Children who are much active in social media are likely to skip meals and also develop some form of disordered eating, according to a US study on eating habits.
The study that has been published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders says that boys and girls who are on social media were more likely to develop disordered eating behaviour when compared to those who do not have any social media accounts. Moreover, the study also says that behavioural changes were high in teens who had more than one social media account.
As per the study, it found that 52 per cent of girls and 45 per cent of boys who had at least one social account had at least one disordered eating habit. For the study, about 1000 teens of the seventh- and eighth-graders (13 years age average) were surveyed for the study who used four social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr.
Leader of the study Simon Wilksch of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, was quoted as saying in the media that social media use was encouraging the youth to compare themselves to their peers and others, especially in appearance.
He also said that disordered eating behaviour in boys was four times higher than a similar study that was conducted two decades ago. Wilksch also expressed concern at the fact that the study was conducted in children who were 13 years or younger in age.
