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Orthorexia Nervosa: The Medicalization of Extreme Healthy Eating Practices

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Troubled Persons Industries

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the construction of the proposed eating disorder orthorexia nervosa (ON), the politics around its potential inclusion in the DSM, the polemic between desirable healthy eating versus pathological or deviant eating and market interests underpinning the identification of new eating disorders.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A DSM defined disorder characterised by distorted body image and excessive dieting that leads to severe weight loss with a pathological fear of becoming fat.

  2. 2.

    A DSM-defined disorder characterized by frequent episodes of binge eating followed by inappropriate behaviors such as self-induced vomiting to avoid weight gain.

  3. 3.

    A DSM defined as recurring episodes of eating significantly more food in a short period of time than most people would eat under similar circumstances, with episodes marked by feelings of lack of control (APA, 2020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Westminster, London, UK

    Alison Fixsen & Anna Cheshire

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  1. Alison Fixsen
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  2. Anna Cheshire
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Correspondence to Alison Fixsen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany

    Martin Harbusch

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Fixsen, A., Cheshire, A. (2022). Orthorexia Nervosa: The Medicalization of Extreme Healthy Eating Practices. In: Harbusch, M. (eds) Troubled Persons Industries. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83745-7_7

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