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Running Head: THE IMPACT SOCIAL MEDIA HAS ON THE BODY

The Impact of Social Media on the Body

Selma Dajani

Michigan Islamic Academy

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THE IMPACT SOCIAL MEDIA HAS ON THE BODY

Abstract

This paper focuses on the different ways that social media has affected many young women to

develop eating disorders to fit the projected “thin body” ideal. The paper begins by defining and

explaining what eating disorders are. It then continues to discuss the many factors that cause

eating disorders focusing mainly on Anorexia nervosa. The paper delves into on how social

media is the most triggering factor of eating disorders and how technology facilitates it to be

consistently at hand. It continues to explain how western women have always struggled with

their bodies and self-esteem issues and how the thin body ideal is projected through social media

factors such as model accounts, brand accounts, advertisements, promoted diets, hashtags, etc,

making it hard for women to accept themselves among the unrealistic expectations. A study is

included to further emphasize the social media/eating disorder relationship. Toward the end of

the paper, Islamic principles are used to further deepen the importance of self-care. This paper

has been developed through the use of reputable articles, internet sources, statistics, and Islamic

perspectives to correctly and thoroughly explain the subject’s pressing nature.

Keywords: Anorexia nervosa, social media, thin body ideal

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THE IMPACT SOCIAL MEDIA HAS ON THE BODY

The Impact of Social Media on the Body

Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred, the girl stood up wobbling from the vigorous

exercise she had just performed, her heart pumping blood rapidly throughout her tiny structure.

She made her way to the weight scale she had positioned near a body mirror. Her heart dropped

as her eyes met the number on the scale: 90.5 pounds. She lifted her shirt to examine her

stomach. Tears welled up in her eyes; she was never going to be thin.

In today’s society, an occurrence such as this is quite prevalent yet it is not discussed

nearly as much as the latest diets that modern media tries to convince women they must follow to

meet western beauty ideals. Many people tend to spend a large amount of time on a daily basis

using technology such as smartphones, most specifically social media. According to a study by

Mediakix, people spend an average of five years and four months of their lifetime on social

media (2017). People, especially young women, are being bombarded with images of how one

must look and given tips on how to achieve “perfection” making them dissatisfied with their own

appearance and causing a discrepancy between what they see when they look in the mirror versus

what social media demonstrates as the ideal image. In many ways, social media increases the

prevalence of eating disorders by making it easier for people to develop body dysmorphia (a

mental disorder in which a person is preoccupied by an imagined or minor physical defect) and

pursue unhealthy lifestyles which destroy them both physically and mentally.

Eating Disorders: Defined

Before delving into how social media promotes eating disorders, one must first

understand what they are. An article, “What Are Eating Disorders?” published by the American

Psychiatric Association, reviewed by Ranna Parekh, M.D., M.P.H (2017), defines eating
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disorders as “illnesses in which people experience severe disturbances in their eating behaviors

and related thoughts and emotions. People with eating disorders typically become preoccupied

with food and their body weight.” There are four main types of eating disorders to note: binge

eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and OSFED (Other Specified Feeding or

Eating Disorder).Binge eating disorder is when a person goes through episodes of uncontrollable

eating and consumes a large amount of food in a short period of time, which, in turn, can cause

dangerous medical effects such as stomach explosion, severe constipation, diarrhea (Parekh,

2017). Bulimia nervosa is another eating disorder in which people binge eat large amounts of

food, but compensate by purging, abusing laxatives, fasting, or compulsively exercising.

Individuals who suffer from bulimia are often hard to detect as they hide their frequent purging,

have a range of body weights, and also because of the secretive nature surrounding their methods

of weight loss or control. Anorexia nervosa, the eating disorder classified as the most fatal of

them all, has a mortality rate of ten percent (Insel, 2012). Patients diagnosed with anorexia are

less than their expected body mass index (BMI: a measure of weight relative to height) making

them underweight (Parekh, 2017). Their symptoms include: limiting the intake of food, fearing

fat, denial of low body weight, problems with body image, etc. OSFED or Other Specified

Feeding or Eating Disorder is a classification given to a person who does not present symptoms

that would place them in a specific category of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or

bulimia nervosa. Example diagnosis of OSFED would be: purging disorder without bingeing

and atypical anorexia nervosa which is when a person presents behaviors of anorexia but without

the low body weight (Farrar, 2014). Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa are not diets gone

too far or people crying out for attention, as they are often deemed, rather, they are psychiatric

conditions caused by several factors.

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Anorexia nervosa: Triggering Factors

Anorexia nervosa one of the most common eating disorders and is usually featured as an

eating disorder caused solely by lacking self-esteem which in reality is incorrect. Eating

disorders are much more complex as they are triggered by several factors that one may or may

not encounter in day to day life. One of the many proposed factors of anorexia includes a genetic

component. It is not yet known exactly which DNA variations are involved, but it is suggested

that those who may have had family members who have suffered from anorexia may have

inherited that trait and have a higher risk of development (Earlstein, 2018, p.15). Biological

factors such as having low serotonin levels or irregular hormone functions may also induce risks

(Earlstein, 2018, p.16). Studies have also shown that people with psychological traits of

perseverance, perfectionism, hypersensitivity, issues with coping, obsessive thinking and

emotional instability are also at risk as they are all tied to anorexia(Earlstein, 2018, p.17).

Individuals who have suffered from trauma such as physical or sexual assault also fall victim to

eating disorders as an attempt to regain control or as a form of self-punishment (Earlstein, 2018,

p.20). Excessive dieting could also encourage the obsession of weight loss by exaggerating the

feelings of shame and guilt about food (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2018 ). Environmental factors such as

family problems, peer pressure, and bullying also play a part in disorders as well as involving

oneself in activities that focus on weight and being thin, for example, dancing, wrestling,

running, modeling, etc.

Acculturation of the western beauty standards, promoted through social media, also

influences many ethnic and minority groups to have socially-defined perfect bodies in order to fit

in and as a result deprive themselves of food which leads to eating disorders (Earlstein, 2018,

p.15). Being slim is consistently promoted through platforms such as television, magazines,
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billboards, online video sites, and social media. These platforms encourage anything one must do

at the expense of physical and mental health in order to achieve an unrealistically skinny body

shape. Media outwardly attributes being thin with being successful, attractive, and healthy; if one

does not meet those guidelines they are considered unworthy and lesser than their attractive

counterparts (Earlstein, 2018, p.18).Before delving into the various ways social media regulates

“idealistic” body standards one must first understand the mind of an anorexic.

Inside the mind of someone suffering with Anorexia Nervosa. On the surface, many

people associate anorexia as a disease that distinctly only has physical effects at first glance,

when in actuality, it is a disease that attacks one from the inside out. As mentioned earlier,

people are encouraged to do anything it takes to achieve the slim image projected by the media.

Therefore, one tries several different diets and if those have no visual or numerical effects, they

take matters into their own hands by self-starvation. Along with unrealistic standards plastered

all over the media, one also finds disturbing images of children and people suffering from the

lack of nutrition in poverty-stricken countries. Seeing this, one would ask why anyone would

voluntarily put themselves through that. In the anorexic’s mind, they delude themselves into

thinking they are superhuman and that they do not require nutrition in order to survive;

consequently providing their bodies with the very least. Over the course of starvation, one

notices themselves slimming as a result; this excites them as they become more determined to

fulfill their goals, hence becoming addicted to the numbers dropping on the scale and the inches

falling off their body.They soon grow terrified of the feeling of hunger and food turns into an

enemy. To make matters worse, anorexics also suffer from an internal self-attacking voice called

super-ego (Metzger,2014). This dictating inner voice is usually described as an inner bully

consuming one’s mind twenty-four hours a day, consistently nagging negativity about one’s
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appearance, self-worth, and success in food avoidance. This voice scolds a person for accepting

food containing a lot of calories or even missing a workout. The voice within the anorexic’s

mind is an addictive factor as the person becomes imprisoned and a slave to its requests.

Silencing this demeaning voice is hard when one sees images all over the media communicating

that being thin is the only way one can love themselves, be healthy, and successful.

A Woman’s Complicated Relationship with her Body. Before the era of social media,

it is important to note that historically, women have struggled with body image and self-esteem

issues. Traditional media such as magazines and television have always featured thin women

implying they are beautiful and successful because of their weight (Barber, 2013). Even long

before western media existed, women were culturally made out to be unattractive if they held

more weight than what was considered normal. Richard Morton, a physician of the 17th century,

discovered two women with symptoms of anorexia. He wrote about them in his book,

Pathisologica, that they were persistent in food avoidance and over-activity, describing them

“like skeletons only clad with skin” (Farrell, 2015, p.16). This thus suggests that social media

was not the beginning of the negative expectations associated with the idealistic image of a

woman.With social media available, the prevalence of anorexia and eating disorders increase as

thin images of women are widespread all over the web and easily accessible at one’s fingertips

due to several technological advances. Young women and girls are being exposed to social

media at younger ages making them accustomed to feeling that they are not attractive unless they

are thin. Social media could be used for many different, important, and meaningful interactions,

but the beauty industry including cosmetic companies, models, fashion brands, beauty

influencers, and hashtags play a bigger role in a woman’s well-being than they should.
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Social Media Influences and Effects. Many women and young women alike are

naturally attracted toward the concepts and the images of beauty, but what happens when their

interests and preoccupations with the latest trends begin to enslave them? From the images on

paperback brand magazines to the images embracing their screens, countless women strive to fit

in the clothes of well-known and luxurious brands. To further deepen their profound love of

fashion, they tend to analyze the thin models that sport their favorite attire. Due to the easy

accessibility of social media, women are able to keep up with the everyday lives of these models

and aspire to imitate them as it is promoted that they are very happy all due to their current body

weight or image. Some models post photos eating large amounts of food while wearing smiles on

their faces indicating they are living the perfect life, but what many young women do not realize

is that social media could be used to portray this fictional reality. The modeling industry is not as

fantastical as it is made out to be, it puts pressure on women applying for a modeling job to

maintain dangerously low body weights and sizes. In order to keep the jobs coming in, many

models fall to the horrors of eating disorders. A French model, Victoire Dauxerre, wrote a book

about her experiences in the industry from the time she was eighteen years of age. In her book,

she mentioned she was 5’10’ and weighed fifty-six kilograms when she first started, which

according to the BMI scale is underweight. Despite being underweight, she was told that “she

was too big for the sample clothes, and needed to lose at least two inches around her torso to fit

(Ekern, 2017).” After starting her battle with anorexia and bulimia and losing a significant

amount of weight in a short span of two months, she was finally accepted into work as a model

and celebrated for her unhealthy weight loss journey. Another model, Zusanna Buchwald, who

worked with major brands, reported that “she had ceased having a menstrual cycle for over three

years, struggled with teeth issues, and noticed changes in her skin color, hair texture, and loss of
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the most admired at this size, even though she felt unhealthy, weak, and unhappy” (Ekern, 2017).

As one can see from these examples, the modeling and fashion industries promote the thin body

image over mental and physical health. To further “perfect” the models, images from photo

shoots are then photoshopped, airbrushed and then sent out to the consumers consisting of young

and impressionable women. As many women look over their social media accounts filled with

unrealistic, inhumane beauty standards lacking the inclusion of natural female body sizes and

shapes they begin to feel ashamed of their own bodies and resort to following the footsteps of

these models in order to be as “successful and happy” as them.. The fashion and modeling

industries are not the only ones promoting unhealthy lifestyles, the celebrities that many young

people look up to promote this as well. One may also notice everyday advertisements online and

offline featuring women with the “idealistic body standards” implying their success is based

upon their image. With all these images splattered over many platforms, women have found

themselves slaves to societal standards, while destroying themselves mentally and physically.

Several studies have studied the association between social media use and eating disorders.

Exploring the Correlations between Social Media and Eating Disorders. A study

published by a team at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine explored the association

between eating disorders and social media use through the use of a cross-sectional survey in a

large, nationally representative sample of 1,765 young adults aged between nineteen to thirty-

two years old who were randomly selected to participate. Using the validated measures of the

SCOFF Questionnaire and Eating Disorder Screen for Primary Care (ESP), the research group

set out to assess the connection between the amount of time per day and the frequency per week

social media use had with eating disorders. “The two hypotheses for this study were: (1) two

different measures of social media use—volume and frequency—would be independently

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associated with eating concerns and (2) there would be a significant linear association between

the two different measures of social media use and eating concerns (Sidani, Shensa, Hoffman,

Hanmer & Primack, 2017).” “Median volume was 61 minutes per day (interquartile range [IQR]

= 30 - 135), while median frequency was 30 visits per week (IQR = 8.5 - 56.5).” The results of

the study yielded that both hypotheses proved to be correct and that there is indeed a strong and

consistent correlation between social media eating disorders. It was also mentioned that video-

sharing social media sites like YouTube found that “one-third of anorexia-related videos could

be classified as “pro-anorexia,” and these videos were more likely to receive higher viewer

ratings than “informative” videos, such as those highlighting the health consequences of eating

disorders.” The research also found that platforms like Pinterest and Instagram expose people to

influential visuals promoting the thin ideal through uses of hashtags such as #thinspo or

#thinspiration (Sidani et al., 2017). There are several other studies that support these results

further showcasing the harms of social media. Eating disorders such as anorexia are detrimental

to the body and are considered as “self-harm.” Many religions, such as Islam, preach against

self- harm and encourage physical and mental health.

Islamic Perspective. Islam is a way of life for Muslims. There are not specific seasons or

occasions in which a Muslim applies Islam; it is an everyday reality. The Islamic holy book, the

Quran, and the teachings of the Prophet, the Sunnah, not only provide teachings on spirituality

and morality, but also on physical and mental health. During the prophetic era, the Prophet

Muhammad (Peace be upon him) mentioned the importance of a person’s health on several

occasions. In a hadith (Prophet’s sayings) narrated by Tirmidhi, he is reported to have said, “No

supplication is more pleasing to Allah (God) than a request for good health ( Khan, 2015).” In

another hadith, narrated by Sahih Al-Bukhair, the Prophet said, “Taking proper care of one's
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health is the right of the body” (Juni, 2014). The recitation of the Quran is also often used as a

source of mental therapy as there are several verses that provide comfort for the one who is

struggling, such as, “For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease (Quran 94:5).” In chapter seven,

verse 188, Allah says, “Say, ‘I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what

Allah has willed.’” Here, God instructs his servants to do no harm to themselves or others. The

hadith of the Prophet and the verses of the Quran provide comfort, assurance, and an organized

way of life to make things easier on a person.

Conclusions

As the world advances and as technology and communication become more widespread,

the prevalence of body dysmorphia and eating disorders has increased in respect to the type of

media consumed by the average female. With several triggering factors, social media adds the

fuel to the fire through the distribution of the “thin body standard” using the fashion, modeling,

and beauty industries to promote artificial standards upon women. As many young women

already have complicated relationships with their bodies, they tend to be attracted to keeping up

with the latest beauty trends. With social media bombarding their feeds with thin bodies, they

begin to pursue unhealthy lifestyles to fit and imitate those images that ensure “success” and

happiness” and less self-acceptance. As women become preoccupied with self-image and food

intake, they destroy themselves mentally and physically. Several studies have shown the

correlations between social media and a person’s well-being as well as religious texts supporting

these studies by promoting self-care and avoidance of self-harm. Societal beauty standards place

inhumane pressures on women to look a certain way and lead to a significant neglect in their

overall mental health and self-acceptance. Women everywhere should be uplifted and told that
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happiness and success comes through embracing themselves as they are without trying to change

to fit any projected unrealistic images.

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