Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Food, Eating, and ‘Eating Disorders’: Analysing Adolescents’ Discourse

  • Chapter
The Palgrave Handbook of Child Mental Health

Abstract

Female adolescents have long been identified as a group ‘at risk’ of developing an eating disorder (Fairburn & Harrison, 2003). Moreover, figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC, 2014) indicate that the number of hospital admissions for treatment of an eating disorder had risen by 8% in the preceding 12 months. In terms of girls who were admitted, the most common age was 15 (300 out of 2,320), whereas for boys, this was 13 (50 out of 240). Published statistics must be treated with caution, however. First, as these tend to be based on those receiving treatment, they provide only a partial account as many ‘cases’ remain unidentified. Second, as we shall argue, treating anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (and other so-called eating disorders such as ‘binge eating disorder’) as identifiable conditions is fraught with problems. Nevertheless, there appears to be a consensus that eating practices that are a cause for concern are on the rise, and that young people are particularly vulnerable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 239.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Andersen, A. (2002). Eating disorders in males. In C. Fairburn & K. Brownell (Eds.), Eating disorders and obesity: A comprehensive handbook (2nd edition) (pp. 188–192). New York: The Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aphramor, L., & Gingras, J. (2008). Sustaining imbalance — Evidence of neglect in the pursuit of nutritional health. In S. Riley, M. Burns, H. Frith, S. Wiggins, & P. Markula (Eds.), Critical bodies: Representations, identities and practices of weight and body management (pp. 155–174). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, C., Whisman, M., & Brownell, K. (2000). Studying intergenerational transmission of eating attitudes and behaviours: Methodological and conceptual questions. Health Psychology, 19(4), 376–381.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beat (2014). Eating disorder statistics. Retrieved June 4, 2014 from http://www.b-eat.co.uk/about-beat/media-centre/facts-and-figures/.

  • Bordo, S. (2003). Unbearable weight (10th anniversary edition). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boughtwood, D., & Halse, C. (2010). Other than obedient: Girls’ constructions of doctors and treatment regimes for anorexia nervosa. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 20, 83–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, M., & Gavey, N. (2004). ‘Healthy weight’ at what cost? ‘Bulimia’ and a discourse of weight control. Journal of Health Psychology, 9(4), 549–565.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, A. (1994). Critical realism: An introduction to Roy Bhaskar’s philosophy. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, E., Toray, T., Wang, M. C., & Valdez, N. N. (2008). Maternal effects on daughters’ eating pathology and body image. Eating Behaviors, 9(1), 52–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, R. (1980). Healthism and the medicalization of everyday life. International Journal of Health Services, 10(3), 365–388.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Day, K. (2010). ‘Pro-anorexia’ and ‘binge-drinking’: Conformity to damaging ideals or new, resistant femininities? Feminism & Psychology, 20(2), 242–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day, K., & Keys, T. (2008). Starving in cyberspace: A discourse analysis of pro-eating-disorder websites. Journal of Gender Studies, 17(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckermann, E. (1997). Foucault, embodiment and gendered subjectivities: The case of voluntary self-starvation. In A. Peterson & R. Bunton (Eds.), Foucault, health and medicine (pp. 151–169). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, B., & Colls, R. (2011). Doing more good than harm? The absent presence of children’s bodies in (anti-)obesity policy. In E. Rich, E. Monaghan, & L. Aphramor (Eds.), Debating obesity: Critical perspectives (pp. 115–138). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairburn, C. G., Cooper, Z., & Doll, H. A. (1999). Risk factors for anorexia nervosa: Three integrated case-control comparisons. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 468–476.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fairburn, C. G., Cooper, Z., & Shafran, R. (2003). Cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders: A ‘transdiagnostic’ theory and treatment. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 509–528.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fairburn, C. G., & Harrison, P. (2003). Eating disorders. The Lancet, 361(1), 407–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, L., & Birch, L. (2005). Maternal influences on daughters’ restrained eating behaviour. Health Psychology, 24(6), 548–554.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R. (2008). Body talk: Negotiating body image and masculinity. In S. Riley, M. Burns, H. Frith, S. Wiggins, & P. Markula (Eds.), Critical bodies: Representations, identities and practices of weight and body management (pp. 101–116). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gough, B., & McFadden, M. (2001). Critical social psychology: An introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grogan, S. (1999). Body image: Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women, and children. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groesz, L., Levine, M., & Murnen, S. (2002). The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction: A meta-analytic review. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 1–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guilfoyle, M. (2001). Problematizing psychotherapy: The discursive production of a bulimic. Culture & Psychology, 7(2), 151–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halse, C., Honey, A., & Boughtwood, D. (2007). The paradox of virtue: (Re)thinking deviance, anorexia and schooling. Gender and Education, 19(2), 219–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) (2014). Eating disorders: Hospital admissions up by 8 per cent in a year. Retrieved June 3, 2014 from http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/3880/Eating-disorders-Hospital-admissions-up-by-8-per-cent-in-a-year.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hepworth, J. (1999). The social construction of Anorexia Nervosa. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, C., Harris, G., & Leung, N. (2005). Parental rearing behaviours and eating disorders: The moderating role of core beliefs. Eating Behaviors, 6, 355–364.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, C., Leung, N., & Harris, G. (2007). Dysfunctional core beliefs in eating disorders: A review. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly, 21(2), 156–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokkonen, R. (2009). The fat child — a sign of ‘bad’ motherhood? An analysis of explanations for children’s fatness on a Finnish website. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 19(5), 336–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madden, H., & Chamberlain, K. (2004). Nutritional health messages in women’s magazines: A conflicted space for women readers. Journal of Health Psychology, 9(4), 583–597.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Magallares, A. (2013). Masculinity, drive for muscularity and eating concerns in men. Suma Psicológica, 20(1), 83–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maine, M., & Bunnell, D. (2008). How do the principles of the feminist, relational model apply to treatment of men with eating disorders and related issues? Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 16(2), 187–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malson, H. (1998). The thin woman: Feminism, post-structuralism, and the social psychology of Anorexia Nervosa. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Malson, H. (2009). Appearing to disappear: Postmodern femininities and self-starved subjectivities. In H. Malson & M. Burns (Eds.), Critical feminist approaches to eating dis/orders (pp. 135–145). Hove: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malson, H., & Burns, M. (2009). Re-theorising the slash of dis/order: An introduction to critical feminist approaches to eating dis/orders. In H. Malson & M. Burns (Eds.), Critical feminist approaches to eating dis/orders (pp. 1–6). Hove: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J., & Govender, K. (2011). ‘Making muscle junkies’: Investigating traditional masculine ideology, body image discrepancy, and the pursuit of muscularity in adolescent males. International Journal of Men’s Health, 10, 220–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, A. (2010). (Out)lawing motherhood: A theory and politic of maternal empowerment for the twenty-first century. Hecate, 36(1/2), 17–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piggin, J., & Lee, J. (2011). ‘Don’t mention obesity’: Contradictions and tensions in the UK Change4Life health promotion campaign. Journal of Health Psychology, 16, 1151–1164.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pike, K., & Rodin, J. (1991). Mothers, daughters and disordered eating. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100(2), 198–204.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Polivy, J., & Herman, C. P. (2002). Causes of eating disorders. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 187–213.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rich, E., & Evans, J. (2008). Learning to be healthy, dying to be thin: The representation of weight via body perfection codes in schools. In S. Riley, M. Burns, H. Frith, S. Wiggins, & P. Markula (Eds.), Critical bodies: Representations, identities and practices of weight and body management (pp. 60–76). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rich, E., Monaghan, L. F., & Aphramor, L. (2011). Introduction: Contesting obesity discourse and presenting an alternative. In E. Rich, L. Monaghan, & L. Aphramor (Eds.), Debating obesity: Critical perspectives (pp. 1–35). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, E. (1989). The challenge of social change for psychology: Globalization and psychology’s theory of the person. American Psychologist, 44(6), 914–921.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stice, E. (2002). Sociocultural influences on body image and eating disturbance. In C. Fairburn & K. Brownell (Eds.), Eating disorders and obesity: A comprehensive handbook (2nd edition) (pp. 103–107). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stice, E., Schupak-Neuberg, E., Shaw, H. E., & Stein, R. I. (1994). Relation of media exposure to eating disorder symptomology: An examination of mediating mechanisms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 836–840.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, H., Rose, K., & Cooper, M. (2005). Parental bonding and eating disorder symptoms in adolescents: The mediating role of core beliefs. Eating Behaviors, 6, 113–118.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ussher, J. M. (1989). The psychology of the female body. Taylor & Frances/Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkerdine, V. (1996). Working class women: Psychological and social aspects of survival. In S. Wilkinson (Ed.), Feminist social psychologies (pp. 145–164). Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, A., Ramsey, R., & Treasure, J. (2000). Attachment patterns in eating disorders: Past in the present. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 28, 370–376. Cited in Jones, C., Harris, G., & Leung, N. (2005) Parental rearing behaviours and eating disorders: The moderating role of core beliefs. Eating Behaviors, 6, 355–364.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weedon, C. (1987). Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman, C. V., Gray, J. J., Mosimann, J. E., & Ahrens, A. H. (1992). Cultural expectations of thinness in women: An update. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1), 85–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woolhouse, M., Day, K., Rickett, B., & Milnes, K. (2012). ‘Cos girls aren’t supposed to eat like pigs are they?’ Young women negotiating gendered discursive constructions of food and eating. Journal of Health Psychology, 17(1), 46–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Recommended reading

  • • Hepworth, J. (1999). The social construction of anorexia nervosa. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • • Malson, H. (1998). The thin woman: Feminism, post-structuralism, and the social psychology of anorexia nervosa. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • • Malson, H., & Burns, M. (2009). Critical feminist approaches to eating dis-orders. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • • Riley, S., Burns, M., Frith, H., Wiggins, S., & Markula, P. (2008). Critical bodies: Representations, identities and practices of weight and body management. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • • Saukko, P. (2008). The anorexic self: A personal, political analysis of diagnostic discourse. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Maxine Woolhouse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katy Day
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leicester, UK

    Michelle O’Reilly (Senior Lecturer) (Senior Lecturer)

  2. Indiana University, USA

    Jessica Nina Lester (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

Copyright information

© 2015 Maxine Woolhouse and Katy Day

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Woolhouse, M., Day, K. (2015). Food, Eating, and ‘Eating Disorders’: Analysing Adolescents’ Discourse. In: O’Reilly, M., Lester, J.N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Child Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137428318_23

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation