Social Networking Sites Promoting Eating Disorders

Experts say that social media forces teen girls into adopting unhealthy eating habits that often lead to eating disorders.

A latest fad among teen girls is the thigh gap. The impossible weight loss goal is to become so thin that there is a gap between the thighs even when the feet are together. Apparently, the wider the gap is the sexier is the person.

Where do people get such ludicrous ideas?

According to health experts, social media sites fuel such trends.

A person has to obviously lose a substantial amount of weight to achieve the kind of thigh gap that is being promoted as the latest in-thing. The pictures of super-thin models with thigh gaps pressurize young girls into achieving an impossible body shape.

"The issue of focusing on a particular body part is very common," Claire Mysko, who oversees teen outreach and digital media for the National Eating Disorders Association, told The Associated Press. "What is new is these things have taken on a life of their own because of the Internet and social media."

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Haifa reported in 2011 that teen girls who spent more time on social networking sites had higher risk of developing eating disorders, according to the Associated Press.

Now, social media sites discourage users from posting pictures of self-harm, but the images still get through.

"Eating disorders are not lifestyle choices, they are mental disorders that if left untreated can cause serious health problems or could even be life-threatening." Pinterest warns.

And, most often than not, these images are highly manipulated to make the model look extremely thin.

"We really need education to increase the sophistication of young people about media images and how the images are manipulated," Scott Crow, M.D., professor in the Department of Psychiatry and specialist in eating disorders had earlier said in a blog. "Better utilization of media awareness programs could go a long way."

Women are more likely to develop some type of eating disorder during teen years than men. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder are few major types of eating disorders that can affect a girl's health. Factors affecting a person's eating habits are culture, stressful events, emotional problems and family perception, according to womenshealth.gov.