by Kathleen Castner
In my middle school health class, the Netflix documentary Fed Up played across our grainy screen. It highlighted harrowing statistics and the struggles of obese people to decry processed sugar. That day, I swore to myself that I would stop eating Oreos. I can’t say that lasted very long.
People always claim that for their New Years’ Resolution, they are going to go on a “diet,” and undereat in hopes of losing weight. However, undereating for an extended period of time can have unforeseen consequences.
We are all taught to eat “healthy” food. Our parents and teachers promote healthy nutrition by steering us away from eating extraordinary amounts of junk food. They are cognizant of the medical consequences of an unhealthy diet and want the young generation to evade these problems. Nonetheless, can these good intentions have an adverse effect? An eating disorder (ED) is an illness that affects a person’s relationship with food and body image. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness and are the third most common chronic illness among adolescents. Not to mention, both males and females are prone to developing them. Even then, a study from the National Institute of Mental health showed that EDs are more than twice as prevalent among females than males.
I was taught that it was possible to eat too much. Conversely, I was never taught the consequences of eating too little. Anorexia is a diagnosable eating disorder that is characterized by an abnormally low body mass index (BMI). A person who is 15% under their ideal body weight is considered anorexic. These individuals severely restrict the amount and what type of food they eat and might partake in other unhealthy habits like excessive exercise. Likewise, a person might engage in disordered eating. This might include skipping a meal, obsessive calorie counting, or cutting out a food group. The actions of those with disordered eating are not as restrictive as those with an eating disorder, like anorexia. Regardless, we think that if our disordered eating isn’t diagnosed by a doctor, it isn’t “serious” enough. We tell ourselves we aren’t “sick” enough. This gives us the excuse to continue this behavior. Consequently, these perpetual habits often pave the path to detrimental health problems. It is important to remind ourselves that a number on a chart is not an indicator of our well being. Therefore, we need to take a holistic approach when reflecting on our eating habits.
An example of a BMI chart that is used by doctors.
The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated another pandemic . . . eating disorders. Over the past few months, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) hotline reported a 70-80% increase in calls. Additionally, The International Journal of Eating Disorders revealed that 62% of people in the U.S. with previously diagnosed anorexia reported a worsening of symptoms. Why is this? The COVID-19 pandemic uprooted our lives. Suddenly, we lost all structure and social support in our society. That gap was filled with stress and anxiety of our loved ones getting sick. The world felt out of control. It’s human nature, in times of chaos, to micromanage what we can. For a lot of people, this was their eating habits.
Furthermore, the pandemic has increased our media exposure. In light of the “stay-at-home” orders, we relied on media coverage to give us some reassurance regarding the unknown virus. However, the news became exponentially stressful to listen to as COVID-19 cases increased. Previous studies have shown a correlation between the reporting of traumatic events and disordered eating behaviors. In March 2011, Japan experienced a devastating earthquake. Two weeks later, an online survey showed that people who spent more time watching the traumatic news also reported an increase in disordered eating behaviors. Thus, the overwhelming media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in worsening eating habits for some people.
Amid the pandemic, we turned to social media for communication and as an outlet, hoping to maintain some sense of normalcy. Still, there wasn’t the usual deluge of beach and party pictures. Besides advertisements for the Netflix series Tiger King, our feeds were filled with suggestions on how to fill our time. People saw this as a time for self-optimizing where they would finally develop that “toned” body that they dreamed of. Youtube videos like Chloe Ting’s ab challenge have amassed over 305 million views. Other fitness creators experienced a similar boom. However, this increased attention to physique and weight put a lot of pressure on those struggling to maintain their weight. I would argue that it disproportionately affected our generation. Our high social media use makes us very impressionable to these social media trends. Other trends such as “pandemic recipes” caused additional stress for those struggling with disordered eating.
Currently, the ubiquitous video app, TikTok, is one of the most popular social media platforms with more than 1 billion users. TikTok’s algorithm is brilliant at suggesting relatable content to its users, allowing us to laugh a little and leaving us coming back for more. On the other hand, this algorithm has the potential to promote “triggering” content. Videos under the hashtag #WhatIEatInADay showed people eating the bare minimum or worse—nothing at all. There are videos that glorify drastic weight loss, a skinny body physique, or reduced calorie intake. All these videos are dubbed as “#pro-anorexia”, a hashtag that has garnered over 2 million views. EDs are stimulated by a competitive nature, so when one views these videos, they believe it’s in their best interest to do the same. In early 2020, TikTok took measures to ban triggering ED content by altering their algorithm. For example, if one was to search for content under the hashtag #proana, they would be redirected to the NEDA hotline. Despite that, these videos kept on being posted. An investigation by The Guardian in December 2020 showed that pro-weight loss accounts were still easily accessible. Content creators would misspell these banned hashtags which allowed people to be easily influenced by their dangerous message.
Talking about disordered eating is not something we do comfortably, despite how prevalent it is in our generation. We need to actively combat harmful content that we see on social media. We also need to be able to identify disordered eating behaviors so that we can get or provide help. Always remember: Food is fuel and it is meant to be enjoyed.
Resources: Here is a list of websites and phone numbers if you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder.
- National Eating Disorder Association (chat, call, or text) https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/help-support/contact-helpline
- National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (support groups/ helpline) https://anad.org/
- 2ndFloor Youth Helpline 888-222-2228
Sources
1. Eating Disorder Facts & Statistics. Eating Recovery Center.
https://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/conditions/eating-disorders/facts-statistics.
2. Eating Disorders vs. Disordered Eating: What's the Difference? National Eating Disorders
Association. (2018, February 21). https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/
eating-disorders-versus-disordered-eating.
3. Guardian News and Media. (2020, December 7). TikTok investigating videos promoting
starvation and anorexia. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/07/tiktok-investigating-
videos-promoting-starvation-and-anorexia.
4. Noguchi, Y. (2020, September 8). Eating Disorders Thrive In Anxious Times,
And Pose A Lethal Threat. NPR.
https://www.npr.org/sections/healthshots/2020/09/08/908994616/
eating-disorders-thrive-in-anxious-times-and-pose-a-lethal-threat.
5. Rodgers, R. F., Lombardo, C., Cerolini, S., Franko, D. L., Omori, M.,
Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Guillaume, S. (2020, July). The impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on eating disorder risk and symptoms. The International Journal
of Eating Disorders.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7300468/#eat23318-bib-0037.
6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2017). Eating Disorders.
National Institute of Mental Health.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/eatingdisorders.shtml#:~:text=
The%20lifetime%20prevalence%20of%20eating%20disorders%20was%
202.7%25.,Prevalence%20increased%20modestly%20with%20age.