The following study was designed to identify the aspects of orthorexia nervosa in Korea and the relationship between orthorexia nervosa and fear of obesity to establish the basis for diagnosis of orthorexia nervosa.

We collected Dusseldorf Orthorexia Scale (DOS), perceived suspectibility and severity to obesity, fear of obesity, Korean Overall Body Esteem Scale (K-OBES), body mass index (BMI), subjective evaluation of obesity degree, body satisfaction, reason for diet and demographic characteristics from 321 adults and then analyzed the data using SPSS 23.0.

The results showed that perceived severity to obesity and subjective evaluation of obesity degree was negatively correlated with DOS and had significant effect on DOS. These findings suggest orthorexia nervosa is not behavior to prevent and manage obesity. Also, the relationship between DOS and demographic characteristics such as gender and age and psychological variable such as fear of obesity, body esteem and satisfaction was not significant.

Orthorexia nervsoa is an independent condition that distinguishes it from anorexia nervosa, which shows a fear of obesity, a disturbance in the way to experience their body and difference between sex. Last, the limitations and implication for future work are discussed.