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• Posted September 13, 2024

Social Media Linked to Eating Disorders in Kids and Young Teens

Excessive time spent on social media increases children's and teens’ risk of developing an eating disorder, a new study warns.

Each additional hour of total screen time or social media use raises the likelihood that a kid or young teen will have eating disorder symptoms two years later, researchers reported recently in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders.

These symptoms include worrying about gaining weight, linking one’s self-worth to weight and binge eating, researchers said. Others include excessive exercise, restricting calories, throwing up, or taking water pills, laxatives or diet pills.

“Social media promotes constant comparisons to peers and exposure to unattainable body ideals,” said senior study author Dr. Jason Nagata, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

“This can contribute to dissatisfaction with one’s own body, reduced self-esteem, and unhealthy attempts to control weight, all of which increase the risk of developing eating disorders and other mental health issues,” Nagata added in a UCSF news release.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 12,000 kids ages 9 to 14 collected between 2016 and 2020.

Results showed that average social media use and screen time increased the risk of eating disorders, and that problematic use raised the risk even more, researchers found.

“Adolescents should limit social media that encourages eating disorders and appearance comparisons,” Nagata concluded. “Parents can play an important role by developing family media use plans and holding open conversations about problematic screen use and disordered eating concerns.”

More information

The National Eating Disorders Association has more on media and eating disorders.

SOURCE: University of California, San Francisco, news release, Sept. 4, 2024