An investigation into the possible link between social media usage and consequential disordered eating

 

Abstract: this article focuses on understanding the relationship between disor-dered eating and social media use.

Keywords: disordered eating, social media use.

 

283

Background. In the past, suggested causes of disordered eating havebeen attributed to the influence of fashion magazines, television and celebrity culture. In today’s society, people have shifted from traditional media to online social media. Despite this, there is a lack of research exploring the im-pact of this on disordered eating.

 

Method. To understand the relationship between disordered eating andsocial media use, a comprehensive review of the academic literature utilizing Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) scoping review framework was conducted. The following databases were searched using appropriate terms: Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Education Source, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Regional Business News, SPORTDiscus. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied.

 

Results. A total of 11 articles were included in the final review. The re-sults found that the majority of studies pointed to social media having a link to disordered eating. The greatest reported social media influence on disordered eating was the sharing and comparing of visual images. At the same time, so-cial media was a positive influence in aiding the recovery of eating disorders.

 

Conclusion. The research suggested a link between social media anddisordered eating. Nevertheless, it is important to consider that disordered eat-ing habits can be influenced by a range of social and emotional factors and not every user of social media will develop an eating disorder. It is suggested that future research explores the sharing and comparison of images.

 

Introduction. In the past, suggested causes of disordered eating havebeen attributed to the influence of fashion magazines, television and celebrity culture (Sidani et al, 2016). In today’s society, people are engaging more with social media, notably, social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram where users interact and share information with other users.

 

Recently, social media has emerged as a significant platform to promote healthy eating. As a result, healthy eating promotion on social media has been associated with the development of disordered eating habits and behaviors. (Barnett et al, 2016).

 

This paper reports on a literature review that aimed to examine and syn-thesize the research evidence on the topic of eating disorders and social media, and to further understand if disordered eating is linked to social media use.

 

Methods. The chosen method for this review is based on the scoping re-view framework of Arksey and O’Malley (2005). They propose a five stage framework for conducting a scoping review (1) identifying the research ques-

 

284

tion (2) identifying relevant studies (3) study selection (4) charting the data (5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results.

 

The following databases were searched: Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Education Source, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Regional Business News, SPORTDiscus. The final string was ‘Eating Disorders OR Anorexia OR Bulimia OR Disordered Eating AND Social Media OR Facebook OR Twitter OR Instagram.’ Only peer reviewed journal articles, written in English thatwere published from 2007-17 were included in the final review. Additional in-clusion and exclusion criteria pertinent to the aim of the research were applied and 11 studies were included in the final review. The main themes from these are reported below.

 

Results. Health and Fitness Related Content. The research by Carotteet al (2015) found health and fitness related content on social media to be ben-eficial to the majority of users as it created a motivational community that in-fluenced healthy behaviors. Although the study acknowledged that social me-dia also has the power to influence behavior negatively. Ghaznavi and Taylor (2015) found that images using the hashtag #thinspiration was used as a trig-ger for encouraging the ‘thin ideal’. Furthermore, Holland and Tiggerman (2016a) found that women who post # fitspiration content scored lower on body dissatisfaction and suggested that they were striving to obtain societies ideal of body image rather than what is actually considered healthy.

 

Age and Gender. There were correlations found between social mediausage, disordered eating and young individuals. For example, Sidani et al (2016) found that younger participants with the highest volume of social me-dia usage had higher probabilities of concerned eating than those with lower social media usage. While the majority of studies included in the review in-cluded both male and female participants, the ratio of male to female partici-pants was considerably lower.

 

Social Media as Form of Recovery. Social media was also used as aform of recovery. Goh et al (2016) found mobile applications to have some positive effects on the recovery of eating disorders. Additionally, Bulik et al (2015) identified that Facebook, when used for communication purposes, can act as social and emotional support for the individual.

 

Sharing Visual Content. All of the articles discussed visual imagery intheir results. Holland and Tiggerman (2016b) discussed how photo-based con-tent on Facebook influenced greater body dissatisfaction and disordered eat-ing. Moreover, Forney et al (2014) claim that Facebook usage can contribute

 

285

to the conservation of weight and shape concerns, as well as anxiety, both of which are recognized as risk factors for disordered eating.

 

Pro-ED (Pro-Eating Disorder) Content on Social Media. Investigationsinto Pro-ED content on social media were discussed within the literature. There was a negative association between visiting pro-ED content and social wellbeing (Turja et al, 2016). Another study (Giel et al, 2013) looked at pro-Ana (Pro Anorexia) groups and it concluded that they were more popular than recovery groups. As well as this, the pro-Ana groups appeared to be better or-ganized and maintained.

 

Conclusion. The review suggested a link between social media and dis-ordered eating. Nevertheless, it is important to consider that disordered eating habits can be influenced by a range of social and emotional factors and not every user of social media will develop an eating disorder.

 

It is suggested that future research explores the sharing and comparison of images. Furthermore, future studies could benefit from exploring specific eating disorders and their relationship with social media, such as orthorexia nervosa, when individuals obsess over their eating habits in pursuit of what they consider a ‘healthy lifestyle.’ Additionally, males can suffer from disor-dered eating just as females can and future research should utilize larger male samples. Equally, more research should be conducted with wider age groups.

 

Literature

 

Arksey and O’Malley, L. Scoping studies: Towards a methodologicalframework // International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 2005.

8(1). P. 19–32.

 

Barnett, M., Blomquist, K and Dripps, W. Organivore or organorex-ic? Examining the relationship between alternative food network engagement, disordered eating, and special diets // Appetite. 2016. № 105. P. 713–720.

 

Bulik C.M., De Choudhury M., Levinson C.A. Facebook Use andDisordered Eating in College-Aged Women // Journal of Adolescent health. 2015. № 57(2). P. 157–163.

 

Carro tte, E., Lim, M and Vella A.Predictors of ‘liking’ types ofhealth and fitness-related content on social media: A cross-sectional study // Journal of medical internet research. 2015. № 17(8). P. 178–187.

 

Fardouly J., Vartanian L.R. Negative comparisons about one’s ap-pearance mediate the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns // Body Image. 2015. № 12. P. 82–88.

 

286

Forney K.J., Keel P. Mabe A.G. Do you 'like' my photo? Facebookuse maintains eating disorder risk // International Journal of Eating Disorders. 2014. № 47(5). P. 516–523.

 

Ghaznavi J., Taylo L.D. Bones, body parts, and sex appeal: An anal-ysis of #thinspiration images on popular social media // Body Image. 2015.

 

14. P. 54–61.

 

Giel K.E., Hofer E., Junne F. A comparative analysis of anorexianervosa groups on Facebook // Eating and Weight Disorders. 2013. № 18(4). P. 413–420.

 

Goh S.E., Kuek A., Kwok V. Internet and smartphone application us-age in eating disorders: A descriptive study in Singapore // Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 2016. № 19. P. 50–55.

Holland G., Tiggermann M. “Strong beats skinny every time”: Dis-ordered eating and compulsive exercise in woman who post fitspiration on In-stagram // International journal of eating disorders. 2016. № 1–4. P. 146–154.

 

Holland G., Tiggermann M. A systematic review of the impact of theuse of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes // Body Image. 2016. № 17. P. 100–110.

 

Sidani J., Shensa A., Hoffman B. The association between social me-dia use and eating concerns among US young adults // Journal of the academy of nutrition and dietetics. 2016. № 116 (9). P. 1465–1472.

 

Turja T., Oksanen A., Kaakinen M. Pro-eating disorder websites andsubjective well-being: A four-country study on young people // International Journal of eating disorders. 2016. № 50(1). P. 50–57.

 

Alexandra Parkin

 

University of Lincoln, Health and Social Care, UK, Lincoln Supervisor: Julie Burton