Review: "Eating Disorders Don't Discriminate" edited by Chukwuemeka Nwuba and Bailey Spinn

Eating Disorders Don't Discriminate edited by Chukwuemeka Nwuba and Bailey Spinn
Published February 2024 via Jessica Kingsley
★★★

Eating Disorders Don't Discriminate pulls together essays from various voices—leaning heavily towards content creators—about, well, eating disorders and some of the misconceptions about them.

As with any collection of essays, some feel stronger than others, and readers' mileage will vary. I found myself wishing that some of the authors of section introductions had been allotted space for full essays, as the introductions tended to be written by professionals in the field, while the essays tended to be written by people with platforms. (Including one of the editors, I counted 11 bios that included the number of followers a given writer has on social media. More than bit odd to me, but maybe something that will go over better with Gen Z?)

One thing that I found disappointing was the emphasis on anorexia over other eating disorders. The focus on anorexia is intentional:

Bailey and I think it's important to mention that there are noticeably more essays for anorexia nervosa. This is not to say that it's more important, or indeed, more common. As already mentioned, it isn't. Far from it. This is intentional, and due to the large amount of attention it receives, there are equally many misconceptions about it, and as a result a lot of dismantling via these stories that we felt needed to happen. (loc. 521*)

But it also seems really odd that this comment comes on the heels of acknowledging that anorexia gets a truly disproportionate amount of attention:

In the world of academia [...] anorexia nervosa assumes a disproportionately large amount of eating disorder research funding. [...] out of 190 studies of eating disorders, 72 (38%) were for anorexia nervosa [...]. This is despite anorexia nervosa making up only 8 per cent of all eating disorders. (loc. 263)

A quick count from the table of contents—4 essays on BED; 5 essays on bulimia; 11 essays on anorexia; 4 essays on ARFID; 3 essays on OSFED; and 2 essays on other ED-related topics. That's a total of 29 essays (plus introductions, interludes, etc.), which puts the proportion of essays about anorexia at...38 percent. Now, it's unusual that the book covers ARFID and OSFED in any detail, and I appreciate that—ARFID in particular is so rarely discussed. But 'there are misconceptions' is true for any of the disorders discussed in this book, and even if anorexia had been skipped altogether there still would have been material for this book plus a sequel plus a few more sequels talking about some of the un-talked-about aspects, and myths vs. reality, of eating disorders. I've read...okay, not everything out there, but a significant proportion of everything out there, on the topic, and I'm not convinced that there's anything so new in here as to claim that the emphasis should remain on anorexia. Very much reads to me as though anorexia is still the most acceptable eating disorder to write about.

It's an interesting book for the mix of topics, but I think the most valuable parts are the in the sections of the book that have been given the least space, such as when someone with atypical anorexia (all the symptoms of anorexia but a bigger body) asks How can I find comfort in a community that has the common fear of looking like me? How can I recover when people automatically assume that I have a binge eating disorder just by looking at me? (loc. 3112)—and in the in-between sections of the book by people who have the credentials to back up their expertise rather than claiming to be an 'expert by experience' (loc. 2029). I loved seeing the essays on ARFID and atypical anorexia in particular, because there's so little out there about them, but if you're looking for something outside the box this book is probably most useful for those few essays.

Thanks to the authors and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.