The human body has a complex meaning and role in everybody\u2019s life and experience. Body
image has two main components: body percept (the internal visual image of body shape and
size) and body concept (the level of satisfaction with one\u2019s body), whose specific alterations
may lead to different conditions, such as overestimation of one\u2019s own body dimensions,
negative feelings and thoughts towards the body, body avoidance and body checking behavior. Moreover, body dissatisfaction can be associated with a variety of other mental health
and psychosocial conditions, but only a few studies have explored the body image construct
in orthorexia nervosa (ON). ON is a condition characterized by concern and fixation about
healthy eating, with mixed results available in the literature about the presence of body image
disorders. The aim of this manuscript is to present the main findings from the literature about
the psychopathology of body image in ON. Summarizing, while theoretically the presence of
body image disturbances should help clinicians to differentiate ON from eating disorders,
further research is needed to confirm this finding. It is not clear whether the body image
disorder in ON depends on an altered body percept or body concept, and the relationship between the disordered eating behavior and body image disorder still needs to be disentangled.
Further studies regarding the relationship between ON and body image could be helpful to
better understand the relevance of body image as a transdiagnostic factor and its potential
value as target for treatment intervention