Abstract
PurposeSocial media use is ever increasing amongst young adults and has previously been shown to have negative effects on body image, depression, social comparison, and disordered eating. One eating disorder of interest in this context is orthorexia nervosa, an obsession with eating healthily. High orthorexia nervosa prevalence has been found in populations who take an active interest in their health and body and is frequently comorbid with anorexia nervosa. Here, we investigate links between social media use, in particularly Instagram and orthorexia nervosa symptoms.MethodsWe conducted an online survey of social media users (N = 680) following health food accounts. We assessed their social media use, eating behaviours, and orthorexia nervosa symptoms using the ORTO-15 inventory.ResultsHigher Instagram use was associated with a greater tendency towards orthorexia nervosa, with no other social media channel having this effect. In exploratory analyses Twitter showed a small positive association with orthorexia symptoms. BMI and age had no association with orthorexia nervosa. The prevalence of orthorexia nervosa among the study population was 49%, which is significantly higher than the general population (<1%).ConclusionsOur results suggest that the healthy eating community on Instagram has a high prevalence of orthorexia symptoms, with higher Instagram use being linked to increased symptoms. These findings highlight the implications social media can have on psychological wellbeing, and the influence social media ‘celebrities’ may have over hundreds of thousands of individuals. These results may also have clinical implications for eating disorder development and recovery.
Highlights
Social media use is constantly increasing, with 90% of UK young adults accessing social media platforms [1]
We focus on Instagram, as it is most prevalent in the healthy-eating movement [3] and assess other social media channels in an exploratory analysis
To assess the robustness of the correlation between ORTO-15 and Instagram use when controlling for potentially confounding demographic variables, we conducted linear regression analysis with ORTO-15 score as the outcome measure and Instagram use, age, BMI, ethnicity, and country of residence as the predictor variables
Summary
Social media use is constantly increasing, with 90% of UK young adults (aged 16–34 years) accessing social media platforms [1]. One example is the social media based healthy eating community, which has recently grown in popularity [2] While overall this movement has been positive, with members striving to eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods, there is a growing concern around it triggering negative behaviours and eating disorders [3]. Social media use has been associated with higher levels of depression in young adults [14], as well as eating disorders and related behaviours [15]. The reported negative effects of social media on psychological wellbeing, the role of Instagram in food sharing and negative social comparison, and the popularity of the healthy eating movement on Instagram suggests that there may be a positive relationship between ON and use of social media, and that Instagram may play a key role in the development and maintenance of disordered eating patterns. Here we assess whether there is a link between Instagram use and symptoms of ON
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