Problematic Internet use
How Social Media Affects eating?
Caution may be especially needed with social media messaging, because some research shows a link between social media use among teens and disordered eating behaviors such as worrying about their weight or shape, skipping meals, binge eating, or exercising excessively.
For someone with a real issue, posts about dieting, workouts, or unrealistic body size on social media can easily trigger disordered eating behaviors like
excessive
exercise or binge eating.
The media
puts a large amount of pressure on females to meet a certain social and cultural standard of beauty
, which can inevitably lead to poor body image and eating disorders. The more an individual is exposed to this unrealistic standard, the more they find it is reflective of how they should look.
How does advertising cause eating disorders?
In particular, the portrayal of thin models in advertising. Eating disorders
arise due to an individual’s distorted perception of their own body image
.
What do eating disorders have in common?
Anorexia and bulimia are both
eating disorders
. They can have similar symptoms, such as distorted body image. However, they’re characterized by different food-related behaviors. For example, people who have anorexia severely reduce their food intake to lose weight.
What is orthorexia?
Orthorexia is
an eating disorder characterized by having an unsafe obsession with healthy food
. An obsession with healthy dieting and consuming only “pure foods” or “clean eating” becomes deeply rooted in the individual’s way of thinking to the point that it interferes with their daily life.
However, multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts. Social media may promote negative experiences such as:
Inadequacy about your life or appearance
.
How does the media affect body image?
The effects of social media on your body image can lead to
serious negative consequences
for your psychological and physical wellbeing. … We may find ourselves spending more time on social media, and falling deeper into a cycle of negative comparison, guilt and low self-worth, and further eating disordered behaviour.
Social media can then hurt your body image by constantly exposing yourself to the ideal body type
, leading to constant comparison of yourself to unrealistic standards. Additionally, photoshop and filters are readily available to users playing into the unrealistic body image.
Where does negative body image come from?
A negative body image can develop from many different influences,
including family, peer group, media and social pressures
. A positive body image can improve self-esteem, self-acceptance, and a healthy relationship with food and physical activity.
Pressure to be thin is espoused by Western media and also can be transmitted by parents and peers (6). Pressure to be thin
encompasses social reinforcement of thinness
(e.g., complimenting thinness or weight loss) as well as overt criticism or teasing about weight, reported by 16-30% of teens (7, 8).
Who is most likely to have an eating disorder?
Teenage girls and young women
are more likely than teenage boys and young men to have anorexia or bulimia, but males can have eating disorders, too. Although eating disorders can occur across a broad age range, they often develop in the teens and early 20s.
What is the most common eating disorder in the world?
The three most common eating disorders are binge eating disorder,
anorexia nervosa
, and bulimia nervosa.
What eating disorder does the freshman student have?
But for some young adults a change in weight, either up or down, can be the first sign of a developing eating disorder such as
bulimia or anorexia
. This is particularly true of first year college students who are especially vulnerable to the stresses that may trigger these conditions. According to Dr.
