Orthorexia nervosa research keeps growing, but themes barely shifted after 2022 consensus

Research on orthorexia nervosa has grown steadily over two decades, and a new bibliometric analysis shows that the field’s output continued to rise both before and after the 2022 international consensus statement on the condition, while the thematic structure of the literature remained largely continuous.

The study, published in Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, is a descriptive bibliometric and science mapping analysis. Its stated objective was to describe publication patterns and the intellectual and thematic structure of English-language orthorexia nervosa research indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection before, during, and after the 2022 international consensus statement.

A topic search conducted on 3 May 2026 identified 684 eligible articles and reviews published between 2007 and 2026. The researchers used Biblioshiny and bibliometrix, together with VOSviewer, to carry out performance analysis and science mapping across three periods: 2007 to 2021, 2022, and 2023 to 2026. Additional analyses compared period-normalized author-keyword frequencies and selected indicators with two excluded hybrid records restored.

The results show an annual growth rate of 20.76 percent, with 23.26 citations per document. The three periods contained 273, 109, and 302 publications respectively. When equal three-year windows were compared, the field produced 187 publications in 2019 to 2021 and 266 in 2023 to 2025, an increase in output across the consensus year.

Geographically, Türkiye, Italy, Poland, and the USA led the reported country ranking. Six thematic clusters were displayed per period in the science maps, indicating that the field’s intellectual organization could be described in comparable terms across all three windows.

The keyword analysis revealed differences in selected terms rather than a wholesale change in research focus. The proportion of author keywords for anxiety was 1.5 percent before 2022 and 2.0 percent afterward. Disordered eating appeared in 8.1 percent of keyword sets before 2022 and 8.6 percent afterward, while mindful eating rose from 0 percent to 3.3 percent. The authors note that these findings support differences in selected terms, rather than a general psychosocial shift in the literature.

The study’s conclusion is deliberately cautious. Publication activity increased before and after 2022, and the maps showed thematic continuity alongside differences in displayed labels. However, the authors state that these descriptive findings do not establish effects of the consensus statement or changes in clinical practice. A bibliometric analysis can document what has been published and how themes are connected, but it cannot attribute causation to a single document such as the consensus statement.

The level of evidence is listed as not applicable, reflecting the descriptive nature of the work. The authors identify clinical validation, longitudinal studies, and cross-cultural comparisons as remaining priorities for the field.

For researchers tracking the field, the analysis offers a quantitative baseline: nearly 700 indexed publications over twenty years, growth of roughly one fifth per year, and a thematic map that changed at its edges rather than at its core after the consensus. Whether future work will show the clinical and cross-cultural validation the authors call for remains an open question that bibliometrics alone cannot answer.

Subject of Research: Bibliometric and science mapping analysis of orthorexia nervosa research before and after the 2022 international consensus statement

Article Title: Mapping the evolution of orthorexia nervosa research before and after the 2022 international consensus: a bibliometric and science mapping analysis

Article References: Kavsara, H. K. (2026). Mapping the evolution of orthorexia nervosa research before and after the 2022 international consensus: a bibliometric and science mapping analysis. Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-026-01919-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s40519-026-01919-4

Keywords: orthorexia nervosa, bibliometrics, science mapping, Web of Science, research trends, eating disorders, 2022 consensus statement, VOSviewer, bibliometrix, publication trends, Mapping, evolution