Do you swear by kale, flax seeds, almond milk, avocado toast and green juices? Well, know that it could well be a concern for those around you, even if no one will openly say so. But still, it doesn't hurt anyone?! Well, according to a recent study, published in the journal Journal of Eating Disorders (The Review of Eating Disorders in VF), healthy eating and orthorexia are generally badly perceived and give a bad image of us. Damn then…
Until then, we knew from numerous studies that anorexia-type eating disorders were frowned upon and misunderstood by people. But what about the simple act of eating healthy? The researchers wanted to know and conducted the following experiment:they had volunteers read profiles of people and then asked them to give an opinion on these people and to say if they would like to know them. Results ? If a healthy diet was mentioned, the profiles were judged more harshly (but still less than those where an eating disorder was indicated), while those without mention of a particular diet received a generally positive opinion. In a second part of the study, they also realized that orthorexia was judged just as harshly as anorexia. The researchers hope that this study will shed light on the burden placed on people who wish to eat healthily and that this better understanding will facilitate their integration into society.
We live in a paradoxical time:eating healthy is quite easy these days thanks to the abundance of products available, and yet, it has never been so badly perceived...
