Anthropological Perspectives on Eating Disorders: Deciphering Cultural Logics

Abstract

In the last three decades, anthropological analyses of eating disorders have peeled away layers of 'common sense' to reveal tacit and often contradictory forces that inhere in people's bodies, practices, and lives. From investigations of institutional practices to analyses of embodied experiences, anthropologists have developed insightful accounts of how local, shared worlds shape disordered eating, and of the grounding of disorder in social structures and relationships that tend to be obscured in clinical and popular interpretations. In this introductory essay, we offer a brief review of anthropological work on eating disorders, with particular emphasis on studies published in the last decade. Attending to person, structure, and bodily being-in-the-world, these anthropological studies reveal multiple cultural logics within which disordered eating practices are embedded. The deciphering of cultural logics forms the basis for this special issue, whose constituent papers interrogate recurring and ongoing eating disorders, with analyses that focus on relapse, ambivalence toward treatment, and the persistence of disordered eating practices. In their shared focus on long-term eating disorders, the papers offer anthropological responses to clinical questions about the low rates of treatment success. As such, the special issue conveys the potential for new productive collaborations between anthropology, policy, and clinical research and practice for the prevention of and effective intervention in eating disorders.

The cross-cultural and transdiagnostic nature of unwanted mental intrusions

“…Additionally, age differences among the samples, rather than cultural variables, could explain some of the observed differences. In any case, our results about the universality of UMIs agree with studies indicating that the disorders with which they are related, OCD, BDD, Hypochondriasis, and EDs, are present in almost every culture and social context, with only slight differences in their respective prevalence rates (i.e., Eli and Warin, 2018, Nedeljkovic et al, 2012). From this perspective, the data on EDs-related intrusions as the most frequently experienced across the different countries agree with perspectives of Anorexia Nervosa as a Western ‘culture-bound syndrome’ transportable to other cultures through a “westernization” process.…”

The impact of urbanization on risk for eating disorders

“…Within the larger context of mental health, eating disorders (EDs) are some of the most debilitating disorders due to significant impairment, prolonged and costly course of illness, and highest mortality rates [4]. While there is little doubt that individual biological and genetic factors contribute to the etiology of EDs, it is critical that these disorders also be situated within macro-scale cultural and political contexts [5]. As EDs are an area of public health concern with potentially tremendous impact from urbanization, it is essential that we identify factors that incur greatest risk.…”

Co-design of a supportive movement/dance program with Body Brave for individuals affected by eating disorders

“…Historically, the prevailing model explaining EDs was a biomedical one; however, since the 1990s, anthropological research suggests sociocultural factors are increasingly impactful. 5 While EDs were thought to be a predominantly Western cultural phenomenon related to concerns around body weight and image, case studies in other cultures explain how EDs are driven by broader societal factors. For example, co-investigator B's South Asian background likely shaped her ED experience.…”

“…Individuals with EDs may strive for a state of liminality-for example, existing between illness and wellness to survive oppressive familial, institutional, and social conditions. 5 Triggers in the environment such as food or social stimuli can prompt repetitive restrictive or binge eating practices. 5 Furthermore, environments where EDs are traditionally treated, such as hospitals and inpatient clinics, may perpetuate the illness by recreating the environment where the illness persisted.…”

“…5 Triggers in the environment such as food or social stimuli can prompt repetitive restrictive or binge eating practices. 5 Furthermore, environments where EDs are traditionally treated, such as hospitals and inpatient clinics, may perpetuate the illness by recreating the environment where the illness persisted. 8 Understanding the motivations behind EDs and the environments in which they persist would help develop interventions that attempt to break these social structures.…”