22nd May 2023

Disordered eating is becoming an increasingly used phrase to describe eating and food-related behaviours. Although disordered eating and eating disorders share several commonalities, it is important to recognise that the two are not the same. 

It may be helpful to consider eating behaviours as existing on a spectrum – where on one end, we see healthy eating behaviours while on the other end, we see eating and feeding disorders. Somewhere in the middle, is where disordered eating sits.

While disordered eating can include behaviours or symptoms that we typically see in eating disorders, the term is typically used to describe behaviours that do not fully fit a diagnosed eating disorder. Instead, these behaviours may be of lesser frequency, or lower intensity, than what we would see in an eating disorder.

This in no way, means that disordered eating is less dangerous or risky – in fact, disordered eating behaviours are one of the most common signs or indicators in the development of an eating disorder – and if left unaddressed, they may therefore develop into an eating disorder. Because of this risk, its best to catch these behaviours early and explore what may be showing up and how we can best support the individual, to stop it from progressing to an eating disorder. 

So, what are disordered eating behaviours? 

Disordered eating may include behaviours such as: 

• Avoiding particular food groups or cutting out entire food groups without a medical reason.

• Engaging in compensatory behaviours such as exercising to make up for food intake or using diet pills or supplements to lose weight.

• Engaging in purging behaviours such as using laxatives or making yourself vomit to control your weight or shape.

• Following restrictive food rules or rituals such as cutting food into tiny pieces, only eating ‘clean foods’, eating meals very slowly or only eating ‘fat free’ foods.

• Skipping meals, fasting, or restricting food intake to control your weight or shape.

• Binge eating or eating more food that you feel you need or would expect to need in that period or day, sometimes to the point you feel sick.

• Feelings of shame, guilt, disgust, or anxiety before or after eating or around foods or meal times. 

• Avoiding eating around others or eating in secret. 

• Eating to manage or deal with difficult emotions or stress.

And what about eating disorders…

While disordered eating and eating disorders look very similar, there are some key differences to keep in mind:

• Intensity and frequency: the preoccupation and intensity of disordered eating behaviours is higher in eating disorders and they are a lot more frequent.

• Number of behaviours: We tend to see a higher number of different disordered eating behaviours present at the same time in eating disorders.

• Psychological distress: we often see a much higher degree of psychological distress (i.e., unpleasant emotions, symptoms or experiences such as feeling anxious, stressed and flat, or feeling like you’re struggling to manage your day-to-day) associated with the disordered eating behaviours in eating disorders.

• Medical concerns: we often see differences in physical health such as changes in blood results and blood pressure and changes in menstruation such as irregular periods or amenorrhea.

• It’s also really important to remember that disordered eating can lead to the development of an eating disorder.

So what is an eating disorder, you ask?

We define an eating disorder as changes in someone’s behaviour, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes to food, eating, weight or body shape, which interferes with and impacts negatively on their life and functioning (such as performance at school or work, or in their relationships with friends and family), and/or causes them significant distress (for example high levels of anxiety and feelings of guilt). You can read more about some of the different eating disorders here.

How to develop a healthier relationship with food

It is always possible to develop healthier relationships with food and with our bodies more broadly. While it can be challenging, there are many ways in which you can begin to improve your relationship with food.

1. Avoiding ‘diets’:

Dieting is often highly restrictive and can involve cutting out whole food groups, or even eating more generally and it typically come with many food rules such as labelling food as “good” or “bad”. These rules and restrictions can be really detrimental to your relationship with food and your body. Diets are often not sustainable and as such its easy get caught in a cycle of dieting. This cycle often results in reducing your awareness of your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues, it lowers your self-esteem and reinforces the idea that food or your body is the problem, not the diet. 

Dieting is one of the biggest risk factors for the development of eating disorders. Because of this, its really important that we eat in a flexible and variable way. Eating this way can help us to enjoy food without anxiety or guilt and allows us to develop  a healthier relationship with food. By eating this way, we can eat for pleasure or enjoyment while also tuning into what our body’s nutritional needs are, knowing that on different days, what it needs is also going to be different. 

2. Develop your own toolkit:

Often from when we’re very young we’re taught about the relationship between our mood and food. Sometimes the type or amount of food we feel we need can change depending on our mood, but food doesn’t have to be the only tool in our kit when we’re struggling with our mood. Its important to develop a range of coping strategies and tools you can use when you feel stressed, overwhelmed or are experiencing difficult emotions. Your toolkit may include mindfulness or meditation, hobbies you love, grounding yourself in nature or a favourite place, or talking with friends and loved ones. 

3. Practice mindful eating:

Mindful eating is about choosing to eat our meals with intention and attention. It means focusing on each and every mouthful, savouring the textures and flavours and appreciating the food we’re eating. By focusing on our bodily sensations through mindful eating, we can start to detect the body’s physical signs of both hunger and fullness. By practising mindful eating, over time we can start to increase our awareness of these cues and and reshape our relationship with food and eating and how we nourish our bodies.

4. Practice Intuitive Eating:

Once we have become more mindful, we may also start to be more ‘intuitive’ with our eating. Tuning into our hunger and fullness cues regularly, and feeling confident to make food and eating decisions based on our body’s preferences that day.  Some people may look back and realise they used too eat in this way, but have stopped since dieting or becoming more disordered and regimented or restrictive in their eating.

4. Practice body acceptance:

Body acceptance is about exploring why we may feel uncomfortable in our bodies in the moment and instead of fighting with our bodies, it’s about working through our feelings of discomfort in a compassionate and accepting way. This can often mean exploring the way our society has impacted or relationship with food and how it may have changed how we feel within ourselves and within our bodies. For some people, this type of work can lead to loving their body.

5. Practice body neutrality:

If the idea of body acceptance or love is too difficult, then body neutrality is another way of approaching our relationship with our bodies. Rather than focusing on positivity and acceptance, body neutrality is the idea that our body simply carries us through life, and we can accept and care for it without having to love or even like how it looks. Body neutrality is about focusing on the function of our bodies, and remembering that our body is never the most interesting, or important thing about us.

6. Reach out for help:

Seeking help from a professional such as your GP, or psychologist can be a big first step, but it can also be a great place to start working towards a better relationship with food and your body. 

Final Thoughts

Both disordered eating and eating disorders can lead to serious physical and mental health outcomes, however, help is available and recovery is possible for everyone. If this is something that feels relevant to you or a loved one or has made you think you might like to work on improving your relationship with food and your body, please reach out. Our lovely psychologists would be more than happy to help. Alternatively, you can make contact with your general practitioner to discuss treatment options

— Sabrina