Moralised Eating and Identity Work in Digital Wellness Culture
A Critical Discourse Analysis of Orthorexia-Related Narratives
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23309338 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Omer Horovitz (0000-0003-2094-7448, Tel Hai Academic College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture Medicine and Psychiatry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0165-005X • E-ISSN: 1573-076X |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11013-026-10011-6 |
| PMID | 42509390 |
| OpenAlex | W7171445418 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 34 |
Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is increasingly understood as a morally saturated health orientation in which dietary restraint is organised through ideals of purity, discipline, and self-worth. Building on social theory that treats health as a cultural project and a site of identity governance, this study theorises ON as moral identity work enacted and contested in digital environments. Using a large-scale qualitative design integrating thematic corpus mapping and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), 1,100 texts from Reddit, YouTube, and blogs (2020–2025) were analysed; an intensified CDA subset (n=80) traced how key meanings were rhetorically accomplished. Across platforms, moralised purity/contamination vocabularies and identity-relevant self-positioning were common but genre-sensitive. In the CDA subset, a recurring configuration framed restrictive eating as (a) morally evaluative, (b) identity-defining and non-negotiable, and (c) defended via boundary work and resistance to pathologisation; recovery narratives more often disrupted these binaries and decoupled selfhood from dietary purity. Extending existing accounts that document morality narratives around ON, the analysis specifies the discursive mechanisms and genre- and platform-sensitive configurations through which moralisation becomes identity-defensive and resistant to critique. These findings clarify the discursive mechanisms through which ON becomes intelligible and defensible within digital wellness culture, with implications for prevention and care focused on moralised self-concept and digitally reinforced rigidity.
Critical discourse analysis · Discourse analysis · Identity (music) · Morality · Narrative · Qualitative research · Resistance (ecology) · Thematic analysis · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Obesity and Health Practices
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Ethical issues in qualitative research on internet communities
On orthorexia nervosa
Material Environments and the Shaping of Anorexic Embodiment
Psychosocial effects of social media and nutrition information
The fantasy of healthy food
M-health and health promotion
The digitally engaged patient
Purity as power
Orthorexia
Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis
What are the key features of orthorexia nervosa and influences on its development? A qualitative investigation
Normalizing ideological food choice and eating practices. Identity work in online discussions on veganism
Using thematic analysis in psychology
The self-importance of moral identity
Healthism and the Medicalization of Everyday Life
Healthy anorexia
The Social Construction of a Concept-Orthorexia Nervosa
| Highly cited | No |
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