I Will Not Eat! A Review of the Online Pro-Ana Movement

Eating disorders are a persistent concern in the psychiatric community given their often elusive causes and high mortality rates (Crow et al., 2009; Polivy & Herman, 2002); In a longitudinal assessment (years 1979-1997) by Crow et al. (2009), mortality rates were 4.0% for anorexia nervosa and 3.9% for bulimia nervosa. Pro-eating disorder websites have been studied in recent years for their impact on body image and eating disorder pathology among viewers. This paper is a review of current literature about pro-eating disorder websites, which provide nutritional information, images of thinspiration (a portmanteau of the words thin and inspiration), and message boards for social interaction, all with the goal of promoting eating disorders. The content and emerging themes of pro-eating disorder websites are discussed in this paper order to understand the context of the interaction between website and viewer. Next, the social interaction that takes place on these sites is examined in order to understand the nature of social support and social exclusion existing on these sites. Finally, studies that have investigated the effects of pro-eating disorder viewership on affect, body image, and eating behavior are discussed.