This article is more than 1 year old

Facebook causes eating disorders in teenage girls

When oh when will someone rid us of this scourge?

A survey carried out in Israel shows that the more time young girls spend on Facebook the more likely they are to develop an eating disorder.

The evil health consequences of overindulging oneself on the globo-dominant social webbening site were unmasked by profs Yael Latzer and Ruth Katz of Haifa uni's Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences and their colleague Zohar Spivak.

The three researchers obtained their results by grilling some 248 teenage girls on their TV and surfing habits, as well as their eating, slimming plans etc. The profs state uncompromisingly:

The results showed that the more time girls spend on Facebook, the more they suffered conditions of bulimia, anorexia, physical dissatisfaction, negative physical self-image, negative approach to eating and more of an urge to be on a weight-loss diet. Extensive online exposure to fashion and music content showed similar tendencies, but manifested in fewer types of eating disorders.

As ever, the profs gave it as their assessment that parents spending time with their kids, knowing their browsing habits and discussing the information surfed (or goggled on the tellybox) acted as a shield of steel for young minds, allowing them to feel good about themselves regardless of the tides of negative jibber-jabber flowing from Facebook, Gossip Girl etc.

The Haifa university announcement can be read here. ®

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