Anorexia has become a significant concern for women in this era. In this age of social media, women in the age bracket of fifteen to forty years are heavy consumers of social media materials.Perlof defines Anorexia Nervosa as a psychological and social disorder associated with distorted body image and restricted food intake leading to loss of weight. Women are sensitive to their body image. Exposure to mainstream media and social networking sites magnifies the prevalence of anorexia in women as they tend to compare their body image to that of celebrities.A few scholars have reviewed the link between social media consumption and prevalence of anorexia in women. This paper explores the current understanding of anorexia in women by investigating the social media consumption as the causative factor, explores clinical understanding, sociological point of view, and proposes earlyclinical and social interventions to tackle this eating disorder.

Social Media Consumption as a cause of Anorexia in Women

The initial role of social networking sites such as Facebook, WeChat, Twitter, and Instagram was to dissolve communication barriers. However, their position has changed in the recent past as they have become a virtual world where people interact daily, posting photographs and videos of what they are experiencing in real life. Adolescent girls and young women have been caught in this wave where social media sets standards and definition of beauty. It is no longer an issue of appearance, but body image and size are now essential components and definitions of beauty. According to Sharan and Sundar, social media plays a crucial role in shaping self-image and perception woman, leading to the development of eating disorders such as anorexia.

In 2015, Sidani et al. carried out an explorative study to determine the impact of social media consumption and eating concerns in adolescents and young women. In a survey of one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-five participants, Sidani et al. found that social media compared to magazines and televisions contributed to significant concerns in body weight and self-image in women between ages nineteen to thirty-two years. Mayo Clinic describes anorexia patients as having a higher value on controlling their weight and shape through fear of gaining weight. Young women associate body size with food intake, hence they tend to avoid eating as they seek to maintain a figure and shape that is socially acceptable.

Clinical Understanding of Anorexia

While many people tend to link anorexia with food intake, scholars have documented significant results relating anorexia to self-image and esteem. People with anorexia do not accept the fact that the condition has both social and health impacts on the body. According toWozniak, patients with anorexia develop a refusal to food ingestion and are not ready for medication unless the condition reaches a critical level of hospitalization. The disease is pronounced in women as they view the slim figure as one that is socially acceptable in social media and social settings.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram create a virtual world where women can post their photos for comments and “likes.” A study by Sidani et al. found that young women associated the comments and number of “likes” they received on photos they posted on social media with their self-image. Comments like “cute, beautiful and amazing…” make the woman feel socially acceptable. On the other hand, lack of comments and “likes” makes the woman feel a low sense of self-esteem and develop a sense of denial.

Sociological Point of View on Social Media Consumption and Anorexia in Women

The sociological point of view is concerned with how society shapes the development and prevalence of anorexia in women. Generally, both the real or virtual world created by social networking sites has a significant impact on influencing the perception of women in society. The society has sexualized women by viewing them as objects of beauty. The sad part is that women have willingly embraced this perception and spend an enormous amount of time working on their physical appearance. When it comes to food intake, health, and body image, women tend to focus on their physical image at the expense of their health.

Beauty and nutritional companies have flooded women’s magazines and social media pages with images and tips on how to maintain a thin and acceptable figure.Holmes et al. explain that when overweight women are randomly asked about what they wish they could change about their bodies, most of them mention weight and body size as the first concern.A woman develops a sense of dissatisfaction and rejection when she realizes that she is not doing enough to maintain an acceptable body size and image. According toSibeoni et al. (8) and Wozniak et al. (23), some impacts of social media consumption have trickled to the family level.On social media, women are bullied or feel dissatisfied with their bodies.In real life, women feel avoided or distanced from their partners and friends in social groups. Some are bullied on the internet for being careless or overeating. Parents and other members magnify this feeling of denial and dissatisfaction by bullying their children or mocking them for failing to maintain an active life to keep a thin shape.

Clinical and Social Interventions

Clinical interventions focus on restoring health and minimizing the impact of anorexia in women. The preferred intervention is therapeutic intervention, but pharmacological and nutritional interventions could be preferred for severe cases (Mayo Clinic). Therapeutic interventions may take a form of counselingwhere the patient is made to accept and embrace the self-image. In severe cases, the patient may be hospitalized for medication. Since the denial of food ingestion affects the normal functioning of body organs, the patient may be placed on a diet.

Social intervention is the best approach to tackling and creating an anorexia-free society. It starts with addressing the objectification of women by viewing them as beautiful and sexual objects.Sexual objectification denies the woman her sense of value and dignity as expressed in Perlof (27).Companies advertising food and nutritional or beauty standards should not sexualize the bodies of women.Even though social media has made it nearly impossible to monitor Ads and campaigns targeting the beauty and appearance of young women, society can play a role of creating awareness on the link between anorexia how social networking sites indirectly promote it. Beauty standards are social constructions built to market products through the objectification of women. Beauty should not replace the health and dignity of a woman.

Social media has a direct impact on body image and self-perception. Women are significantly disadvantaged as society prioritizes beauty in place of a woman’s health. To fit in the acceptable virtual social media world and the real world, women tend to sacrifice their body size and weight. They avoid food and other nutritional diets to maintain slim and acceptable physical appearances.This leads to anorexia, a psychological disorder that attracts adverse health impacts on the body.Even though it is nearly impossible to tame social media consumption and its link to anorexia, awareness campaigns and psychotherapy can help both the affected group and those at risk of developing the disorder.

Works Cited

“Anorexia Nervosa.”Mayo Clinic.https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anorexia-nervosa/symptoms-causes/syc-20353591. Accessed 22 Feb. 2019

Holmes, Su et al. “Feminist approaches to Anorexia Nervosa: A Qualitative Study of a Treatment Group.”Journal of Eating Disorders, vol. 5, no 36, 13 Nov. 2017.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5682639/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2019

Perloff, M. Richard. “Social Media Effects on Young Women’s Body Image Concerns: Theoretical Perspectives and an Agenda for Research.”Feminist Forum Review Article.https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/55f5/811ee5d09f5bd42d3f6e71bc7aa4010154a2.pdf. Accessed 22 Feb. 2019

Sharan, Pratap, and Sundar, Shyam. “Eating Disorders in Women.”Indian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 57, no. 2, 2015, pp. 286-2965. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4539873/.Accessed 22 Feb. 2019

Sidani, Jaime E. et al. “The Association between Social Media Use and Eating Concerns among US Young Adults.” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 116, no 9, 2016, pp. 1465-1472. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5003636/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2019

Sibeoni, Jordan et al. “Metasynthesis of the Views about Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescents: Perspectives of Adolescents, Parents, and Professionals.”PLOS, 2017.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0169493&type=printable. Accessed 22 Feb. 2019

Wozniac, Greta et al. “Contribution of Social Media and Family Factors in Anorexia Nervosa.”Health Science Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2012. http://www.hsj.gr/medicine/contribution-of-social-and-family-factors-in-anorexia-nervosa.pdf. Accessed 22 Feb. 2019

Do you need high quality Custom Essay Writing Services?