Most of us have heard of the eating disorder anorexia. Not as familiar is the term orthorexia, which is characterized by an obsession with proper nutrition, food quality and healthy eating. For someone fixated on "clean eating" avoidance of what they perceive as "unhealthy" food can result in the development of extreme, restrictive diets.
While orthorexia is not yet recognized as a clinical diagnosis, Dr. Rebecca Sokal and Dr. Yon Park say more research is needed. Sokal and Park are fourth year residents at the University of Maryland Sheppard Pratt Health System. They recently presented their findings on orthorexia at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. They join Lorraine Rapp and Linda Lowen to talk about orthorexia.
You can hear more on Take Care, WRVO's health and wellness show, Saturday at 6:30a.m. and Sunday at 6:30p.m.. Support for this story comes from the health foundation for Western and Central New York.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said Drs. Sokal and Park presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. Their findings were presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting. We apologize for the error.