Facebook Tied To Feeling Fat, Eating Disorders

By: Leslie Meredith
Published: 03/30/2012 05:16 PM EDT on TechNewsDaily
 

"Do I look fat?" The answer is a resounding yes if you're on Facebook. But it's not your friends telling you, it's yourself.

 

Facebook is fueling our thin-obsessed culture, says a new study from the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Maryland that surveyed 600 Facebook users, ages 16 to 40. More than half said that Facebook  makes them more self-conscious about their bodies and weight. And men were some of those with the most negative feelings.

 

While more women than men admitted they'd like to lose some weight, 75 percent compared to 58 percent, men were far more vocal about their dissatisfaction. Forty percent of men said they've posted negative comments about their bodies, while only half that number of women had done so.

 

"People are now constantly aware of their appearance, thanks to Facebook," Steven Crawford, associate director at the center, told TechNewsDaily. "A common reaction is, 'I need to be thinner' And it's that kind of thinking that can lead to hazardous dieting ."

 

"Facebook is an influential factor in developing severe eating disorders," Crawford said.

 

When you're unhappy with the way you look, it's easy to avoid mirrors. But it's becoming pretty tough to go without Facebook. Eight percent of those surveyed log onto Facebook at least once a day. It's impossible to avoid seeing photos of yourself and your friends. But we're not just looking — we're comparing.

 

Timeline  — Facebook's new profile format — makes it easy. With a click you can see what you looked like five years ago, and the comparison can be depressing. Nearly a third of people felt "sad" when comparing photos of themselves and their friends, and 44 percent wished they had the same body or weight as a friend on Facebook.

 

Facebook photo  comparisons are also affecting the social lives of Facebook users. Like celebrities who worry about the paparazzi, Facebook users are concerned every time they go out that their photo will show up on the network.

 

"Facebook is fueling a "camera-ready" mentality," Crawford said. "People look at photos before an upcoming high school reunion and decide not to go." Why? Because they think they don't look good enough.

 

The center has tips for people suffering from Facebook-induced body envy, including subscribing to Facebook pages such as "Adios Barbie" and "End Fat Talk." But if you can't stop making negative comparisons between yourself and others, log off.

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Comments

[chaya]

08:19 PM on 04/04/2012

So suddenly people are looking at Facebook and getting depressed? What happened to mirrors? Have people stopped using mirrors?

Sorry. I'm not buying it.

[Kvothe]

05:03 PM on 04/02/2012

The fact that I don't have a facebook account makes me feel better about myself. Thanks for the self esteem boost.

[diogenes tub]

04:57 PM on 04/02/2012

"A common reaction is, 'I need to be thinner' And it's that kind of thinking that can lead to hazardous dieting....With a click you can see what you looked like five years ago, and the comparison can be depressing."

Or, it could lead you to dieting and becoming healthier. Obesity is a huge problem in our country and comparing yourself now to yourself five years ago is not the same as unrealistically comparing yourself to a scary-skinny model. Not talking about comparing your adult body to your 17-year-old never-had-a-baby body, but if you weighed 30 lbs less at 30 than you do at 35 and the photo of your old self makes you feel bad, print out the pic, stick it on the fridge, and go for a long walk.

[em147]

02:54 PM on 04/02/2012

so don't get a facebook account...simple as that

[Jam Delcambre]

02:23 PM on 04/02/2012

This is a classic case of looking for something to blame for a problem that's been around for ages.

FB isn't driving people toward eating disorders. Airbrushed, digitally altered and unrealistic fashion spreads in magazines/movies/TV are inundating young girls (primarily) with completely unattainable and hypersexualized images on a daily basis.

[Musica1]

10:43 PM on 04/02/2012

Exactly. A better way to fix our society is to occupy Madison Avenue (the advertising industry) -- a FAR better way -- yet nobody's doing it.

I also refuse to put photos on my FB account ... or photos of what I ate for breakfast. ;-)

[Alexis Katchuk]

11:22 AM on 04/03/2012

Is it a "classic case of looking for something to blame" or an admission that there is something else adding to the problem--a problem these surveyors know very well has been around a long time--that needs to be addressed?

[gibsonsdad]

12:52 PM on 04/02/2012

Am I fat?

[ResearchtheFacts]

08:54 PM on 04/01/2012

Get off that crappy network. It is hardly social, positive, good or healthy if it is effecting employment opportunities and self esteem.  What is the benefit?

[Brandon R Lucas]

05:13 PM on 04/01/2012

People who care about this kinda of stuff (Am I fat?, Do I look good in this picture?) They are sad forms of life, People's self esteem is so low these days it's unbelievable. There is a group on Facebook and I believe it is called "The Most Beautiful Teen Contest" Basically teens post pictures of themselves to thousands of people for them to judge, this obviously doesn't play out nicely as most people get torn apart by the internet "Troll" and that right there can lead someone into a depressed state because they feel ugly, it's not true but obviously we can tell ourselves that and still not come to believe it. Sad sad world.

[edenooch]

04:02 PM on 04/01/2012

most peeps on fb are fat lazies with nothing better to do? wow didnt see that coming

[carnivaluv]

11:26 AM on 04/02/2012

You know everyone on fb how?

[Warren Yuill]

03:09 PM on 04/01/2012

Facebook always makes me feel like I should be doing something else.
........and then posting it on Facebook.
So all my 'friends' will know I was doing something else.
........and feel guilty about spending so much time on Facebook.

[JohnHopwood2]

03:00 PM on 04/01/2012

This article is boring.

[babybates]

01:45 PM on 04/01/2012

What a ridiculously self-absorbed country we've become.

[Sabrae]

01:13 PM on 04/01/2012

What is this, I don't even.

[Absolute]

12:46 PM on 04/01/2012

FB is the new bogeyman.

[Sharon McEachern]

02:00 PM on 04/01/2012

No "racist" is the new boogeyman

[Absolute]

02:22 PM on 04/01/2012

You must be a Ron Paul fan.

[diogenes tub]

04:59 PM on 04/02/2012

Relevance fail.

[Americanwoman55]

11:43 AM on 04/01/2012

Is Facebook allowing it's users to be studied without letting them know or is this another person trying to make a name in a profession often times wrong!!

Facebook does nothing to you, it is a tool to communciate!! Giving it power over you is silliness.

[Americanwoman55]

11:54 AM on 04/01/2012

Update this Dr is an eating disorder specialist and all he'd have to do is go through pics to identify the right group of people to interview. Total BS!!!