Effect of social media use on the orthorexia nervosa tendency among pregnant women

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the effects of social media use in pregnant women on orthorexia nervosa (ON) tendency.

Methods: The descriptive study was carried out between June 10 and September 30, 2022 with 200 pregnant women admitted to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic. The researchers’ Information Form, the Healthy Eating Obsession Scale (ORTO-11), and the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS) were used to collect data.

Results: The mean ORTO-11 scale score of pregnant women was 29.18 ± 4.52 and the mean SMUIS scale score was 29.37 ± 10.02. A very weak, negative, statistically significant relationship was found between the mean score of the pregnant women from the SMUIS scale and the mean score from the ORTO-11 scale (p<0.05). According to multiple linear hierarchical regression analysis, age (β=-0.183; p<0.05), place of residence (β=0.181; p<0.05), intended pregnancy (β=0.140; p<0.05), paying attention to the food intake (β=0.139; p<0.05), BMI (β=0.151; p<0.05) and, SMUIS (β=0.829; p<0.05) were significant predictors of the ON tendency in pregnant women.

Conclusion: In our study, it was found that the use of social media by pregnant women increased their tendency to develop orthorexia nervosa. These findings are important in terms of interventions for the detection, prevention, and treatment of orthorexia nervosa during pregnancy.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.6.12008

How to cite this: Calpbinici P. Effect of social media use on the orthorexia nervosa tendency among pregnant women. Pak J Med Sci. 2025;41(6):1755-1762. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.6.12008

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