Social networks encourage extreme thinness

The majority of anorexia affects young girls between the ages of 14 and 17. This behavioral disorder leads to strict food deprivation and volunteered for several months or even years. In France 230,000 women would be affected. A new study, carried out by the University of Exeter in England, looked at the impact of social networks on this disease. The results appeared in the Journal of Eating Disorder.

A new way to praise thinness

#thinspiration, #bonespiration, #respiration … All these tags, banned one after the other, do not cease to flourish on the web. Even if since 2012 keywords likely to promote eating disorders have been banned, Internet users each time adopt new alternatives to share their photos fueling a cult of thinness. Prominent hips, well-defined ribs, exposed collarbones and spines, the goal is to brag about his skeletal appearance and inspire others to achieve the same emaciated appearance. The study shows that the images broadcast are becoming more and more extreme.

After analyzing more than 730 photos posted by girls and young women on social networks such as Twitter and Instagram, psychology researchers found that the new hashtags, replacing the banned ones, conveyed increasingly bad images. Academics fear social media has replaced pro-anorexia websites and is becoming an easy-to-access medium for encourage eating disorders by contributing to a distorted view of their own body.

Nonetheless, the study’s authors argue that banning these markers listing these photos is unnecessary, as there will always be new ones. They advocate removing these images, just as they would with illegal pornography, and raising awareness in schools about “positive body image” to mitigate any problems. external pressuresencouraging weight loss.

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