Health Communication and Corpus Linguistics: Using Corpus Tools to Analyse Eating Disorder Discourse Online

Abstract

Public health authorities recognize behavior as an important determinant of health in the community. This idea is reflected mostly in modern discourse about the roles of smoking, diet, and sedentary lifestyle in the development of chronic disease, but the influence of behavior in transmitting infection (e.g., sexual or needle-sharing behavior) or causing injury (e.g., use of automobiles and firearms) is also well recognized. Researchers seek to identify effective techniques for changing people’s behavior to achieve reductions in chronic and infectious diseases, as well as in injuries. Public health assessments and interventions occur at the point of human contact, whether at