When eating healthy is not healthy.
Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is an alleged eating disorder in which the person is excessively preoccupied with healthy food.
First described by Bratman in 1997, ON entails a fixation on healthy food or a health food dependence [1]. The term orthorexia nervosa arises from the words orthos (=accurate) and orexis (=hunger) meaning obsession with healthy food and proper nutrition. Fears and worries about health, eating, and the quality of food are significant. In extreme cases, the obsessive and compulsive characteristics of ON become pathological and dominate a person’s life. The preoccupation with quality of food and eating healthy comprise the principal elements of this disorder. The pathological obsession with biologically pure food and shops which sell it leads to a special lifestyle. Stringent dietary restrictions and eating plans, combined with a personality and attitude of superiority and obsessive-phobic behavioral characteristics define the core of ON. Transgressing the dietary rules leads to intense anxiety, feelings of guilt and shame and is followed by even more stringent dietary restrictions [1,2]. At present, ON is not a formal disorder, but more and more clinical reports related to it have appeared as it becomes more and more familiar to health care professionals [3]. There is no consensus on the categorization of ON among mental disorders or even if it is a mental disorder. ON was debated on whether or not it should have a place in the recently published DSM-5 [4]. In sum, ON is a new and controversial concept.
exemples of criteria :
1. I consume only healthy foods.
2. I always eat according to my eating schedule.
3. Sexuality plays an important role in my life.
4. Being overweight is a sign of weakness.
5. I avoid food with specific colors.
6. I disapprove of people who cannot overcome their desires.
7. I think most people can be blamed for their own diseases.
8. I always eat the same meals.
9. I am critical of people who don’t follow the rules of a healthy lifestyle.
10. I spend a large amount of time preparing my meals.
- Bratman S: The health food eating disorder. [http://www.orthorexia.com/original-orthorexia-essay webcite]
-
Bratman S, Knight D: Health food junkies: overcoming the obsession with healthful eating. New York: Broadway Books; 2000.
-
Vandereycken W: Media hype, diagnostic fad or genuine disorder? Professionals’ opinions about night
eating syndrome, orthorexia, muscle dysmorphia, and emetophobia.
Eat Disord 2011, 19:145-155. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
-
Fairburn CH, Cooper Z: Eating disorders, DSM-5 and clinical reality.
Br J Psych 2011, 198:8-10. Publisher Full Text