Published Paper Details:

In recent decades, growing awareness about nutrition, fitness, and disease prevention has led to an increased emphasis on healthy eating practices. Social media platforms, wellness movements, and health-focused lifestyle trends have significantly influenced individuals' attitudes toward food and dietary habits. While adopting a balanced and nutritious diet is generally associated with improved physical and psychological well-being, an excessive and rigid preoccupation with consuming only foods perceived as healthy may lead to problematic eating patterns. One such emerging phenomenon in the field of eating behavior research is orthorexia nervosa, a term introduced by Steven Bratman to describe an unhealthy obsession with eating foods considered pure, natural, or healthy. Orthorexia nervosa is characterized by an intense fixation on the quality and purity of food rather than its quantity. Individuals displaying orthorexic tendencies often develop strict dietary rules, eliminate entire food groups perceived as unhealthy, and experience significant anxiety or guilt when these self-imposed dietary standards are violated. Over time, this rigid adherence to dietary ideals may lead to nutritional deficiencies, psychological distress, and social impairment, particularly when eating behaviors interfere with daily functioning or social interactions. Contemporary psychological perspectives suggest that orthorexic tendencies may be closely linked with dietary obsessions and rigid beliefs about health and nutrition. Individuals may develop strong cognitive beliefs that consuming only certain types of foods leads to moral superiority, improved self-control, or optimal health outcomes. These beliefs may gradually reinforce restrictive eating behaviors and contribute to obsessive patterns of food selection, meal preparation, and dietary monitoring. Furthermore, increasing exposure to health-related information through digital media and wellness culture may contribute to the internalization of unrealistic standards regarding "clean eating" and dietary purity. While healthy eating behaviors are widely encouraged, excessive preoccupation with food quality and health beliefs may paradoxically result in maladaptive patterns resembling eating disorder symptomatology. Despite growing research interest in orthorexia nervosa, the psychological mechanisms underlying orthorexic tendencies remain insufficiently explored. In particular, limited research has examined how dietary obsessions and beliefs about healthy eating contribute to the development and maintenance of orthorexic behaviors. Understanding these underlying cognitive and behavioral patterns is important for identifying individuals at risk and for informing prevention and intervention strategies. Therefore, the present study aims to examine orthorexic tendencies among individuals and explore their relationship with dietary obsessions and healthy eating beliefs, contributing to the expanding body of literature on emerging eating-related psychopathology.