Pro-eating disorder (pro-ed) content is content created with the intention to promote eating disorders as a positive ailment

Pro-ED Content: What is it?

 • Study investigated anorexia related misinformation on YouTube 

 • 140 videos of 11 hours content reviewed by three doctors who classified the videos as informative, pro-anorexia, or others

 • 40 most viewed videos (20 informative and 20 pro-anorexia videos) were studied to measure viewer behavior.


Goal and Methods of anorexia related misinformation on YouTube study


Pro-ED content initially emerged in the late 1990s/early 2000s, gaining prevalence with the creation of online blogs. Pro-ED content soon found its way to social media sites (Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok), where it is most commonly found today.

Pro-ED Content Emergence

Exposure to Pro-ED content has a high potential to negatively impact its viewer, but is at an increased risk of harming the following groups:
* Adolescents, especially teenage girls
* Women
* Those with eating disorders
* Those in recovery from an eating disorder, as the content could trigger a relapse

Risks of Pro-ED Content

Pro-Ed content and diet culture are the same at a fundamental level. They both encourage people to decrease their caloric intake and exercise more in order to achieve their core goal of thinness. However, pro-ed content is far more extreme. While some diets encourage diets to only intake the caloric equivalent of their basic metabolic rate or BMS (the amount of calories burned through existing in a day) and frequently exercise, pro-ed content encourages viewers to eat hundreds less than this amount and exercise to excess. Therefore, it could be said that pro-ed content is the extremest progression of dieting.

Pro-Ed Content v. Diet Culture

Bond E. Virtually anorexic — Where's the harm? A research study on the risks of pro-anorexia websites. Children's Media Foundation. 2012. Nov 28, [2021-06-29]. https://www.thechildrensmediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Bond-2012-Research-on-pro-anorexia-websites.pdf.

Branley, D. B., & Covey, J. (2017). Pro-ana versus Pro-recovery: A Content Analytic Comparison of Social Media Users' Communication about Eating Disorders on Twitter and Tumblr. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1356. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01356

Sukunesan, S., Huynh, M., & Sharp, G. (2021). Examining the Pro-Eating Disorders Community on Twitter Via the Hashtag #proana: Statistical Modeling Approach. JMIR mental health, 8(7), e24340. https://doi.org/10.2196/24340

Pro-ED Academic References

* Pro-ED: Pro-Eating Disorder
* Proana: Pro-Anorexia
* Promia: Pro-Bulimia
* Thinspo/Thinsporation: images of thin (and sometimes unhealthily thin) bodies intended to be used as aspirational imagery by those with eating disorders
* Fitspo/Fitsporation: images of in-shape "fit" bodies intended to be used as aspirational imagery by those with eating disorders

Pro-Ed Terms

* Definition
* Terms
* Emergence
* Risks
* Similarities with and differences from diet culture

Grinnell College

As the term indicates, health misinformation is misinformation related to health. Themes might be viruses, food safety, nutrition and vaccinations (Bode & Vraga, 2018; Chen et al., 2018; Lazer et al., 2018; Lewandowsky et al., 2012; Oh & Lee, 2019). These  misinformation can negatively affect people’s health behaviors (Chou et al., 2018; Oh & Lee, 2019). 

Health misinformation

Feeding and Eating Disorders are characterized by persistent changes to eating or eating-related behaviors that result in altered consumption or absorption of food, significantly impairing an individual’s physical health and/or psychosocial functioning. 

Feeding and Eating Disorders

Media sources and social relationships that uphold the ideal body standard can have a profound impact on disordered eating behaviors, which can then lead to eating disorders.

Social Influence on Eating Disorders

“(a) examine how factors such as anxiety about health-related issues, preexisting beliefs, and repeated exposure to health misinformation may contribute to the acceptance of the unverified information on social media, and (b), to explore
demographic differences (e.g., sex, age, education level, and social-economic status) in health misinformation acceptance”


Goals of a study by Pan, Liu & Fang (2021) about health misinformation acceptance

- Don’t repeat wrong information because of the repition-based truth-effect.
- Institutions should work to increase people’s trust in them to reduce health-related anxiety.
- Active inoculating and prebunking.
- Repeated warnings.
- Improve people’s health literacy.


Pan, Liu and Fang's (2021) recommendations on how to fight the spread of health misinformation

One recent event that led to a surge of health misinformation was the COVID-19 Pandemic. Misinformation spreading had dangerous consequences, such as causing people to overreact (trying ineffective treatments, hoarding goods) or underreact (neglect public-safety measures, unintentionally spread the virus). 

Misinformation and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Misinformation/disinformation about vaccines that can affect vaccine confidence and vaccination rates.

Vaccine Misinformation

• Previous studies show group relations and shared belief systems often correlate with vulnerability to misinformation.

• Study looks at the correlation between misperception and group affiliations, media exposure, and lived experiences.

•Focuses on the role of racial/ethnic,  religious, and partisan group affiliations relate to misperceptions people held about COVID-19



Group level misperceptions about COVID-19


 • The article addresses how the social, economic, and political contexts people live in affect how they receive information from officials and interpret and act on that information


COVID-19 health information and misinformation in the context of growing inequalities in Lebanon 


Correcting health misinformation has been found to be more effective than corrections related to political information. Ingroup protective behavior, confirmation bias, and motivated reasoning could contribute to the greater difficulty in correcting political misinformation. 

Health Misinformation Corrections

Pro-Eating Disorder Content

This list includes disorders or conditions that are related to feeding or eating but are not currently directly or officially included in the DSM. These disorders include:
-	TBD


List of Other Recognized Feeding and Eating Disorders

This list includes different types of methods for treating and/or managing different feeding and eating disorders. These include, but are not limited to the following:
-	Mindfulness for Patients with Eating Disorders
-	Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy vs. Behavioral Weight Loss (BWL) as Treatment for Binge-Eating Disorder
-	Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Binge Eating Disorders
-	Dialectical Behavior Therapy for treating Bulimia Nervosa
-	Dialectical Behavior Therapy for treating Anorexia Nervosa
-	Subjective Experiences of Eating Disorder Treatments
-	Pharmacological Treatment for Binge Eating Disorders
-	Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E) for Eating Disorders
-	Family-Based Treatment of Eating Disorders in Adolescents

Treatment & Management Methods for Feeding and Eating Disorders

This list includes different theories or concepts that are used to explain, define, or otherwise provide further insight into the workings of feeding and eating disorders. These include:
-	Current Scales to Measure Eating Disorder Symptoms
-	Eating Disorder Health Outcomes
-	Eating Disorder Relapse
-	Nine Truths About Eating Disorders


Theories & Concepts Relevant to Feeding and Eating Disorders

Citations for research on eating disorders

References for Feeding and Eating Disorders

This includes the intersection of connections and/or research related to feeding and eating disorders as a general category in other fields of study and research. Such fields include:
-	Behavioral Neuroscience
-	Biomedical Science
-	Clinical Psychology
-	Disability Studies
-	Health Psychology
-	Mindfulness

Note: Add subjects as needed


Interdisciplinary Connections & Research Related to Feeding and Eating Disorders, General

The DSM-5-TR separates Feeding and Eating disorders into the following specific disorders:
-	Pica
-	Rumination Disorder
-	Avoidant / Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
-	Anorexia Nervosa
-	Bulimia Nervosa
-	Binge-Eating Disorder
-	Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder
-	Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder


[DSM-5-TR] List of Feeding and Eating Disorders

Citations for research on social influences on eating disorders

References for the influence of social pressures on eating disorders

Peer relationships can influence adolescent girls’ perceptions of themselves and their bodies, potentially leading to the development of disordered patterns of eating, or even diagnosable eating disorders. 

Influence of Peer Relations on Adolescent Girls

Exposure to media can play a crucial role in the development of eating disorders in children and adolescents. Media can impact the perception of one’s weight, shape, size, and body image, which can lead to disordered eating behaviors and even eating disorders.

Media Influence on Eating Disorders in Young People

Pro-anorexia (shortened to pro-ana) and pro-bulimia (shortened to pro-mia) are terms that refer to content, typically online, that promote anorexia and bulimia. These types of content encourage harmful behaviors such as restricting and purging, and also deny the diagnosis of eating disorders. 

Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia

Athletes may be at a higher risk of developing eating disorders due to the relationship between athletic performance and nutrition/exercise. The culture around food intake and training in sports can cause disordered thoughts and behaviors around food, weight, and shape.

Eating Disorders in Athletes

Reference for Maltreated Ecophenotype

Maltreated ecophenotype is the genetic predisposition to develop eating disorders that are significantly induced by experiencing childhood maltreatment.

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