Food perception in Orthorexia nervosa: Craving or avoidance?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Eating Disorders

Background:

• Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an eating disorder characterized by an excessive preoccupation with healthy eating.
• ON shares features with anorexia nervosa and addictive behaviors, prompting research into its underlying mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether orthorexia nervosa is primarily driven by a fear of unhealthy foods or a craving for healthy foods.
• To explore the attentional and motivational mechanisms underlying ON.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted: Study 1 involved an online survey assessing food preferences, consumption, ON symptoms, and eating disorder risk in 166 adults.
• Study 2 utilized questionnaires and a visual probe task with eye-tracking (for a subset) in 73 adults to examine responses to healthy and unhealthy food images.
• Data collected included liking, wanting, frequency of consumption, Düsseldorf Orthorexia Scale scores, BMI, hunger, and eating disorder risk.

Main Results:

• Individuals with higher levels of orthorexic tendencies demonstrated reduced sensitivity to food rewards.
• Attentional avoidance of unhealthy foods was observed in participants with pronounced orthorexic features.
• These findings suggest ON may be linked to a fear of unhealthy foods rather than a craving for healthy ones.

Conclusions:

• Orthorexia nervosa behaviors appear to be driven by a fear of unhealthy foods.
• Understanding the attentional and motivational mechanisms is crucial for addressing ON clinically.
• Further research is needed to fully elucidate these mechanisms and their implications for treatment.