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

## TL;DR

This study found that social media use among pregnant women is linked to a higher tendency to develop orthorexia nervosa, a condition characterized by obsessive healthy eating.

## Contribution

The study identifies social media use as a novel predictor of orthorexia nervosa tendency in pregnant women.

## Key findings

- A very weak, negative, statistically significant relationship was found between social media use and orthorexia nervosa tendency.
- Social media use was a significant predictor of orthorexia nervosa tendency in pregnant women.
- Age, place of residence, BMI, and other factors also predicted orthorexia nervosa tendency.

## Abstract

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

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.

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.

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.