Cautions About the Wellness Industry and Eating Disorders

When I saw that registered dietitian and author Christy Harrison was a keynote speaker at the upcoming 34th Annual Renfrew Center Conference, a training event for eating disorder professionals, I was inspired to explore how the principles of her work could be applied to adolescents with eating disorders. Christy Harrison, author of The Wellness Trap, published in April 2023 by Little, Brown Spark, offers valuable insights for families navigating eating disorders.

The wellness industry encompasses businesses offering services, products, and programs aimed at enhancing health, fitness, nutrition, appearance, and overall quality of life. While often well-intentioned, this industry is sometimes fueled by a mistrust of conventional medicine and a desire to explore alternative treatments. However, the messages promoted by the wellness industry can inadvertently contribute to the development of eating disorders and undermine recovery efforts.

Parents and children often hear from the wellness industry that they need to “watch their weight” out of concern for their health. The underlying message is that thinness is ideal, undermining the acceptance of each individual’s natural body type, regardless of size or shape. This message also dismisses the fact that people can be healthy in a variety of body types.

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A preference for thinness can lead to prioritizing thinness over health. Accepting an unhealthy body composition to be thinner can mean staying stuck in an unrecovered or partially recovered eating disorder.

While seeking improved health from wellness approaches, people may go down a rabbit hole of misinformation. This is especially harmful when dealing with eating disorders.

For example, unhelpful messages from the wellness industry are those that equate health with specific nutrition guidelines. Promoting rigid diets, endorsing strict food rules, and vilifying certain foods that are necessary for health can foster an unhealthy obsession with wellness, potentially leading to orthorexia—an excessive fixation on eating “healthy.” This encourages unbalanced, disordered eating and inhibits recovery.

Recovery strategies emphasize the importance of food diversity, recognizing that all foods can have a role when consumed in moderation. Incorporating a balanced range of foods is beneficial for recovery.

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Some individuals may obsessively track metrics to measure their efforts in pursuing wellness. This can include calorie counting or meticulously monitoring exercise statistics like steps, duration, and repetitions. Such behaviors can foster perfectionist thinking about health, exercise, and eating, increasing the risk of developing eating disorders and exercise compulsion.

When someone claims to eat healthily, I often ask what “healthy” means to them. It can sometimes reflect rigid eating habits and judgments that hinder recovery. For instance, recovery might be delayed by avoiding entire food groups due to vague beliefs about food allergies or sensitivities.

In some cases, there is no medical proof of an actual food allergy, and the food in question may not pose a real threat. Avoiding certain foods based on unverified intolerances can limit the acceptance of a broader range of foods necessary for recovery. Scientifically validated food allergy testing can help clarify these concerns.

Christy Harrison recommends consulting a medical allergist or gastrointestinal specialist and avoiding at-home food sensitivity tests and other unscientific methods. For digestive issues, she also advises considering that psychological factors, such as stress and anxiety, could be the cause rather than food. The wellness industry, driven by its underlying beliefs and assumptions, appears overly biased in attributing health problems to food.

When assessing the influence of the wellness industry on eating disorders, several red flags need to be recognized and addressed. First, accepting that being healthy equates to being thin is damaging. Second, it’s essential to question the belief that pursuing wellness and thinness is morally superior. Lastly, following strict or restrictive dietary guidelines based on unsubstantiated health concerns can lead to disordered eating and impede recovery.