ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1572654
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Socio-Cultural Factors in Human Nutrition: The Importance of Multidimensional Approaches.View all 8 articles
Lack of association between food insecurity, eating disorders, and orthorexia nervosa: Findings from a cross-sectional study in Lebanon
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institut National de Santé Publique, d’Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie (INSPECT-LB), Beirut, Lebanon
- 2Other, Beirut, Lebanon
- 3Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon
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Abstract Objectives: To investigate the association between food insecurity (FI), eating disorders (EDs), and orthorexia nervosa (ON) among Lebanese university students. Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted between 2021 and 2022, enrolled 197 students, from various majors, via snowball sampling. Data were collected on Google Forms via social media platforms. Results: Most participants (59.4%) declared being food-insecure, without financial support (67.0%), nor financial independence (68.5%). Most did not show any ED (81.7%) or a risk of ON (79.7%). Reported EDs were bulimia-nervosa (6.1%) and anorexia-nervosa (6.1%); 4.1% had a high risk of ON. No significant associations were found between declared FI, ED, and the risk of ON. Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet (ORa=1.31) and higher perceived stress (ORa=1.14) were significantly associated with EDs. Higher exercise addiction scores (ORa=1.25) and higher insomnia levels (ORa=1.26) were significantly associated with the risk of ON. Being employed (ORa=0.17) and skipping meals (ORa=0.20) were inversely associated with declared ON. Conclusions: FI and EDs were not associated among university students in Lebanon. Research into underlying mechanisms and cultural aspects is crucial to clarifying these associations.
Keywords: Food insecurity, Eating Disorder, Orthorexia nervosa, university student, Lebanon
Received: 07 Feb 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sacre, Haddad, Rizk, Karam and Salameh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Rana Rizk, Other, Beirut, Lebanon
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