Vegetarianism: The Indicator of Orthorexia Nervosa?

Although the article, Vegetarian Students in Their First Year of College: Are They At Risk For Restrictive or Disordered Eating Behaviors?", was a tool to prove why vegetarianism in first year college students could lead to eating disorders or already experiencing eating disorders, I found two excellent paragraphs that gives a plethora of positive information on vegetarianism.  

"Vegetarianism is a broad term that can encompass a number of food avoidance and selection patterns, but is generally regarded as a healthy diet, high in nutritional value (Beardsworth and Keil, 1993). The increasing prevalence of vegetarianism among college students (especially among young women) may be linked to the transition into college: Experimentation with an unconventional lifestyle is common among young adults, and vegetarianism may be one way they can express themselves as individuals (NeumarkSztainer et al., 1997) and establish their independence (Santos & Booth, 1996).

According to Beardsworth and Keil (1993), an individual may decide to become a vegetarian for moral, spiritual, ecological, economical, health, and/or nutritional reasons. Gilbody et al. (1999) found that 67% of college students chose health as their reason for being vegetarian, while 25% chose weight control. In fact, several studies have suggested that dietary restraint and weight control are key reasons college students choose to eliminate items such as meat and other animal products from their diet (Gilbody et al., 1999; Janelle & Barr, 1995; Klopp, Heiss, & Smith, 2003; Perry, McGuire, NeumarkSztainer, & Story, 2001).Some researchers have concluded that vegetarianism can provide students with a socially acceptable means to avoid certain foods in order to control weight (Kadambari, Cowers, & Crisp, 1986; Klopp et al., 2003)."

The article can be read fully here.

However, I disagree with this article's thesis.  The samples that the article used were extremely small, and linking vegetarianism with eating disorders just pushes the envelope too far.  Just because the sample of vegetarians scored around 10% higher on the chances of anorexia, it still does not mean that vegetarianism is some sort of gateway drug to eating disorders.  Vegetarianism is a healthy alternative, not a futuristic, deadly catalyst.