A flood of cases of anorexia among young people spreads online due to “models”
IN On Instagram, the hashtag #anorexia has more than 5.5 million posts, and #diet has 72 million.. Women and girls are the primary victims of social media content that encourages anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder. ORn a public health problem that is not insignificant given that In the United States, someone dies every 52 minutes due to nutritional problems.
In this alarming context, the incidence and prevalence Eating disorders (EDs) have increased significantly in recent years, particularly among adolescent women, and have worsened since the pandemic.In fact, according to data presented at the Congress of Family Physicians, the number of consultations for these disorders in primary care for patients under 18 years of age has increased by 10%.
Moreover, the number of pediatric hospitalizations for this reason is estimated to have increased by 22% in the past year, a trend that is causing increasing concern among experts. “Now we see that this phenomenon develops even before the age of twelve,” they approve.
Dr. Isabel Paules points to a clear person in charge, social media because they are, in many cases, a falsified representation of reality. “There is a tendency to reveal a filtered and edited version of reality, but this implies a distorted perception of what is normal or achievable, which contributes to lower self-esteem.”– he emphasizes.
Therefore, the main victims are young girls. So Anorexia nervosa decreased from 0.1 to 2%; bulimia nervosa from 0.37 to 2.98% and binge eating disorder from 0.62 to 4.45%.This compulsive overeating is defined as frequent overeating with a lack of control (inability to stop, no control over the amount) and a pronounced feeling of discomfort.
Statewide, about 400,000 people have a disordered eating disorder (eating disorder). Analyzing these data, the Society of Family Physicians indicates that every twentieth teenager, especially girls, suffers from one or another pathology of this type. Although there are several types of disorders, they all have common aspects; weight changes, obsession with body image and diet and, above all, the intense emotional discomfort experienced by the affected person.
Unattainable physical canons
“Distorting appearance through continuous filters and photo editing creates unattainable physical canons.”which contributes to poor self-confidence and leads to self-esteem issues and eating disorders. In fact, while they promote muscle mass in boys on social media, they tend to promote a thin and slender body in girls as a guarantee of social success,” says Dr. Paules.
In this sense, he argues that “As family physicians, we must be alert to possible signs that lead us to detect these eating problems.”. Constant mood changes, lack of energy, excessive preoccupation with one’s appearance, or going to the bathroom after eating should be a warning sign for families about an eating disorder.
Paules The main focus is on the importance of early diagnosis in the field First aidand also the subsequent conclusion to Mental health. “As family physicians, we need to be alert to possible signs that lead us to detect these eating behavior problems.” In this sense, he points to other very suspicious symptoms: a tendency to asthenia, constant looking in the mirror, awareness of insufficient food intake due to “I’m not hungry,” social isolation with the need to always be in touch, lack of eyes. contact for consultation When asked about diet and exercise, there are some warning signs that may indicate possible nutritional problems.
Diagnostics, from 1 to 4 years
In your opinion Identifying these problems early is vital as “a diagnosis can take months or years, especially about a year for anorexia nervosa and four years for bulimia nervosa.”
However, these disorders, although they have serious symptoms, have high recovery rates.According to the Ministry of Health, about 50–60% of cases recover completely, 20% to 30% partially, and only 10% to 20% develop the disease into a chronic form.d. It has also been shown that patients with bulimia recover better than patients with anorexia. However, those who vomit, use laxatives, diuretics, or enemas have a greater tendency to commit suicide.
According to nurse Julia Ruiz, coordinator of the public health working group S EMG, “personalized treatments that take into account the social context are needed to improve the response and minimize the suffering associated with these diseases, which affect both the biological and psychosocial spheres.