Zagaria A, Vacca M, Cerolini S, et al. - There is a lack of consensus about a clear definition of orthorexia nervosa (ON), which is defined as an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating, focusing on concerns regarding food quality and composition. Researchers herein sought to clarify if ON pertains to eating disorders (EDs) or obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) spectrum via performing a systematic review and meta-analysis addressing the magnitude of the association between these groups of symptoms.

• Searching PubMed, Medline, SCOPUS, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science, researchers identified 36 studies meeting the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis.

• As per findings, ON symptoms are more linked with EDs when compared with OCD.

• Although similarities exist, ON might be different from preexisting EDs and OCD as suggested by the non high magnitude of the pooled correlations.

• Hence, researchers suggest the possibility of treating ON as a stand-alone ED and its inclusion as an emerging syndrome in the DSM classification.