Dubai: Medical experts in the UAE are drawing attention to a disconcerting trend relating to the emotional attachment of women to social media and its fallout in the form of poor body perception and risky dieting.
The effects of heavy usage of social media manifest in increased self doubt, changed self perception, and create unrealistic expectations of body image among not only girls and teenagers but women of all ages.
Dr Madeeha Afridi, counselling psychologist at The Light House Arabia in Dubai, said this trend also applies to women in the UAE.
“I hear of women having a negative body image due to social media on a regular basis, as this has been a trend for the past few years,” she said.
Dr Madeeha explained that women have an ideal of who they want to look like, which is usually an unrealistic image of a model, actress, or singer, and they will go to great lengths to look like them. This can range from having restrictions on their diet to being consumed by self doubt about their body weight and other aspects of themselves like their hair, eyes and skin.
“Many tend to have recurring negative thoughts of wanting to look a certain way which can be destructive to their overall well-being,” said Dr Madeeha.
She said it had struck her in the course of her work that the trend was especially pronounced in females who have high exposure to social media.
Observing that the trend was quite apparent in the UAE, Nadine Aoun, specialist nutritionist at Medcare Hospital, pointed out that being thin is presented as the ideal body shape and is a necessary pre-requisite for happiness, health, social acceptance and even to get a job. “Falling short of this idea will lead anyone, especially women, to depression, poor self-esteem, and general body dissatisfaction,” she said.
For some, the obsession with the “perfect” body image starts at school during adolescence. Peer pressure and criticism about looks, weight, and body shape combined with images of celebrities on social media platforms play a role in creating a sought after “ideal image”, said Dr Nadine.
Facebook study
A study conducted by the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, also showed that women’s emotional attachment to Facebook can lead to poor perception of their body, which can be followed by risky dieting.
The study included 128 college-age women who completed an online survey about their eating habits and their emotional connection to Facebook. The survey included questions such as how much time they spent on the social networking site and number of Facebook friends, and whether they compared their bodies to friends’ bodies in online photos.
The study found that women who had a greater emotional connection to Facebook were more likely to compare their bodies to their friends’ bodies and to engage in more risky dieting, WebMD.com reported.
However, those who did not use the site to compare themselves to others were less likely to be concerned about body image or engage in risky dieting, the study found.
Dr Madeeha explained that the big difference among women who grew up without social media is that they discovered their sense of self within their immediate social group and their community at large. “Today’s girls and women have the world at their fingertips via the internet, which can lead to added confusion, pressures, insecurities, and doubts about their physical appearance,” she said.
Depending on the extent of online influence, women can begin to develop eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, the most common disorder associated with risky dieting. This disorder is characterised by low weight, fear of gaining weight, strong desire to be thin, and food restrictions, explained Dr Nadine. The second most common malady is Bulimia Nervosa, an eating disorder characterised by binge eating followed by self-induced purging.
With the expanding world of social media platforms and advanced technology, the trend is only expected to grow, experts agreed.
Dr Madeeha says that the earlier a girl is allowed by her parents to be on social media, the earlier she will begin to be exposed to external sources that can alter her personal beliefs and perceptions about her physical appearance, and other aspects of her life.
