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The media plays a significant role in informing how the public perceives and understands eating disorders. However, certain elements commonly used within media discussions can reproduce harmful stereotypes about eating disorders and negatively impact those with lived or living experience.
Including detailed descriptions of eating disorder behaviours and specific numbers, weights, calories, or measurements can be triggering and lead consumers to compare their experience to those in the media. This can fuel eating disorder behaviours and the narrative of not being “sick enough.”
Describing the eating disorder as the person’s possession (e.g., “his eating disorder”) or using the eating to describe the person (e.g., anorexic, bulimic) frames the illness as the person’s identity, which can make recovery more difficult. When speaking broadly about people with eating disorders, it is usually less harmful to use person-first language (e.g., “person with anorexia,” “person living with binge eating disorder”), as this serves to humanize the person. Similarly, labeling weight loss/gain as “looking anorexic,” “looking bulimic” or so forth can be harmful since eating disorders have no “look.”
Using language implying that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice (e.g., “they chose to engage in certain behaviours”) fails to acknowledge the complexities of illness and how they develop. Furthermore, using language that praises eating disorder behaviours (e.g., admiring discipline, willpower, or self-control) can normalize or even encourage such behaviours. Such language also moralizes certain behaviours over others, which can reinforce stigma and shame.
When discussions surrounding eating disorders in the media are not held with certain considerations in mind, misconceptions about eating disorders and who they impact are perpetuated. When these misconceptions are not challenged, this can actively cause harm among people with eating disorders. For instance, focusing on physical symptoms and failing to acknowledge psychosocial aspects of living with an eating disorders, and implying that eating disorders are a “choice,” can frame the illness as an individual responsibility to manage and overcome. This reinforces stigma and shame, which can hinder someone seeking help and accessing (and receiving) treatment and support.
Pictures can be a powerful way to convey how eating disorders impact people’s lives. However, it is important to be mindful of the pictures you choose to put out in the media, as certain types of pictures risk perpetuating false stereotypes about who is impacted by eating disorders.
Elements to avoid:
Elements to consider:
Eating disorders are commonly depicted as affecting only young, white, middle-upper class women. However, portraying the diverse identities that eating disorders affect and capturing a wide range of experiences is important for improving public awareness and understanding.
Before interviewing someone about their experience with an eating disorder, it is important to be transparent and communicate to them about how you intend to use their story and any personal information they might provide. It can be helpful to let them know beforehand how long the interview will take, send them the questions you intend to ask in advance, and ask if there are any questions/topics that are off limits or that may be harder to discuss. Building rapport before interviewing someone can also help ease them into the interview. It is also helpful to ask them if they have strategies and supports available to them, and provide them with additional resources if needed or wanted.
During the interview, consider saving more complicated or potentially more distressing questions for later in the interview. Given the overemphasis on portraying physical eating disorder symptoms and behaviours, focusing on someone’s feelings offers a powerful narrative that allows us to conceptualize well-being as interrelated with social, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Give the individual the freedom to speak about their experience and allow them to direct where the interview goes - try to avoid assuming their situation, feelings, emotions, or behaviours. It is also important to respect the interviewee’s decisions and boundaries during the interview, such as deciding to skip a question, take a break, or stop the interview if they are uncomfortable or in distress.
ED recovery is often described as a complex, nonlinear, and individualized journey. While eating disorders are serious conditions, recovery is possible. Portraying the possibility of full recovery can convey hope and empower individuals to begin their own recovery journey. It is also important to not frame recovery solely through physical symptoms (e.g., weight restoration), as this neglects how eating disorders can also have severe impacts on someone’s mental, social, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. It can be helpful to provide resources that may support someone in recovery or who is thinking about starting recovery. Below are some resources that could be provided to consumers/readers:
Eating disorder experiences are deeply personal and impact people in different ways. One person’s story won’t be the same as someone else’s. Acknowledging the complexities of eating disorders rather than trying to simplify or reduce them can help dismantle notions that eating disorders are only about food and eating. It is important to honour lived and living experience, and to describe someone’s story from their perspective without making assumptions about their experience.
Being mindful of the language and images you choose to use can also hold powerful implications about how eating disorders are publicly perceived and understood. You may find the tipsheets linked below a helpful starting point.
Sharing your lived or living experience with an eating disorder can help reduce the stigma that exists surrounding eating disorders and mental illness. Showing that recovery is possible can also motivate others to begin their own eating disorder recovery journey and help deepen our understanding of how to support those in recovery.
To help support sharing your experience in a safe and empowering way for others, it is important to avoid discussing specific details or disordered behaviours, such as weight, calories, measurements, and time spent exercising. These details can be triggering and lead to comparisons, which may fuel eating disorder behaviours and the narrative of not being “sick enough.”
Unless you are a clinician or professional, giving medical advice should be avoided. Instead, it can be empowering to speak about your feelings and emotions, and portraying the possibility of eating disorder recovery.
Sharing personal stories with an eating disorder can be a source of empowerment and inspiration for others. However, sharing your experience with an eating disorder is a personal choice. Before making such a decision, it may be helpful to reflect on how sharing your story might impact your physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual wellbeing.
Remember that you are sharing YOUR experience, and so it is your right to decide how much of your personal experience you would like to share. It is also up to you to decide how your information will be delivered and shared. For instance, you have the right to know whether your story will be shared live, recorded, or posted online, and are entitled to request that your story not be recorded or broadcast. For additional tips on speaking about personal experiences, NIED has created a guideline that discusses sharing lived experiences in public settings.
Writing about personal experiences with an eating disorder can be equally empowering and inspiring. NEDIC’s blog accepts pieces related to eating disorder awareness, lived and living experience, perspectives of loved ones and professionals, recovery, and treatment. Follow
this link to review blog submission guidelines.
Given the scope of our role, NEDIC has a unique perspective and capacity to provide commentary on topics such as:
Due to the anonymous and confidential nature of our helpline services, we cannot provide patient comments. If we have the capacity, we'd be happy to help connect you with local community-based organizations for your specific request as needed.
We invite you to connect with us if you have any questions about what we can and cannot help with regarding media requests.
The media plays an important role in the conversation around Eating Disorders.
In collaboration for Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2023, NEDIC developed a resource of suggested guidelines to help encourage and support members of the media. This guide offers tips and suggestions on best practices in order to make this discussion as safe and effective as possible for everyone involved.
Other media guidelines that can help support the creation of responsible and effective media messages include those from Beat, NEDA, and EveryMind.
Eating disorders are often depicted in the media as only affecting thin, white, young middle-upper class women. However, eating disorders are complex conditions with biological, psychological, and social influences. Eating disorders can (and do) affect people of all body shapes and sizes, races and ethnicities, income levels, ages, genders, abilities, and more - there is no eating disorder “look.”
Another common portrayal of eating disorders is that eating disorders revolve solely around food and weight. For instance, the media often focuses on describing eating behaviours and including pictures of scales, measuring tapes, empty plates, etc.. The media also frames eating disorders as a choice and a “vanity” issue. However, eating disorders are also about coping with difficult emotions, traumatic or oppressive circumstances, feelings of self-worth, and coping. These preconceptions increase stigma and shame, which can discourage individuals from seeking (and receiving) treatment and support.
Diversifying representation in the media to include Black, Indigenous, and people of colour; people in fat and larger bodies; people with lower economic status (e.g., poverty, food insecurity); older individuals; men; transgender and gender nonconforming people; and people with disabilities can challenge stereotypical portrayals of who is (and can be) affected by eating disorders.
Including how eating disorders affect someone’s mental, social, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing can also extend discussions about eating disorders beyond just physical symptoms. It is important to look at how intersecting forms of oppression influence the development and experience of an eating disorder. Acknowledging and having discussions about these issues can challenge the preconceptions that eating disorders are lifestyle choices or a “vanity” issue.
It can be hard to escape the plethora of messages and content that the media puts out about our bodies. Media literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. To improve media literacy skills and become more critical media consumers, NEDIC’s media literacy page lists some practical tips and strategies to support your navigation of media content.