Teen Mental Health Statistics: Social Media & Eating Disorders

Around a year ago I got off of social media for good after my conflict with it reached a tipping point; so much of my own experience as well as my client’s experiences were that of mindless scrolling, challenging body and life comparisons, and an addictiveness that even the most mindful users couldn’t escape. Yes, there are perks for sure, but when more conclusive studies pointed to the site’s associations with eating disorders- I knew it was my time to leave.

Age Groups More at Risk of Eating Disorders

Eating disorders occur across all age groups, but the individuals most at risk for development of an eating disorder are those in adolescence and early adulthood. Some research has pointed to average onsets as:

• Age 18 for anorexia

• Age 19 for bulimia

• Age 25 for binge eating 

One study that looked at grades 7 and 8 found that the greater time spent on instagram resulted in higher levels of disordered eating– it found the same results from time spent on snapchat. Anyone who knows a child in these grades knows that these sites are where so much communication happens socially! We can’t blame our kids for wanting to be on these sites, but we do need to be aware of the impacts they can have, and how to manage use and help them develop awareness themselves. 

Does Social Media Contribute to Mental Health and Eating Disorders?

Social media is definitely a factor in mental health and eating disorders.

For instance, a study done in the UK found that reading magazines and using social media was associated with self objectification. We know that objectification is problematic in eating disorders, and doesn’t make accessing any kind of self compassion easy. More profound is that positive comments from social media related to one’s appearance (like getting a “you’re pretty!” on a photo you posted) were just as problematic as the negative comments. 

As an eating disorder specialist this makes sense to me– whether the attention is “positive” or “negative” any comment or attention towards your body still results in the same message to the brain: “My body/weight/shape is important to my worth.” 

Another study looked at people diagnosed with eating disorders and found that those using social media on their phone’s had more severe eating disorders, and 41% of people felt that social media apps added to their illness.

Why These Stats Matter

These statistics matter because these are serious illnesses. It’s estimated that about 26% of people with eating disorders die of suicide, and 9% of the US population will have an eating disorder at some point in their life. Additionally, so many eating disorders are overlooked since our culture normalizes disordered behaviors and misses diagnoses for eating disorders in folks with larger bodies. 

What You Can Do as a Parent

I know this can all feel really scary, so before you run and throw your child’s phone in the garbage, consider starting with conversations about how they feel using social media. Try to enter these conversations neutrally (hint: if you run in with “social media is dangerous and you’re on it way too much!”) they will probably not explore their feelings around it with you. ;)  Instead, ask questions like:

• What do you like about social media? What do you dislike?

• What makes social media feel empowering and fun vs hard or full of comparisons?

• What do you think is too much time on social media?

• Do you think I am on social media too much?

• If you were a parent, how would you approach navigating using phones and social media?

You might also do regular family social media sweeps on apps like instagram. For instance, once a month the whole family sits down and goes through their accounts and deletes any accounts that don’t align with values or that don’t feel helpful, and adds accounts that feel positive and fun.

Follow your instincts, and remember the big picture is about helping your child navigate a messy combination of: a changing body, social relationships, and their phone use. 

If you’re concerned about your child’s eating or body image, or you just want a tune up on feeding your teen/pre-teen, take one of the courses, and check out my other online courses here.

Check out a preview of one of my courses for parents below:

Resources: 

Padín, P. F., González-Rodríguez, R., Verde-Diego, C., & Vázquez-Pérez, R. (2021). Social media and eating disorder psychopathology: A systematic review. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 15(3), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2021-3-6

Holland, G., & Tiggemann, M. (2016). A systematic review of the impact of the use of social networking sites on body image and disordered eating outcomes. Body image, 17, 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.02.008

Rohde, P., Stice, E., Shaw, H., Gau, J. M., & Ohls, O. C. (2017). Age effects in eating disorder baseline risk factors and prevention intervention effects. The International journal of eating disorders, 50(11), 1273–1280. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22775

Wilksch, S. M., O'Shea, A., Ho, P., Byrne, S., & Wade, T. D. (2020). The relationship between social media use and disordered eating in young adolescents. The International journal of eating disorders, 53(1), 96–106. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23198

Statistics accessed February 2023 from ANAD