Anorexia Also Eating Up Boys Thanks 2 Social Media?

The WSJ’s “Boys Have Eating Disorders, too” noted that “doctors think social media is making it worse.” Apparently, pediatric wards are reporting more eating disorder cases in general, but boys now are making up a bigger percentage; and, they’re “more severe” because everybody assumes boys are immune from the disease.

Why do doctors & university researchers now say social media is a contributing factor in “boys’ body issues”? It’s because research is now showing “they [in fact] experience body-image comparisons on social media just as girls do” and especially are being influenced by “social-media algorithms [that] also push exercise videos & posts that often leads to disordered eating”. But, it the case of boys, by the time somebody notices something terrible has gone wrong with Johnny … it is often too late.

One “Griffith Henry, a promising young baseball player from Missouri, had his dreams derailed by anorexia.” It seems Griffith became obsessed with the Prep Baseball Report app to see how he “measured up” in terms of the weight & speed the college and pro scouts expected of prospects. “Half a year later, he was hospitalized and diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.” Of course, the docs warn, “disordered eating” causes are complex & varied, so that social media might be but one factor in a given case. Peer pressure, family dynamics & genetics can be primary causes, too. Yet, the power of the press … and social media … can be quite an “enabler.”

Davd Soul