Eating Disorder Websites & Teens

According to a new study, teens with eating disorders often turn to the Internet—sometimes for help with their problem, but also for new suggestions on ways to lose weight. Parents, however, seem largely unaware that their children are using the Internet to visit these websites. The study, published in a recent issue of Pediatrics, also found that teens who look for eating disorder information on the Internet are more likely to be hospitalized for their condition than teens who don't turn to the web.

The research highlights the need for parents to educate themselves about technology and talk to their children about what they're viewing online. The Internet, e-mail, and instant messaging are popular forms of communication for teens. While some sites provide reliable information about eating disorders, others promote a harmful message.

For the study, teens who had been evaluated for an eating disorder answered survey questions, along with their parents. While nearly half of all the teens hadn't visited an eating disorder website, of those who had, 41% visited a pro-eating disorder site, 36% had visited a pro-recovery site and 25% had been to both kinds of sites. Ninety-six percent of the teens who went to pro-eating disorder sites reported getting new weight-loss or purging information. More alarmingly, 46% who went to a pro-recovery site said they had gained new information about different weight-loss techniques.

About 53% of parents knew about pro-eating disorder websites, but just about as many thought their children weren't visiting these sites. Only 28% had brought up the subject of eating disorder websites with their teen. Almost two-thirds of parents were unaware that there were pro-recovery sites. Researcher's recommended that parents not deny their children access to the Internet, but instead learn more about what sites they visit and talk to them about it.