Answer Addiction

Tag: disordered eating

  • Weight Watchers Criticized For Kids “Diet” App

    Weight Watchers Criticized For Kids “Diet” App

    Critics claim that the app’s focus on categorizing food could lead to disordered eating in children.

    A new app is getting flack for promoting dieting in children and teenagers.

    Kurbo, released by WW (formerly Weight Watchers) on Aug. 13, was designed to help young people aged 8-17 lose weight in a “healthy” way, but it’s garnered outrage among those who say it promotes disordered eating.

    Good Food, Bad Food

    The app utilizes a “traffic light system” to help kids discern which foods are “good” and “bad.”

    “Green light foods, including all fruits and veggies, are great to eat anytime. Yellows like lean proteins and pasta are also good. You’ll just watch your portions,” according to Kurbo’s official website. And “red foods, like candy and soda? You don’t have to give them up. Just stop and think how to budget them in.”

    WW says the method is supported by science, but according to a petition seeking the removal of Kurbo, “Categorizing foods like this can lead to food guilt or anxiety.” The change.org petition had nearly 108,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.

    The traffic light system is the same one used by Stanford’s Pediatric Weight Control Program, according to the app’s developer, Joanna Strober. She created Kurbo to help her son manage his weight, per a pediatrician’s advice, she told USA Today. A mobile app was preferable to her son, who did not like attending the program in person. The family also had trouble affording the cost of the program.

    Gary Foster, WW’s chief science officer, told USA Today that Kurbo is not only evidence-based, it is preferable to the barrage of unhealthy weight loss strategies and “unrealistically thin ideals” that are promoted on social media.

    “It’s a simple way to teach kids a healthy pattern of eating,” said Foster. “Everything that’s in the app is science based. It’s not about dieting. It’s not about calorie counting. It’s not about restrictions. This is not a diet that says get rid of red foods, only eat green foods.”

    Negative Reviews

    There are plenty of negative reviews of Kurbo on Google Play and Apple’s App Store claiming the app is “preying” on parents’ fears of disordered eating and diabetes. However, one App Store reviewer left a solid five star review, slamming the app’s critics.

    “Everyone seems angry about this app, and it’s making me enraged,” reviewer KikiKite, who is in recovery from anorexia, said in late August. “America has a weight problem, and here is a well-known and trusted establishment creating an app to help promote HEALTH.”

    While a representative for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Sarah Armstrong, acknowledged that the method used in Kurbo is supported by research and is effective when combined with counseling and other modes of treatment, she said the app itself is new and its effectiveness is to be determined.

    Armstrong also said there is some truth to the claim that focusing on diet and nutrition can lead to disordered eating. “There is some evidence that talking about weight particularly even by family members in kids of any weight, shape, or size, not necessarily just in kids with obesity, can make kids really start over-focusing on it and can lead to restrictive eating… that is associated with more unhealthy outcomes.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Does Social Media Affect Disordered Eating?

    How Does Social Media Affect Disordered Eating?

    A new study suggests that social media platforms may be having the opposite effect on disordered eating than is expected.

    Social media is often blamed for a number of societal ills—depression, anxiety, bullying, isolation, and negative body image.

    A new essay published on The Conversation explored social media’s relationship with disordered eating—e.g. anorexia or bulimia nervosa. The authors cite recent findings that found that overall, “fewer young people are being diagnosed with eating disorders.”

    The authors, who were involved in the research, analyzed a primary care database covering about 7% of England’s population, focusing on data of more than one million children and young people who went to the doctor between 2004 and 2014.

    On The Decline

    “Rates decreased most significantly for bulimia nervosa, less so for eating disorders not otherwise specified, and remained stable for anorexia nervosa,” the authors wrote.

    The results were surprising, and suggest that social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook may be having the opposite effect than is expected. The authors suggest that “the body positivity and range of body shapes and sizes seen on social platforms is helping young people accept their own selves.”

    This idea goes against existing theories about social media’s detrimental impact on body image. There is no shortage of social media “influencers” with curated feeds of picture perfect selfies.

    “The mechanism where this might lead to eating concerns and disordered eating seems sensible,” the authors said. “But our study doesn’t currently support that.”

    Continued research on the matter is starting to pick away at these assumptions.

    Shared Experiences

    While social media platforms like Instagram have been found to unite communities bonded by the shared experience of disordered eating and working toward objectively unhealthy body goals, they also have united people who are seeking recovery.

    So, instead of frequenting hashtags like #thinspiration, #proana and #thighgap, Instagram users on the road to eating disorder recovery may find their community through #edrecovery, #edsurvivor and #beatana. (“Ana” refers to anorexia nervosa.)

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Eating Disorders Present In Teen Boys

    How Eating Disorders Present In Teen Boys

    Doctors and parents may miss the signs of disordered eating in younger men because ED assessment tools are geared towards women. 

    Eating disorders are typically thought of as a struggle faced by girls and women.  

    However, according to Reuters, teen boys are also susceptible—eating disorders may just present differently for them, as the goal is often to build muscle rather than lose weight.  

    Dr. Jason Nagata of the University of California San Francisco and his colleagues explore the topic in a recent commentary in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, and stated that often the most well-known eating disorder symptoms like restricting calories and purging are signs of the disorder in females, not males. 

    “Many assessment tools that are currently standard practice to diagnose eating disorders are geared toward females and are based on weight loss behaviors with the goal to become thin,” Nagata said via email.

    Because of this, he says, doctors and parents may miss the signs of disordered eating in younger males. These signs often include eating too much protein, cutting carbs and fats, and going back and forth between too many calories and too few. Steroids or supplements and excessive exercise may also come into play, Nagata states. 

    “Exercise is an under-recognized component of eating disorders,” Nagata said, according to Reuters. “Teenagers who excessively exercise can have energy deficits and become malnourished if they do not increase their food intake to match their energy needs.”

    Nagata and his colleagues add that teen boys have also been known to take part in “biohacking,” which has to do with attempting to build muscle via methods like elimination diets, steroid use, supplements and intermittent fasting. 

    Dr. Trine Tetlie Eik-Nes, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, was not involved with Nagata’s team but states that disordered eating in males can be hard to diagnose since there is little research about them. 

    “We are basically not asking the right questions for boys,” Eik-Nes said. “Consequently, boys do not get access to treatment and they do not themselves see their problems as an eating disorder. Moreover, boys may be less familiar with talking about negative feelings, body image ideals and eating disorders.”

    According to Nagata, there are some telltale signs to watch for in males. 

    “Disordered eating may develop when a boy becomes preoccupied with his appearance, body size, weight, food, or exercise in a way that worsens his quality of life,” Nagata said. “He may withdraw from his usual activities or friends because of concerns with body size and appearance.”

    Dr. Antonios Dakanalis, a researcher at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, was not involved in Nagata’s commentary but adds that it can be harder for boys to reach out and ask for help. 

    “Males can face a double stigma—about having a disorder characterized as feminine or gay, and seeking psychological help,” Dakanalis said via email.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Study: Tinder Users More Likely To Have Eating Disorders

    Study: Tinder Users More Likely To Have Eating Disorders

    Though men were more likely across the board to engage in any single unhealthy weight control behaviors, women were more likely to have practiced all of them.

    People who use dating apps like Tinder are 2.7 to 16.2 times more likely to have an eating disorder or engage in unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) such as fasting, vomiting, or abusing laxatives, according to a recent Harvard study.

    Researchers surveyed over 1,700 U.S. adults ages 18 to 65 in the fourth quarter of 2017 and discovered a strong correlation between the behavior of swiping for dates and going to extremes to look good.

    The study examined eating disorders and related behavior over all dating apps, but specifically mentioned Tinder, Grindr, and Coffee Meets Bagel. The survey found that about 33% of men and 17% of women who responded use dating apps, and of those, unhealthy and disordered weight management practices were significantly elevated.

    About 45% of female dating app users and 54% of male dating app users reported fasting for weight control. Respectively, those numbers were 22.4% and 36.4% for vomiting, 24% and 41.1% for laxative use, 26.8% and 40.2% for diet pill use, 15.8% and 36.4% for anabolic steroid use, and 20.2% and 49.8% for muscle-building supplement use.

    Though men were more likely across the board to engage in any single UWCB, women were more likely to have practiced all of them.

    “Women who use dating apps had 2.3 to 26.9 times the odds of engaging in all six UWCBs compared to women who were non-users,” the authors wrote. “The same trend of elevated odds was found among men. Men who use dating apps had 3.2 to 14.6 times the odds of engaging in all six UWCBs compared to men who were non-users.”

    People of color were also found to be more likely to practice and all of the examined UWCBs.

    Study author Dr. Alvin Tran of the Yale School of Medicine told CNBC that the nature of dating apps could be creating an environment in which appearance is heavily emphasized, as well as “avenues for racism and avenues for body shaming.” Dr. Tran and his fellow researchers point to an analytical paper in Sexuality & Culture titled “Dude, Where’s Your Face?” 

    “Results indicated that men tended to privilege masculinity, to visually present themselves semi-clothed, and to mention fitness or bodies in the text of their profile,” the paper’s abstract reads. 

    Dr. Tran’s study notes that it’s unclear whether using dating apps leads to UWCBs or whether those who already engage in these behaviors are more likely to use dating apps. They also acknowledge that their survey sample was entirely U.S.-based and over-represented women, and recommend that “future studies aim to assess the association between dating app use and UWCBs temporally and use a more representative sample.”

    View the original article at thefix.com