Teenage girls who spend hours on the social networking website Facebook may be at a higher risk of developing an eating disorder, according to a new study from the University of Haifa in Israel, reports the DailyMail.
Researchers at the university surveyed 248 girls between the ages of 12 to 19, asking them about their television and Internet habits, as well as their self-image and general outlook on eating.
The results showed that the more time adolescents spent on Facebook, the more likely they were to develop warning signs of an eating disorder, hold a negative view towards eating, or feel the need to be on a strict diet.
Viewing websites dedicated to fashion or music, or watching television shows such as Gossip Girl also seemed to increase the likelihood of an eating disorder.
Rather than banning girls from viewing these websites and television shows – bans and limits caused the girls to feel less empowered – parents were best able to mitigate the effects simply by being engaged and informed about their daughters’ online life. The girls felt most empowered when their parents knew and discussed what was happening when their daughters were online.
Officials from Facebook, however, were doubtful of the results. "People spend hours with their friends every day in the real world, so we’re not convinced spending time with them on Facebook makes them any more likely to have an eating disorder, particularly when the research in question has a sample size of just 248," said a spokesperson from the social networking website.