Disordered eating outside the sport setting : Contextualizing representations of orthorexia nervosa in Swedish daily newspapers

• In the late 1990s, Bratman coined the term orthorexia nervosa to mean an unhealthy obsession of only eating healthy foods (Bratman & Knight, 2000). The research is limited and orthorexia has rarely been researched in sport settings (e.g. Eriksson et al., 2008; Segura-García et al., 2012). At this stage, this concept is considered under establishment and negotiation – a process of formation where it is not clear what orthorexia is. How orthorexia is contextualized and represented influences the establishment and understanding of the condition and concept. The aim of this study is to analyze representations of orthorexia in articles printed in Swedish newspapers, with a special view on how the articles refer to sport as a social setting. Notions of healthy and disordered eating are influenced by cultural ideas in society. The language is central in this process as it creates and organizes beliefs about social reality. Perceptions and knowledge about orthorexia are created through, for example, newspaper texts. The material included in this study was limited to national, regional and local Swedish daily newspaper articles published between January 2004 and June 2011. A total of 102 articles were included as they explicitly dealt with orthorexia. The articles were analyzed using a discourse analytical approach through a qualitative content analysis. The articles represented orthorexia in different ways: a) (un)controlled and obsessive patterns of behavior; b) sacrificing social situations; c) an eating disorder in new clothes; d) a painful existence; and e) an invisible problem. Within the last category, the way orthorexia is represented in relation to sport points to how different norms and values apply in and outside this setting. Orthorexia is only considered as disordered eating in non-sport settings. In sport, orthorexic behaviours are considered standard practice. These findings thus further problematize disordered eating in and outside sport settings.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Idrottsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Sport and Fitness Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Daily newspapers

Disordered eating

Orthorexia nervosa

Sport

Sport and Fitness Sciences

Idrottsvetenskap

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)