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Orthorexic eating behaviors related to exercise addiction and internal motivations in a sample of university students

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This research explored the exercise tendencies and motivations of individuals varying in orthorexia symptomatology.

Method

Participants were 411 university students, who completed the Eating Habits Questionnaire alongside measures of exercise activity and addiction in Study 1 (a modified version of the Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, the Exercise Addiction Inventory, and the Compulsive Exercise Test) and various exercise motivations in Study 2 (the Behavioural Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire and the Exercise Motivations Inventory-2).

Results

Orthorexia symptomatology was positively correlated with aerobic and strength-training exercise levels; all measures of exercise addiction; all measures of internal exercise motivation; and nearly all measures of exercise motivation for the purposes of psychological, social, health, and body improvement. Symptomatology was not significantly related to either measure that specifically assessed external motivation to exercise.

Conclusion

Individuals high in orthorexia symptomatology are internally driven to exercise for the purposes of improving their physical and mental health, but these strong motivations also lead to exercise addiction characterized by a compulsive need to follow a rigid schedule of intensive exercise even in the face of injury, illness, or other problems.

Level of evidence

Level V, descriptive cross-sectional study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Texas State University, 601 University Dr., San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Crystal D. Oberle, Ryan S. Watkins & Andrew J. Burkot

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  1. Crystal D. Oberle
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  2. Ryan S. Watkins
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Correspondence to Crystal D. Oberle.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the studies.

Additional information

This article is part of the topical collection on Orthorexia Nervosa.

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Oberle, C.D., Watkins, R.S. & Burkot, A.J. Orthorexic eating behaviors related to exercise addiction and internal motivations in a sample of university students. Eat Weight Disord 23, 67–74 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-017-0470-1

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