Health awareness has increased interest in organic and functional foods perceived as healthier and more natural, but excessive concern can lead to orthorexia nervosa, a pathological obsession with consuming only “pure” and healthy foods. This condition involves restrictive eating behaviors driven by anxiety over proper nutrition, which can harm mental and physical well-being.
Objective
This study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between health awareness towards organic and functional foods and orthorexia nervosa.
Methods
This descriptive cross-sectional study was planned and conducted between 2023 and 2024 in Ankara, Turkey. This study organic and functional nutrition questionnaire, ORTO-15 and health awareness scales were used in the study. Data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows. Pearson's chi-square test and independent samples t-test were used to compare paired groups, and Pearson's correlation test was used to evaluate the correlation between variables.
Results
This descriptive cross-sectional study was determined on a total of 431 individuals, 48.3% [208] male and 51.7% female [223], with a mean age of 35.9 ± 13.71 years. It was determined that the mean ORTO-15 of women [37.22 ± 5.15] was lower than that of men [38.60 ± 5.01], but their health awareness scores were higher [122.80 ± 17.71] [p < .005]. According to the results of this study, 73.3% of the participants were found to be orthorexic. It has been determined that obese individuals have higher tendencies towards obesity, and healthy individuals have higher health awareness [p < .05].
Conclusions
Organic and functional food consumption is directly linked to health awareness and eating behavior. Therefore, the health and eating attitudes of a society that consumes both organic and functional food are extremely important for the future of public health.
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