Disordered eating broadly refers to a spectrum of problematic attitudes and behaviours ranging from clinical eating disorder symptoms to subclinical issues such as the rigid obsessions with "healthy" eating that are associated with orthorexia nervosa. University students already have high prevalence of disordered eating [1] but students in food-related courses such as Nutrition may be at greater risk [2]. It is currently unclear whether preexisting disordered eating behaviours might motivate students to study Nutrition, or alternatively if increased exposure to food-related content is associated with disordered eating symptoms. This study aims to investigate the bidirectional relationship between disordered eating and nutrition course content: (1) if students enrolled in Nutrition have greater existing disordered eating symptoms, and (2) whether exposure to Nutrition curriculum specifically increases disordered eating symptoms in Nutrition students. Part (1) used a correlational design with cross-sectional analysis and surveyed 330 Curtin University students at course entry (age [M = 19.9], 78.8% female, BMI [M = 22.4kg/m2], 12.4% previous eating disorder). Participants were categorised into one of six course groups according to content characteristics: Nutrition (N = 31), Mental Health (N = 145), Fitness (N = 20), Health Adjacent (N = 26), Aesthetic (N = 33) and Neutral (N = 75). The baseline survey consisted of demographic information and validated measures, including eating attitudes (EAT-26), orthorexia (TOS), depression (DASS-21), perfectionism (OBQ), perceived stress (PSS)Results demonstrated Nutrition students had significantly higher scores of eating disorder symptoms compared to all other courses at entry, although this became not significant after controlling for depression, perfectionism and stress in ANCOVA (p = .123 and ω² = .01). Orthorexia nervosa was significantly associated with course category after controlling for depression, perfectionism and stress in ANCOVA, with Nutrition students also having the highest orthorexia nervosa scores (p = .005 and ω² = .04). The findings support previous concerns that students with current disordered eating and particularly orthorexia are more likely to self-select into a Nutrition course. Nutrition educators should plan curriculum strategies for safe approaches and harm reduction in food, body and health-related content that are in line with the National Eating Disorders Collaboration Framework [3]. Part 2 longitudinal data will give a greater understanding of the bidirectional relationship to further inform the Nutrition curriculum and to support students' wellbeing and reduce the occurrence of disordered eating.
1. Alhaj, O.A., et al. Eating and Weight Disorders, Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 2022. 27(8): p. 3215-3243.
2. Budhiwianto, S., et al. Nutrients, 2023. 15(10): p. 2317.
3. National Eating Disorders Collaboration. 2024; Available from: https://nedc.com.au/national-strategy/workforce/tertiary-education.