Too Much Facebook May Lead to Eating Disorder

The eating-disorder blame game has a new player: Facebook. A study has found that the more time teen girls spend on the social network, the greater their risk of developing anorexia or bulimia. The researchers asked 248 girls, ages 12 to 19, about their Internet and TV habits, and eating thoughts and behavior. The researchers found that the more time girls spent on Facebook, the more likely they were to suffer from a laundry list of eating issues, from disorders to an increased urge to keep to a strict diet, reports the Daily Mail.

Facebook, unsurprisingly, disagreed with the findings: "Young people are surrounded by photo-shopped models in magazines and airbrushed film stars, but when they spend time on Facebook they’re with their friends. People spend hours with their friends every day in the real world, so we’re not convinced spending time with them on Facebook makes them any more likely to have an eating disorder," said a rep for the site. On the contrary, Facebook links teens with a network of friends and family, "the people this report’s authors say are best equipped to help people though eating disorders." (More eating disorder stories.)