Woodard 1

Taysha Woodard
February 25, 2015
English IV
DeBock
Eating Disorders
Social media is constantly flaunting tall, skinny, flawless celebrities and models. Social
Media defines these women as the ideal image, the most satisfying to look at. These beautiful
celebrities can put pressure on young girls because just like the celebrities, teenagers want to
strive to be beautiful. The medias definition of beautiful is what all the celebrities on TV have in
common: to be skinny. Social media causes teens to develop eating disorders such as Anorexia
Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Anorexia Athletica.
To start off, many different eating disorders are around today. Anorexia is an intense fear
of gaining weight. The two types of Anorexia are, Anorexia Nervosa and Anorexia Athletica.
People who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa use extreme efforts to control their weight. They also
end up having low body temperatures, low blood pressure, dry skin, and brittle nails (Ferguson).
People with Anorexia Athletica cause serious damages to their body. These people over exercise
in order to lose as much weight as possible. A problem with this disorder is that the victim is
already depleted of nutrients because they do not eat. When they try to exercise they are burning
off fat that they do not have (Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in Adolescent
Girls). This causes them to become sicker because they are pushing their bodies to the limit and
do not have enough nutrients to balance their health. Bulimia is an eating disorder where the
victim is trying to avoid gaining weight by counting their calorie intake and throwing up if they
feel they ate too much.

Woodard 3
Self-Perception is influenced by mass media to and extreme extent. Many people in the
world are significantly discontent with the look and shape of their body. Millions of people feel
that they should lose weight (Kazmierczak, Patryn, and Niedzielski). The way people look at
their own body is determined by peers, celebrities, and models found on social media. After
seeing the beautiful celebrities on T.V and in magazines people are desperate to have the look
that these models have (Kamierczak, Patryn, and Niedzielski).
Mass media could be a casual risk factor for negative body image in teenagers. According
to Levine and Murnen, the way celebrities portray themselves are one of the major causes for
teens developing eating disorders. They set a high standard image that teens want. This causes
the teens to attempt to make significant changes to their body by not eating or by throwing up
their meals. Teenagers are more inclined to try to become just like a celebrity by taking the
situation into their own hands, developing eating disorders while doing this (Levine and
Murnen).
Social media causes teens to develop eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia
Nervosa, and Anorexia Athletica. Through researching the various types of disorders it is obvious
that these disorders need to be addressed. Many people in the world who feel that they are
overweight, causing them to suffer from these diseases. Teenagers will strive to become skinny
and they destroy their bodies for a piece of mind that they will never get.

Woodard 3
Works Cited
Ferguson, Christopher1, Ferguson1111@aol.com, et al. "Concurrent And Prospective Analyses
Of Peer, Television And Social Media Influences On Body Dissatisfaction, Eating
Disorder Symptoms And Life Satisfaction In Adolescent Girls." Journal Of Youth &
Adolescence 43.1 (2014): 1-14. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 17 Feb. 2015.
Kamierczak, Natalia, Rafa Patryn, and Antoni Niedzielski. "Influence Of Mass Media On
Emergence Of Eating Disorders Amongst Young People." Polish Journal Of Public 6363
Health 123.4 (2013): 301-304. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
Levine, Michael P., and Sarah K. Murnen. "Everybody Knows That Mass Media are/are Not
[pick one] a Cause of Eating Disorders": A Critical Review of Evidence for a Causal Link
Between Media, Negative Body Image, and Disordered Eating in Females." Journal Of
Social & Clinical Psychology 28.1 (2009): 9-42. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20
Feb. 2015.