Facebook Increases Risk Of Eating Disorders

Party and holiday photos, videos and selfies are not the only things that Facebook users share. They also share an increased risk of developing eating disorders, write US researchers in the "International Journal of Eating Disorders".

Scientists from Florida State University studied 960 college graduates and discovered that more time on Facebook is associated with a higher rate of eating disorders. The most eating disorders occurred in subjects for whom comments and "likes" on their status updates were particularly important and in those who untagged photos of themselves and compared their photos with those of friends.

Earlier studies already showed a link between social media and eating disorders. But according to the authors, the new study is the first to show that spending just 20 minutes on Facebook suffices to actually contribute to the risk of eating disorders by intensifying concerns about weight and shape as well as anxiety. This finding is particularly significant because 95 percent of the study participants check Facebook several times a day for about 20 minutes, which amounts to a total of more than one hour.

In spite of these findings, social media could also offer an excellent opportunity for intervention strategies, such as encouraging women to put a stop to so-called "fat talk", in which women engage in, predominantly negative, commentaries about their own bodies.

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