The Link Between Social Media and Eating Disorders

by FHE Health Website Manager

The Link Between Social Media and Eating Disorders

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week ended yesterday, but its goal—greater public awareness about anorexia, bulimia and other food-related process addictions—should be front and center all-year-round. That's because eating disorders are more prevalent than some might think in this country— and, deadlier, as these statistics from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reveal:

• ·      Every 62 minutes at least one person dies because of an eating disorder.

• ·      More people die from eating disorders than any other mental illness.

• ·      1 in 5 anorexia deaths is by suicide.

Poor Body Image a Major Risk Factor for Eating Disorders

As with any mental health condition, the causes of an eating disorder can be complex. Often more than one risk factor is to blame for why a person stops eating, binge eats then purges, or engages in other problem eating behaviors. That said, one risk factor tends to be especially prominent with eating disorders: poor body image.

Poor body image exists as a spectrum consisting of thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to a person's dissatisfaction with their physical appearance. On one end of the spectrum, a person may have mild feelings of insecurity and negative thoughts about their figure— to the degree that they may avoid wearing a bathing suit at the beach but otherwise manage daily life without body image being a big disruption.

On the other end of the spectrum, someone may experience intense feelings of shame, anxiety, and self-consciousness about their figure. They may obsess 24/7 about being fat, and they may over-exercise and under-eat to such a degree that their health is at risk. Addictive body modification behaviors, such as implants or tummy tucks, can be another more extreme expression of poor body image. Naturally, those on this end of the spectrum are at the highest risk of developing an eating disorder (if they haven’t already been diagnosed).

How Social Media Impacts Body Image

A poor body image doesn’t emerge out of the blue. It has its own causes— social media being a major one, especially for women. For example, a 2017 survey of 1,000 men and women found that social media was the biggest influence on women’s feelings about their bodies. In fact, more women (23 percent) said social media was a bigger influence than even TV/movies (20 percent). Strikingly, too, 88 percent of women said they compare their bodies to images in the media and a majority said their bodies compared “unfavorably” to images in the media.

As further illustration of how social media impacts body image, participants in the survey were asked to share how many likes it takes for them to feel good about a selfie. A majority of women said they needed at least 20 likes of a selfie (that they had uploaded on Facebook or elsewhere) in order to feel good about that photo.

If social media can wield that level of influence on body image for many people, then it’s a very important contributing force in the development of eating disorders. And, it’s a force to be reckoned with.

 

 

 

 

 

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Created on Mar 3rd 2020 09:17. Viewed 859 times.

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