Skip to main content

Prevalence of orthorexia nervosa among ashtanga yoga practitioners: a pilot study

Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity volume 19, pages 469–472 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Orthorexia nervosa (ON, i.e., fixation on righteous eating) is a poorly defined disordered eating behavior that results from a pathological obsession with food, its purported nutritional value, composition, origin, etc.

Methods

We investigated the prevalence of ON in a local ashtanga yoga community, by using a validated questionnaire (ORTO-15) that sets a threshold of ON diagnosis at ≤40.

Results

Among the 136 respondents, the mean ORTO-15 score (which was normally distributed) was 35.27 ± 3.69, i.e., 86 % of respondents had an ORTO-15 score lower than 40 and no significant association with age or BMI was recorded. When we analyzed the differential distribution of orthorexia in our cohort, we recorded an association of ORTO-15 score and vegetarianism, i.e., the ORTO-15 score was lower among vegetarians.

Conclusions

The results of this pilot study should suggest ashtanga yoga teachers to avoid excessive reference to a healthy diet, which is natural component of yoga practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Mathieu J (2005) What is orthorexia? J Am Diet Assoc 105:1510–1512

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Brytek-Matera A (2012) Orthorexia nervosa—an eating disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or disturbed eating habit? Arch Psychiatry Psychother 1:55–60

    Google Scholar 

  3. Donini LM, Marsili D, Graziani MP, Imbriale M, Cannella C (2005) Orthorexia nervosa: validation of a diagnosis questionnaire. Eat Weight Disord 10:e28–e32

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Donini LM, Marsili D, Graziani MP, Imbriale M, Cannella C (2004) Orthorexia nervosa: a preliminary study with a proposal for diagnosis and an attempt to measure the dimension of the phenomenon. Eat Weight Disord 9:151–157

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ross A, Friedmann E, Bevans M, Thomas S (2013) National survey of yoga practitioners: mental and physical health benefits. Complement Ther Med 21:313–323

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ross A, Friedmann E, Bevans M, Thomas S (2012) Frequency of yoga practice predicts health: results of a national survey of yoga practitioners. Evid Based Complement Altern Med 2012:983258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Carim-Todd L, Mitchell SH, Oken BS (2013) Mind-body practices: an alternative, drug-free treatment for smoking cessation? A systematic review of the literature. Drug Alcohol Depend 132:399–410

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Bratman S.: Original orthorexia essay. http://www.orthorexia.com/original-orthorexia-essay/, 1997

  9. Bratman S, Knight D (2000) Health food junkies. Broadway books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  10. Jois SKP (2010) Yoga mala. North Point Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  11. Varambally S, Gangadhar BN (2012) Yoga: a spiritual practice with therapeutic value in psychiatry. Asian J Psychiatr 5:186–189

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Benavides S, Caballero J (2009) Ashtanga yoga for children and adolescents for weight management and psychological well being: an uncontrolled open pilot study. Complement Ther Clin Pract 15:110–114

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Penman S, Cohen M, Stevens P, Jackson S (2012) Yoga in Australia: results of a national survey. Int J Yoga 5:92–101

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Ramacciotti CE, Perrone P, Coli E, Burgalassi A, Conversano C, Massimetti G, Dell’Osso L (2011) Orthorexia nervosa in the general population: a preliminary screening using a self-administered questionnaire (ORTO-15). Eat Weight Disord 16:e127–e130

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Segura-Garcia C, Papaianni MC, Caglioti F, Procopio L, Nistico CG, Bombardiere L, Ammendolia A, Rizza P, De Fazio P, Capranica L (2012) Orthorexia nervosa: a frequent eating disordered behavior in athletes. Eat Weight Disord 17:e226–e233

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Butar F, Park J (2008) Permutation Tests for comparing two populations. J Math Sci Math Ed 3:19–30

    Google Scholar 

  17. Catalina Zamora ML, Bote Bonaechea B, Garcia Sanchez F, Rios Rial B (2005) Orthorexia nervosa. A new eating behavior disorder? Actas Esp Psiquiatr 33:66–68

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Fidan T, Ertekin V, Isikay S, Kirpinar I (2010) Prevalence of orthorexia among medical students in Erzurum, Turkey. Compr Psychiatry 51:49–54

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Arusoglu G, Kabakci E, Koksal G, Merdol TK (2008) Orthorexia nervosa and adaptation of ORTO-11 into Turkish. Turk Psikiyatr Derg 19:283–291

    Google Scholar 

  20. Aksoydan E, Camci N (2009) Prevalence of orthorexia nervosa among Turkish performance artists. Eat Weight Disord 14:33–37

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Mac Evilly C (2001) The price of perfection. Nutr Bull 26:275–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Patricia Acuña Ruiz

    Present address: Ashtanga Yoga Malaga, Malaga, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ashtanga Yoga Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Patricia Acuña Ruiz & Borja Romero Valdespino

  2. Laboratory of Functional Foods, IMDEA-Food, CEI UAM+CSIC, C/Faraday 7, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Jesus Herranz Valera & Francesco Visioli

Authors
  1. Jesus Herranz Valera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patricia Acuña Ruiz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Borja Romero Valdespino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Francesco Visioli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesco Visioli.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Herranz Valera, J., Acuña Ruiz, P., Romero Valdespino, B. et al. Prevalence of orthorexia nervosa among ashtanga yoga practitioners: a pilot study. Eat Weight Disord 19, 469–472 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0131-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0131-6

Keywords

  • Orthorexia nervosa
  • Yoga
  • Eating disorders
  • Physical activity
  • Vegetarianism