Obsessed with healthy eating: A systematic review of observational studies assessing orthorexia nervosa in patients with diabetes mellitus

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Documents

  • Maria G Grammatikopoulou
  • Konstantinos Gkiouras
  • Georgia Polychronidou
  • Chrysi Kaparounaki
  • Kalliopi K Gkouskou
  • Magkos, Faidon
  • Lorenzo Maria Donini
  • Aristides G Eliopoulos
  • Dimitrios G Goulis

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an unspecified feeding or eating disorder (USFED) characterized by an exaggerated, unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. Typical eating disorders (EDs) and USFEDs are common among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), which complicates metabolic control and disease outcomes. The present systematic review summarizes the evidence on the prevalence of ON symptomatology among patients with DM. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and grey literature were searched, and relevant observational studies were screened using the Rayyan software. The quality of the studies was assessed using the appraisal tool for cross-sectional studies (AXIS) and the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS). Out of 4642 studies, 6 fulfilled the predefined criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. Most studies relied on the ORTO-15 or its adaptations to identify ON among patients with DM. No apparent sex or age differences exist regarding the prevalence of ON symptoms. None of the studies compared the prevalence of ON in patients with type 1 and type 2 DM. Most of the research was of average to good methodological quality. In conclusion, patients with DM often exhibit ON tendencies, although research is still limited regarding the etiology or mechanistic drivers behind ON and the characteristics of patients with a dual ON–DM diagnosis.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3823
JournalNutrients
Volume13
Issue number11
Number of pages14
ISSN2072-6643
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Nutrition of Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes.

    Research areas

  • Anorexia nervosa, Binge eating disorder, Bulimia nervosa, Diet, Disordered eating, Eating behavior, Eating disorders, Healthism, Metabolic control, Psychology, Purging

ID: 283735390