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dc.contributor.authorGreville-Harris, M
dc.contributor.authorSmithson, J
dc.contributor.authorKarl, A
dc.date.accessioned2020-01-22T09:12:31Z
dc.date.issued2019-11-13
dc.description.abstractPurpose: Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is a proposed new eating disorder, used to describe a pathological obsession with healthy or ‘clean’ eating. Although some quantitative research has been carried out in ON, very little qualitative work has been published to date to explore individual experiences of ON. Thus, this study aimed to explore individuals’ personal experiences of ON, as described in online blogs. Methods: Fifteen women bloggers, who self-identified as having ON, consented for their blog entries to be analysed in this study. Forty pre-existing blog entries describing the first-person experiences of ON were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three key themes were discussed: (1) initial motivations for a healthier lifestyle, (2) fuelling the problem—social influences, and: (3) when healthy becomes unhealthy. Bloggers described the role of social messages, comparison with others around ideas of ‘healthiness’, as well as confusion around diagnosis as factors influencing their disordered eating. They also described the exacerbating impact of perfectionism and perceived control, as well as a confirmatory cycle of fear and avoidance. For some bloggers, increased physical symptoms in response to feared foods provided confirmation for these fears, further exacerbating food avoidance. Conclusion: Whilst the debate around the diagnosis of ON continues, these bloggers’ accounts suggest that ON is experienced as a legitimate, debilitating disorder, worthy of clinical and research investigation. This study provides evidence of some of the potential triggers and maintaining factors for this disordered eating style. Level of evidence: Level V, qualitative descriptive study.en_GB
dc.identifier.citationPublished online 13 November 2019en_GB
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s40519-019-00809-2
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10871/40530
dc.language.isoenen_GB
dc.publisherSpringer Verlagen_GB
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.en_GB
dc.subjectOrthorexia nervosaen_GB
dc.subjectClean eatingen_GB
dc.subjectEating disorderen_GB
dc.subjectQualitative researchen_GB
dc.subjectThematic analysisen_GB
dc.subjectBlogsen_GB
dc.titleWhat are people’s experiences of orthorexia nervosa? A qualitative study of online blogsen_GB
dc.typeArticleen_GB
dc.date.available2020-01-22T09:12:31Z
dc.identifier.issn1124-4909
dc.descriptionThis is the final version. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.en_GB
dc.identifier.journalEating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesityen_GB
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_GB
dcterms.dateAccepted2019-10-24
rioxxterms.versionVoRen_GB
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate2019-10-24
rioxxterms.typeJournal Article/Reviewen_GB
refterms.dateFCD2020-01-22T09:08:23Z
refterms.versionFCDVoR
refterms.dateFOA2020-01-22T09:12:38Z
refterms.panelAen_GB


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© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.