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SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH Is a healthy social media possible? Keeping a positive mind-set about our bodies online and offline
As we spend endless days and weeks within the four walls of our homes in lockdown UK, with others or alone, with balconies or gardens or maybe just a window, many of us wonder how we’ll emerge from this isolation. “Divorced, broke, depressed, fat,” predicted one joke floating around Facebook recently. A beforeand-after lockdown photo showed Aquaman at quarantine day 1, who had turned into Rubeus Hagrid from Harry Potter by day 30. A meme shared by a friend showed a woman in lockdown making bread and mistaking her own protruding belly for the dough. My baking group had a posting of a Fitbit photo between the waffles and scones, so we don’t feel fat from looking at all the food photos. Even amidst a deadly pandemic, we still manage to worry about how our bodies will look when they emerge from this crisis. All this isn’t entirely surprising though, as body image concerns are widespread and affect most of us even under normal circumstances. My research on female university students in America showed that 86% of participants wanted to lose weight; the difference between their real and ideal weight was close to 9 kilograms on average. That was despite the fact that the mean weight of the study sample aligned with the mean weight of 19-year-olds in the country. In other words, people of healthy weight can also have poor body image. Body dissatisfaction is a universal problem too. A 2017 research report by Dove on 10-17-year-old girls in 14 countries showed that “only 46% of girls globally had high body esteem”. Of the countries studied, the UK was in the bottom three and only China and Japan scored worse. In the UK, 39% of girls had good body image. The consequences from such poor attitudes are widespread and serious. Nine out of 10 girls in the UK with low body esteem reported skipping meals, avoiding meeting friends and family or trying out for a team, according to the report.
While poor body image is experienced by people of all ages, it remains in sharper focus among children and young people. The frequent use of social media by this age group poses an additional challenge as researchers, educators and parents keep asking how these two factors intersect. The abovementioned research on American university students did in fact show a relationship between the two. More time spent on Facebook related to more body and weight comparisons, more attention to the physical appearance of others and more negative body attitudes after viewing posts and photos. For the young women who wanted to lose weight (the vast majority of the sample), more time on Facebook also related to stronger symptoms of disordered eating. These results surprised many when they were first publicised in 2014 and sparked significant coverage and debate in mainstream media. But what I found surprising was the huge interest in the topic among young people, their parents and teachers. They were curious to learn more and eager to discuss how they engage with social media and how they felt about it. This interest has inspired me to reach out to the public and to become more engaged in the debate about social media and its repercussions for mental health. Over the past five years, I have given talks at schools, universities, and public events, including via TEDx, and spoke to mental health professionals and advocates. As social media has continued to develop over the years, the discussion of its benefits and drawbacks has also advanced. Young people no longer wonder if spending long hours on
Poor body image can be a challenge across the lifespan. Many middle-aged women face the same challenges of being dissatisfied with their bodies and placing too much importance on shape and weight for their self-concept. One study has reported that 54 is the age when the average woman is least satisfied with her body. Men aren’t immune to doubts either, as many worry not only about their body weight and shape, but also about hair loss and other image issues.
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Spring 2020, Issue No.6 ]
