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Exercise and Eating Disorders: Raising the bar in the treatment of over-exercise in people with AN

Edited by: 
Professor Caroline Meyer, Warwick University
Professor Stephen Touyz, University of Sydney
Professor Phillipa Hay, Western Sydney University.

Exercise is the neglected “Cinderella” of eating disorder phenomenology but is an important determinant of outcomes and  its restriction in treatments often strongly resisted and poorly understood. There is a need for more research to improve understanding of its assessment  and treatment. This new series in Journal of Eating Disorders includes a collection of articles on all aspects of compulsive exercise in eating disorders  and especially those that address its management.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

  1. Physical activity is an important factor related to eating disorders, but the relationship between symptoms of eating disorders and physical activity is multifaceted. The aims of this study were to investigate...

    Authors: Ove Heradstveit, Eva Holmelid, Helene Klundby, Birgitte Søreide, Børge Sivertsen and Liv Sand
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2019 7:9
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  2. Dysfunctional thoughts- and use of physical activity (PA) are core symptoms of the eating disorders (ED) bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). The compulsive desire for PA complicates a favoura...

    Authors: Therese Fostervold Mathisen, Solfrid Bratland-Sanda, Jan H. Rosenvinge, Oddgeir Friborg, Gunn Pettersen, Kari Anne Vrabel and Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:43
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  3. Compulsive exercise has been recognized as a highly prevalent symptom in eating disorders (ED) for over 100 years and is associated with poor short-term and long-term treatment outcome. Progress in understandi...

    Authors: Nina Dittmer, Corinna Jacobi and Ulrich Voderholzer
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:42
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  4. The importance of physical activity and exercise among patients with eating disorders (EDs) is acknowledged among clinicians and researchers. The lack of clinical guidelines, the differing attitudes towards ex...

    Authors: Marit Danielsen, Øyvind Rø and Sigrid Bjørnelv
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:34
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  5. Patients with eating disorders (ED) often suffer from compulsive exercise behavior, which is associated with lower short-term response to treatment and poorer long-term outcome. Evidence-based interventions sp...

    Authors: Nina Dittmer, Ulrich Voderholzer, Mareike von der Mühlen, Michael Marwitz, Markus Fumi, Claudia Mönch, Katharina Alexandridis, Ulrich Cuntz, Corinna Jacobi and Sandra Schlegl
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:27
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. Compulsive exercise (CE) is a frequent symptom in patients with eating disorders (EDs). It includes, in addition to quantitatively excessive exercise behaviour, a driven aspect and specific motives of exercise...

    Authors: Sandra Schlegl, Nina Dittmer, Svenja Hoffmann and Ulrich Voderholzer
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:17
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  7. Excessive exercise is recognized as a predictor of poor outcome in eating disorders. However, little is known about how excessive exercise might affect the treatment process. The aim of this study was to descr...

    Authors: S. Bratland-Sanda and K. A. Vrabel
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:15
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  8. Compulsive exercise (CE) has been the neglected “Cinderella” among eating disorder (ED) symptoms, even though it seems to impact severity, treatment and outcome. This prompted a large-scale and systematic exam...

    Authors: Elin Monell, Johanna Levallius, Emma Forsén Mantilla and Andreas Birgegård
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:11
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. For people with anorexia nervosa (AN), compulsive exercise is characterized by extreme concerns about the perceived negative consequences of stopping/reducing exercise, dysregulation of affect, and inflexible ...

    Authors: Sarah Young, Stephen Touyz, Caroline Meyer, Jon Arcelus, Paul Rhodes, Sloane Madden, Kathleen Pike, Evelyn Attia, Ross D. Crosby and Phillipa Hay
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2018 6:2
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  11. Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers are known to be under social-, personal-, and employment-related pressure to be and appear physically fit, and to use dangerous dieting and weight control practices...

    Authors: Zali Yager, Tonia Gray, Christina Curry and Siân A. McLean
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2017 5:10
    Content type: Research article Published on: