The #orthorexia community on Instagram

Abstract

Purpose This mixed-methods study delved into the relationship between orthorexia nervosa (ON) and Instagram. Methods Two quantitative data sources were used: content analysis of pictures using #orthorexia (n = 3027), and an online questionnaire investigating the experience of ON and the use of Instagram of people sharing ON-related content on Instagram (n = 185). Following, interviews (n = 9) were conducted with people posting ON-related content on Instagram and self-identifying as having (had) ON. Results People who share ON-related content on Instagram were found to be primarily young women (questionnaire = 95.2% females, mean age 26.2 years; interviews = 100% females, mean age 28.4 years), who were found to be heavy social media users and favor Instagram over other platforms. Questionnaire respondents agreed in defining ON as an obsession with a diet considered healthy, with bio-psycho-social negative consequences, though those who self-identified as having (had) ON were more likely to point out the negative impairments of ON. Interviewees deemed Instagram partially responsible for the development of ON. Instead, they agreed that Instagram encourages problem realization. Content analysis showed that ON is encoded in pictures of ‘food’, ‘people’, ‘text’ and ‘other.’ Interviewees revealed that they started posting to recover, share information, help others, and they felt inspired to post by other accounts. A sense of belonging to the #orthorexia community emerged, where people share values and ideals, and seek validation from others. Conclusion Conversations around #orthorexia on Instagram generate supportive communities aiding recovery. Individuals use Instagram for helping others and themselves recovering from ON. Understanding how people help each other, manage their health, cope with symptoms, and undertake recovery can inform the implementation of therapeutic interventions for ON. Level of evidence Level III, evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies.

“Your struggles are valid, you are worthy of help and you deserve to recover”: narratives of recovery from orthorexia nervosa

“…However, as noted by Valente et al [ 24 ], research that engages with lived experiences can provide vital experiential knowledge to develop clinical understandings of and approaches to ON. Consistent with this, researchers have examined discussions of ON by analysing the hashtag ‘#Orthorexia’, finding that Instagram encourages problem realisation and a sense of belonging through this hashtag [ 25 ]. In an analysis of this hashtag, Santarossa et al [ 23 ] found that the ON Instagram community is a relatively small but supportive community which focuses on recovery and adopting healthier eating behaviours.…”

“…While some of these researchers have included recovery hashtags (i.e. #OrthorexiaRecovery) in their data collection strategies [ 24 , 25 ], internet-mediated research that specifically focuses on recovery is limited [ 10 ]. We address this gap in the literature, building upon the work of Valente et al [ 24 , 25 ] and Ross Arguedas [ 10 ] to examine narratives of recovery under the hashtag ‘#OrthorexiaRecovery’.…”

“…#OrthorexiaRecovery) in their data collection strategies [ 24 , 25 ], internet-mediated research that specifically focuses on recovery is limited [ 10 ]. We address this gap in the literature, building upon the work of Valente et al [ 24 , 25 ] and Ross Arguedas [ 10 ] to examine narratives of recovery under the hashtag ‘#OrthorexiaRecovery’. At the time of writing, there are over 121,000 Instagram posts with the hashtag ‘#OrthorexiaRecovery’, representing a previously untapped source of knowledge about recovery processes.…”

“…However, the relationship between social media and ON-as well as other eating disorders-is far more complex, with research showing that different types of engagement with social media, frequency of usage, and reasons for usage are important factors in eating disorder symptomology [21][22][23]. Importantly, social media can also provide valuable recovery spaces for people with ON [24][25][26]. For example, Valente et al [24] reported that while social media can fuel ON behaviours, the spaces afforded by social media can also be valuable stimuli for recovery, providing a counterculture to mainstream sociocultural ideals of health and beauty through the promotion of body positivity and intuitive eating.…”

Association of Social Media Use Disorder and Orthorexia Nervosa Among Lebanese University Students: The Indirect Effect of Loneliness and Factor Structure of the Social Media Use Disorder Short Form and the Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scales

“…It was shown that Instagram was associated with higher ON (Turner & Lefevre, 2017). People who shared content that indicated ON were more likely to heavily use social media; specifically, Instagram was shown to heavily promote ON (Valente et al, 2021). Instagram is a relatively new social media platform that was created in 2010 where users can publish updates in the form of photos (Hu et al, 2014).…”