meant probable ON). RESULTS: Out of 975 responses, the prevalence of ON was found 46.5%. On chi-square, it was found associated with gender, Google+, Tumblr and Pinterest use. (p-value is <0.05) However, it was not associated with year of study, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram use. We found a negative correlation between BMI and ON. CONCLUSION: We found a high prevalence of ON screen status in our study population especially in female participants and those using Google+, Tumblr and Pinterest. More such studies are needed to bridge the gap in the literature.