What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat

by Aubrey Gordon

orthorexia. The term, coined in 1998, refers to an obsessive focus on “healthy eating,” often marked by an increasingly specific and restrictive set of rules. Though orthorexia has yet to be codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, advocacy organizations and treatment centers have embraced it as a growing concern within the eating disorder community. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, symptoms include the following: Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels An increase in concern about the health of ingredients Cutting out an increasing number of food groups (all sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products) An inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods that are deemed “healthy” or “pure” Unusual interest in the health of what others are eating Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events Showing high levels of distress when “safe” or “healthy” foods aren’t available Obsessive following of food and “healthy lifestyle” blogs on Twitter and Instagram Body image concerns that may or may not be present