How social media can 'trigger' eating disorders in young people
NEW YORK - Social media can push vulnerable young people towards developing eating disorders by glorifying thinness and promoting fake, dangerous advice about diet and nutrition, experts warn.
Young women and girls are much more likely to suffer from illnesses such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, though rates among men have been increasing.
Research has shown the percentage of people worldwide who have had some kind of eating disorder during their lives rose from 3.5 percent in 2000 to 7.8 percent in 2018, a timeframe that captures the rise of social media.
For the professionals trying to help teenagers recover from these disorders, misinformation from influencers on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram is a huge problem.
"We no longer treat an eating disorder without also addressing social media use," French dietitian and nutritionist Carole Copti told AFP.
"It has become a trigger, definitely an accelerator and an obstacle to recovery," she added.
The causes of eating disorders are complex, with psychological, genetic, environmental and social factors all having the potential to make someone more susceptible.
Social media "is not the cause but the straw that may break the camel's back," said Nathalie Godart, a psychiatrist for children and adolescents at the Student Health Foundation of France.
By promoting thinness, strictly controlled diets and relentless exercise, social media weakens already vulnerable people and "amplifies the threat" to their health, she told AFP.
Just one recent example is the #skinnytok trend, a hashtag on TikTok full of dangerous and guilt-inducing advice encouraging people to drastically reduce how much food they eat.
Eating disorders can damage the heart, cause infertility and other health problems, and have been linked to suicidal behaviour.
Anorexia has the highest rate of death of any psychiatric disease, research has found. Eating disorders are also the second leading cause of premature death among 15- to 24-year-olds in France, according to the country's health insurance agency.
Social media creates a "vicious cycle," Copti said.
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