BLOG

Some Eating Disorders Have Been Caused by Facebook Photo Anxiety

eating disorders, facebook, medical research studyFacebook is many different things to many different people, and this social media giant can do a lot of good in some situations. A new medical research study shows that Facebook can also be harmful at times as well though, and the social media website has caused anxiety which has resulted in eating disorders over anxiety about photos which are posted on the site. The medical research study can be found in International Journal of Eating Disorders. According to Dr. Pamela K. Keel “Over 95% of college women in our study use Facebook, and those with Facebook accounts described typically spending 20 minutes on the site during each visit, amounting to over an hour on the site each day. In examining the immediate consequences of Facebook use, we found that 20 minutes of Facebook use contributed to maintenance of higher weight and shape concerns and anxiety compared to a control internet condition. This causal link is important because anxiety and body image concerns both increase risk for developing eating disorders.”

Dr Keel continued about the medical research study on eating disorders and Facebook use by saying “Facebook merges powerful peer influences with broader societal messages that focus on the importance of women’s appearance into a single platform that women carry with them throughout the day. As researchers and clinicians attempt to understand and address risk factors for eating disorders, greater attention is needed to the emerging role of social media in young people’s lives.”

 

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    No Twitter Messages.
AI Chatbot Avatar