Objective: This study examined the effect of the placement of a warning text before visiting proanorexia websites on actual access of these websites.
Method: A separate webpage with a warning text aiming at first-time visitors was placed before each proanorexia website hosted by a Dutch Internet provider. During the research period of 1 year, the numbers of hits at the warning webpage were registered together with the numbers of hits at the underlying proanorexia website.
Results: Of the total number of hits registered at the warning webpage, about two-third of the visitors were registered at the underlying proanorexia website. This indicates that about one-third of the visitors did not continue their visit to a proanorexia website after being exposed to the warning text.
Discussion: Placement of a warning text before proanorexia websites appears a promising strategy in holding back potential visitors.