Eating disorders are a major health problem in the United States. More than eight million Americans suffer from an eating disorder, and 90 percent of these are teens and young women between 12 and 25 years old. Since the birth of modern computing in the 1970s, eating disorders have increased by 400 percent. According to the Academic Psychiatry journal, more children are being diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia at progressively younger ages – some as young as eight or nine years old. An increasing number of young men are also seeking treatment for eating disorders.

Teens micromanage their lives with technology, with every moment and action being documented on social networking sites, like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. They are constantly sending text messages to their friends, chatting online, and browsing the Internet for information. It’s no surprise that technology is also fueling eating disorders.

Here are some of the ways that teens are using technology to nourish eating disorders:

1.  Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia Websites – There’s an Internet-based phenomenon where teen girls seek empowerment through their eating disorders. Just as the names imply, “pro-ana” support anorexia and “pro-mia” encourage bulimia. These websites encourage starving yourself, and they give you tips on how to do it. Some even offer advice on how to hide weight loss from parents. Many have BMI calculators, calorie counters, and support forums. What makes these pro-eating disorders even more dangerous is that they don’t consider anorexia or bulimia as an eating disorder. “Ana” and “Mia” are considered lifestyle choices and not a health problem. Any at-risk teenager, who is desperate to lose weight because she is unhappy with her body, can become addicted to these pro-ana and pro-mia websites. She may decide to follow the tips and advice given. She can become allured by the emotional support provided, and she may even make friends with other like-minded, vulnerable girls. All of this can feed into her obsession with losing weight and it can lead to a deadly eating disorder that can become very difficult to treat.

2.  “Thinspiration” Blogs – Many of the pro-ana and pro-mia websites feature a “thinspiration” section, where forum members, bloggers, and others post images and video montages of skinny women and slim models. These photos and videos are designed to motivate anorexics and bulimics to starve themselves and lose weight. Sometimes, “thinspiration” blogs feature images of overweight people and fatty food, in an effort to induce disgust. Many of these thinspiration posts have a spiritual-artsy flavor, with fasting being seen as a method of bodily purity, and food is compared to sin and corruption,  At-risk teens who are regular readers of these “thinspiration” blogs may use them for motivation to lose weight and become unhealthily thin.

3.  Weight Loss and Calorie-Counting Apps – A teenager who is obsessed with losing weight can also use her smartphone and download a weight loss application to help her succeed in her efforts. Many of these apps allow teens to count calories, record their food intake, and track their weight loss progress. These apps may convince the teen that what she’s doing is healthy and normal. In addition, a weight-loss obsessed teen can also download a fitness app. Some provide estimates of calories burned during different types of exercises. Others help you track workouts and even provide ideas for fitness routines.

Because teens are more tech-savvy than their parents, many who have an unhealthy body image are using technology and the Internet to their advantage. Using the tips they learn online, many teens can go to extreme precautions to hide their eating disorder from their parents. As a parent, you must be aware of the warning signs associated with eating disorders and what your child is doing online. Eating disorders have a higher success rate when diagnosed early.

AUTHOR OVERVIEW

Lisa Shaw Senior Director, Child Online Safety and Protection at SpectorSoft

What do five kids ranging in age from kindergarten to high school, a Harvard MBA and years of protecting kids online get you? It gets you Lisa Shaw, COO of her very busy household, and a Senior Director at SpectorSoft, the number one leader in monitoring and protecting your kids online. She's an expert on the technology and trends that you need to arm yourself with to be the best parent you can be in today’s digital world.

Tags: anorexia, bulmia, technology and eating disorder