London: The vast majority of teenage girls routinely doctor photographs of themselves before posting them on sites such as Facebook because of body image fears, a leading psychiatrist has warned.
As many as nine out of 10 girls in some schools now digitally enhance their pictures before sharing them online, according to Dr Pippa Hugo, a consultant at the Priory hospital in Roehampton, south-west London. Retouching pictures, to make themselves appear thinner for example, has become the “new normal” for young people fearing cyberbullying, said Dr Hugo, who specialises in eating disorders at the private hospital.
Doctors from Priory hospitals have been touring schools to raise awareness of eating disorders and offering advice to both teachers and pupils on steps they can take to recognise and combat the problem. The strategy includes talks on airbrushed celebrity photographs and the effects they can have on young people’s attitudes to real body shapes.
Specialists in eating disorders have warned that so-called “selfie” culture could be fuelling an increase in conditions such as anorexia. The Priory has seen the number of patients aged between 12 and 17 admitted because of such conditions jump from 75 in 2010 to 139 last year — a rise of 85 per cent, while NHS figures show the number of teenage girls treated in hospital for eating disorders doubling in the last three years, with 1,656 girls and young women under 19 admitted to hospitals in England in 2013-14. “Young people want to put their best possible appearance out there, but it is a false one,” said Dr Hugo.
“Schools have told us that as many as 80 to 90 per cent of girls feel they must improve their photograph before it can be seen on screen. So how can these young people feel normal and accepted in real life if they feel compelled to change themselves in this way?” She said traditional teenage pressures to look slim had been dramatically accentuated by the growth of social media and intense pressure from online bullying. Readily available image doctoring websites and online tutorials on digital enhancement have also made the practice commonplace, she added.
“Cyber scrutiny and bullying is not an unusual experience in our patients and it presents a dilemma for them as many feel they need to use Facebook and other social media channels to feel part of their peer group,” she said. “At the same time they are facing other pressures such as school changes, exams, difficulties in peer relationships. It’s not just girls; boys also develop eating disorders and are increasingly concerned with their appearance. Indeed 10 per cent of those with eating disorders are male.”
