Social Media Use and Risk of Eating Disorders in Adolescent Girls from a School in Lima, Peru
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12873/453narreaKeywords:
Adolescents, Social Media, Eating disordersAbstract
Background: Social media use has significantly transformed adolescents’ lifestyles, raising concerns about its impact on health and eating behaviors due to its potential association with eating disorders.
Objective: To determine the relationship between social media use (SMU) and the risk of eating disorders (ED) in adolescent girls aged 14 to 17 years from a school in Lima, Peru.
Methods: Observational, analytical, cross-sectional study conducted with 269 secondary school students. The Social Media Addiction Questionnaire (ARS) was used for the “Social Media Use” dimension, and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was employed to assess the risk of eating disorders (ED). Sociodemographic and anthropometric variables were collected. The analysis included descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, Pearson’s chi-square, and Poisson regression models with robust variance, adjusted for age and BMI-for-age category.
Results: The mean age was 14.9 ± 0.73 years, and the prevalence of ED risk was 35.7%. Adolescents at risk of ED had significantly higher SMU scores (21.24 ± 6.77) compared to those not at risk (19.36 ± 5.94; p = 0.019). Regression analysis showed that each additional point in SMU was associated with a 3% higher prevalence of ED risk (adjusted PR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.005–1.054).
Conclusions: Higher social media use was associated with an increased risk of ED in adolescent girls, independent of age and BMI-for-age. These findings underscore the need for educational strategies promoting critical social media consumption and ED prevention among adolescents.
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