ORTOREXIA NERVOSA: ADAPTAÇÃO CULTURAL DO ORTO-15

Introduction: The cult of body in modern society, seen as a vector ofindividuality, places beauty and aesthetics as happiness and wealthfactors. With rigorous and unreachable established patterns,the number of people affected by food-related disorders andcollective subjectivity increases. Orthorexia nervosa, a relativelyrecent eating disorder first described in 1997, is characterizedby the obsession with what is normally seen as healthy food.Individuals affected by the disorder seek foods considered “pure”,spending time and effort in the pursuit of healthy food that isincompatible with everyday life and puts them away from socialrelations. Objective: This study was intended to translate andculturally adapt the Ortho-15 questionnaire, developed in 2005as a tool of perception of orthorexia. Methodology: Translation ofthe Ortho-15 from Italian to Portuguese followed by discussionand implementation of pilot testing with a focus group to enablethe questionnaire to be firstly used in a study with TechnicalNutrition students in Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil, andeventually in other studies. Results: Ortho-15 was adapted foruse in the target population. Conclusion: Translation and culturaladaptation of Ortho-15 is of great importance, since there areno published studies on the prevalence of orthorexia in Brazil.Further studies to determine the psychometric properties of the questionnaire are suggested. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/demetra.2014.8576