Weighing in: qualitative explorations of weight restoration as recovery in anorexia nervosa

Abstract

Background: Anorexia Nervosa (AN) continues to capture the public’s imagination, centered around physical appearance, particularly weight. Clinical conceptions of AN also emphasize weight. The objective of this study was to explore how individuals with lived AN experience thought about the role of weight in illness and recovery. Methods: The current study employed a grounded theory approach through qualitative inductive inquiry and analysis of 150 anonymous narratives, exploring firsthand experience of AN and recovery of adult individuals, based in the United States of America. Results: Individuals with AN histories contested intersecting popular cultural and medical presumptions of their health and illness positioned in weight. Respondents indicated that while weight does not measure recovery, it matters to recovery in unanticipated ways. Others’ expectations for a low weight served as a gatekeeper to various forms of social and institutional support. Respondents felt that the weight obsessions of other people made it difficult to earn the illness legitimacy to access sufficient care. Conclusions: Research findings bear implications for future AN research, advocacy, and clinical practice, as respondents pivot research emphasis from weight as a sociocultural motivation for AN, to weight as a sociocultural obstacle to AN recovery.