The term ‘Orthorexia’ was
first coined in 1997 by Dr. Steven Bratman. The combination of the Greek words
‘orthos’ meaning correct or right and ‘orexis’ meaning appetite gives the lose
definition of correct eating; prior to coining the term Bratman previously
referred to Orthorexia as “righteous eating”. Predominantly, the primary focus
is eating healthy food. In addition to healthy eating, it is purported that
orthorexics “obsess” over the quality of the food they eat more than the
quantity.
Not uncommon to many ‘diet
plans’, the orthorexic places high importance on large quantities of fruit and
vegetables in his eating plan, but often will fixate on eliminating what he
deems ‘bad’ foods; with some sufferers trying to completely eliminate fat,
sodium and carbohydrates from their diet. Dr Bratman affectionately refers to
orthorexics as ‘health food junkies’, unfortunately this rather tongue-in-cheek
term does little to relay the seriousness and potentially life-threatening
nature of the disorder.
In Dr Ingrid van Heerden’s
paper Orthorexia- a new eating disorder? Catalina
Zamora describes this disorder as a “pathological obsession for biologically
pure food”. The obsession in this disorder stems from the restrictive nature of
the person’s relationship with their food. What usually begins as a healthy diet progressively
becomes more and more restrictive as additional items are removed from the
diet; this deprivation of food items in the diet can have adverse effects on
the orthorexic.
Research was conducted at
the Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sepienza in 2004; of the 404 subjects in
the study, scientists concluded that 7% of them suffered with orthorexia.
Giving prudence to this research, Dr James Greenblatt in his work with eating
disorders has seen an estimated 15% increase in this (orthorexic) form of
behaviour among his young patients.
One of the major
complications with Orthorexia is that it is not really considered to be a
medical condition and as such does not have criteria for diagnosis. It is often
perceived to be another form of anorexia nervosa or possibly a sub-type of
obsessive-compulsive disorder; at the very least, some medical practitioners
are in agreement that the associated behaviour explains an important and
growing health phenomenon.
What
causes orthorexia nervosa?
“I eat things I don’t even
like because I feel like
I should only eat what my
body needs”.
(Hurt, M.: 2007)
The causes of Orthorexia are
somewhat difficult to pinpoint and isolate primarily due to the very limited
literature covering this topic. Researching literature on this topic, one is
quickly aware that the majority of information is based around the same
starting point, the literature of Dr Bratman. As the founding source,
subsequent to his writing, very little has been added to the body of knowledge;
a body of knowledge as emaciated as some of the Orthorexics it discusses.
The ‘fixation’ that is
manifest by the sufferers revolves around eating only healthy food. Orthorexia
is believed to begin as a relatively innocent plan to improve one’s general
health, an attempt to lose weight or in some cases to deal with chronic
illnesses. As a starting point, I would like to make mention of the three
causes of orthorexia as outlined by Emily Battaglia; she focuses her discussion
on the potential around genetic factors, stress and family dynamics, and a
desire to exercise control.
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