Weak bones, strong obsessions: a controlled study on Orthorexia Nervosa, body image, and mood in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

UNLABELLED: Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis may show higher levels of orthorexic tendencies than healthy peers. These tendencies were associated with lower lumbar spine bone density but not with mood or body image measures. The findings suggest that maladaptive health-focused behaviors may be present in this population.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate orthorexic tendencies in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis compared to healthy controls and to investigate the associations between orthorexic tendencies, body appreciation, and mood-related symptoms.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 128 participants (64 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and 64 healthy controls). Femoral neck and L1-L4 T-scores and bone mineral density (BMD) values were obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements performed within the previous six months. Orthorexic tendencies were assessed using the Orthorexia Nervosa Scale-11 (ORTO-11), symptoms related to depression and anxiety were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and body satisfaction was assessed using the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS).

RESULTS

ORTO-11 scores were significantly lower in the osteoporotic group compared to healthy controls (p = 0.041), indicating more pronounced orthorexic tendencies. Although the prevalence of clinically significant orthorexic tendencies (ORTO-11 ≤ 27) was higher in the osteoporotic group (68.8%) than in controls (54.7%), this difference did not reach statistical significance. ORTO-11 scores showed positive correlations with lumbar spine T-scores (r = 0.202, p = 0.022) and BMD values (r = 0.210, p = 0.017), whereas no association was observed with femoral neck measurements. Orthorexic tendencies were not correlated with anxiety, depression, or body appreciation scores. In contrast, depressive and anxiety symptoms were negatively correlated with body appreciation.

CONCLUSION

Orthorexic tendencies may be more common in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. These findings suggest that maladaptive healthy eating behaviors may be present in this population.