How Eating Disorders Reach Your Teens

How Eating Disorders Reach Your Teens

Since the 1990s, anorexia websites have been popping up left and right, sometimes encouraging people to become anorexic and sometimes helping them stay anorexic. About 10 years ago, both Yahoo and MSN attempted to shut down these sites, making them unsearchable. Yet they continued to infiltrate the web.

There are dozens of reasons why this is problematic. For example, a study by Dina Borzekowski found that about 16% of 160 eating disorder websites contained some type of "creed" that included a list of rules or "commandments" that encouraged negative behaviors associated with various eating disorders. These are found not only on “pro-ana” sites used by people already anorexic and on “pro-anorexia” sites, sites that seek to convert people to anorexia, but also on personal blogs.

Perhaps the biggest problem with these websites is their availability to teenagers. Teens are highly impressionable and are constantly exposed to images and information that can potentially lead to body image distortion disorders. With the help of websites that aim to create a community of “Ana/Mia” (anorexic/bulimic), teens can become anorexic, bulimic, and more. What's worse is that they can learn how to hide it.

The danger of the community created by these sites is extreme. Social networking sites, usually viewed positively for creating strong relationships among their users, can also be credited with providing teens with the means to obtain information about eating disorders. Unfortunately, this idea of ​​community within a blogging site becomes very negative when exploited by people who want to inspire such disability syndromes.

Teens are also very vulnerable to these networking sites as they are always looking for a way to fit in. When they find someone who identifies with their struggles, their needs, their problems, and their situation, they are likely to create a strong bond with that other individual. Teens need to feel like they are part of something and important and needed, and these online communities create that welcoming feeling. Welcome to the world of eating disorders, this is where you can be at home.

As the pro-anorexia movement gains traction, as Borzekowski's study clearly shows through the emergence of "thinspiration" campaigns across the internet, and social media becomes more prevalent, educating youth is more important than ever. Parents need to teach children that not everything on the internet is true and not everything is good. It is important not to censor the evils of the Internet among teenagers, but rather to educate them on how to differentiate positive and negative content.

The fight does not end with education via the Internet. Education about eating disorders and mental illness is also crucial. A teenager needs to know that sometimes seeking help is the best way to show your strength.

Inspired by J. Rose