Is Facebook Leading Young Women to Dangerous Diets?

If you spend a lot of time on Facebook, have an unusually high number of friends, and/or find yourself using the site to contrast your life to your friends’, researchers at the University of North Carolina would say you have a “strong emotional connection” to Facebook.

And young women with a strong emotional connection to Facebook, they found, are significantly more likely to compare their bodies to their friends' and to practice risky dieting.

But those who used Facebook, but weren't so attached to the site that they used it to judge their own bodies? They were no more likely to engage in risky dieting than those who didn’t use the site at all.

It’s an interesting study that sheds light on how much we use social media, how we frame it, and the unknown impacts it can have on us. Here’s what you don’t know.

Someone forward you this email? No Sweat! Sign up here to get your own If you're having trouble viewing this email, click here Follow Us Is Facebook Leading Young Women to Dangerous Diets? If you spend a lot of time on Facebook, have an unusually high number of friends, and/or find yourself using the site to contrast your life to your friends’, researchers at the University of North Carolina would say you have a “strong emotional connection” to Facebook. And young women with a strong emotional connection to Facebook, they found, are significantly more likely to compare their bodies to their friends' and to practice risky dieting. But those who used Facebook, but weren't so attached to the site that they used it to judge their own bodies? They were no more likely to engage in risky dieting than those who didn’t use the site at all. It’s an interesting study that sheds light on how much we use social media, how we frame it, and the unknown impacts it can have on us. Here’s what you don’t know. Nicholas English Content Manager of About.com Health How Social Media and Online Images Are Changing Eating Disorders    READ NOW What Photoshopped Pictures of Skinny Models Do to Your Diet    READ NOW 5 Healthy Body Resolutions for Everyone    READ NOW How to Kick Your Facebook Addiction    READ NOW Trending Now • Here's the Exercise That Works More Muscles Than Any Other • 6 Surprising Reasons You Keep Having an Allergic Reaction • Why Should We Care Kim Kardashian Is Promoting a Morning Sickness Pill? • How to Prevent Disease With a Whole-Food Diet • What Fitness Pros Eat to Look Tight and Toned • The Simply Guide to Performing a Breast Self Exam • How Is ADHD Different for Boys and Girls? Advertisement About Health  |  Follow Us You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Health newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here 1500 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10036 © 2015 About.com - All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.