Berlin.
According to a study, the number of girls and young women with an eating disorder has increased significantly. There is a reason for this.
Hipsters, cropped T-shirts, mini skirts: the form-fitting fashion trends of the noughties are back and many young people in particular are celebrating them. Tiktok and Instagram are full of it. At the same time, a current study shows that medically diagnosed eating disorder like anorexia, technically called anorexia, bulimia and binge eating have continued to increase, especially during the corona pandemic. A great danger: Because anorexia is considered the deadliest mental illness.
According to data from the commercial health insurance company in Hanover (KKH), women are particularly affected – the proportion is highest among 18 to 29-year-olds. According to the KKH evaluation, 17.6 out of 1000 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 suffered from an eating disorder in 2021, compared to 13.4 a year earlier and 12.9 out of 1000 in 2019. In girls and young women of that age there was therefore one in the period massive increase by over 30 percent. According to the KKH, around 50,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are likely to be affected by an eating disorder nationwide.
Already last year the DAK health insurance numbers published that eating disorders increased by 33 percent among 10 to 14 year olds from 2019 to 2021 and by 54 percent among 15 to 17 year olds. Here, too, the Pandemic named as driver.
Reasons for increase in eating disorders during the pandemic
Eating disorders often begin during puberty or early adulthood, which is a particularly sensitive phase of life. “Puberty is a period in which adolescents are very susceptible to problems with their own body image or eating disorders,” she said psychotherapist Nadine Vietmeier.
According to her assessment, almost 20 percent of all children and adolescents in Germany show symptoms of an eating disorder. The peak age for first-time illnesses is 14.5 years, says Verena Haas, nutritionist and Head of the Research Section for Eating Disorders in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Charité.
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According to studies, the disappearance of social aspects during the corona pandemic seems to have increased vulnerability to stress and, as a consequence, susceptibility to eating disorders. Often would have teenagers Eating disorder-related thoughts and behavioral patterns are also used as a “coping mechanism” – i.e. a method of coping – to regain lost control, it is said.
Eating Disorders: Conscious Consumption of Social Media
In addition, the increased use of social media and the unhealthy comparisons that went with it – in addition to the lack of daily structure – led to the numbers increasing, explains Haas. “The more time especially young women on Social Media spend there and look at and compare pictures, the greater the feeling of dissatisfaction with one’s own body. This in turn changes eating behavior and is a well-known trigger for eating disorders,” says Haas.
Vietmeier also recognizes a connection between social media use and body image disorders, even if the effects are small: “Studies indicate that a reduction in the length of time social media is used leads to young people evaluating their bodies more positively,” says Vietmeier. Conscious consumption of social media is important, emphasizes the psychologist from the Charité.
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The body positivity trend, i.e. the depiction of a variety of bodies and that retouched images are marked as such, could reduce the negative influence of social media. Haas also likes the idea of the Bodypositivity, however, it has still not arrived far enough in everyday life, in schools and in advertising. And that is also proven by a look at the catwalks of this world.
Social media: acceptance of individual body shape
“But not only environmental influences like the current one Schönheitsideal and social media influence the body image of young people, but also personal factors such as how you treat your own body, genetic characteristics and self-esteem,” explains Vietmeier. Schools, doctors and parents have a responsibility to promote certain life skills such as critical thinking, self-awareness, building self-esteem and awareness of a healthy body and healthy body weight. “Studies show that prevention is effective in reducing eating disorders,” says the expert.
Haas adds: “One healthy body It’s different for each person, some are genetically lean and others are more obese or strong.” It is important for young people to develop an acceptance of their individual body shape and an understanding that they can slip into something unhealthy if they try to build it to change. “That’s why it’s essential to eat regularly, not to starve, not to go on a diet – not to force anything that nature didn’t intend,” says Haas, “and that you also eat sweets without a guilty conscience.”
Continue reading: Psyche – the corona pandemic continues to place a heavy burden on people
There can always be a trend that does not correspond to your own figure type. “No matter what your body looks like – at some point or by someone it will be criticized,” says Vietmeier. Then it is important that young people healthy self-esteem and being able to set limits, emphasizes the psychotherapist.
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