‘Beating your eating disorder can be the hardest and proudest thing you will ever achieve’
A critical discourse analysis of eating disorder recovery among athletes as presented in news media
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19560878 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Olivia Feng (0000-0001-6598-6278, McGill University, corresponding author), Megan Bokenfohr (McGill University), Lindsay R Duncan (0000-0002-2861-3349, McGill University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-15 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1939-8441 • E-ISSN: 1939-845X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/2159676x.2026.2692375 |
| OpenAlex | W7165679326 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
Within sport environments, athletes are exposed to norms that circulate limited discourses about the body and food, which contributes to the high prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) and hinders diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Discourses that challenge narrow sport-related discourses can expand perceptions of sporting success and athlete wellbeing, supporting ED recovery. In recent years, news media brought public attention to EDs in sport and a need for safe sport efforts. Since ED recovery often involves identity reconstruction, a process that can be facilitated within broader safe sport developments, this study examined dominant discourses surrounding ED recovery among athletes as presented in news media, and how such discourses frame identity. We used the NexisUni Academic database to collect news articles published from 1 January 2021 to 7 June 2022 and performed a critical discourse analysis of 80 articles. We identified an overarching journalistic discourse of ED recovery, where certain meanings of recovery centred around self-regulation and monitoring, while other meanings captured athletes’ expanding relationships with their bodies, food, and self. Underlying this discourse was four subject positions that encapsulated varying ways in which athletes were portrayed as ‘unrecoverable’ or recovered: the entrenched athlete, the quasi-recovered athlete, the empowered athlete, and the liberated human. Our findings reveal tensions in portrayals of whether and how embodied experiences of ED recovery can be achieved in sport. Since news media can influence systemic action towards addressing EDs, this study holds implications for how ED recovery is discussed in sport contexts
Athletes · Critical discourse analysis · Discourse analysis · Eating disorders · Embodied cognition · News media · Perception · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports · Obesity and Health Practices
Influence of Mass Media on Body Image and Eating Disordered Attitudes and Behaviors in Females
A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for children and adolescents
Qualitative methods in sport
What is and what is not positive body image? Conceptual foundations and construct definition
Newspaper media representations of athlete experiences with eating disorders
The media’s role in transmitting a cultural ideology and the effect on the general public
The normalisation of body regulation and monitoring practices in elite sport
Women, Exercise, and Eating Disorder Recovery
Normal Eating Is Counter‐Cultural
The eating disorder recovery assemblage
A shock of electricity just sort of goes through my body’
Recovering Uncertainty
Eating for Excellence
Listening to Athletes' Voices
Just Desserts? Exploring Constructions of Food in Women's Experiences of Bulimia
Examining Media Contestation of Masculinity and Head Trauma in the National Football League
| Highly cited | No |
|---|