José Francisco López-Gil, nutritionist: "We have seen an increase in the compulsive obsession for healthy food with social networks"

In recent years, the mental health of children and adolescents has deteriorated.

In addition to anxiety disorders or depression, factors that affect eating are among the most worrisome, but studies are lacking to understand how they start and how to prevent them.

A few days ago, a team of scientists led by José Francisco López-Gil (Archena, Murcia, 33 years old) published a pioneering work on the evaluation of the scope of these disorders.

According to a review of articles that was published in the journal

and which included data from 16 countries, 22% of children and adolescents suffer from these problems, which are the prelude to more serious disorders.

López-Gil, who carried out that work as a researcher at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, considers it essential to know the dimension of the problem and attend to the warning signs to prevent them from spreading further.

Their results confirm something that is usually taken for granted, such as that these problems with eating or the pressure to have a certain image, although they also affect boys, girls suffer more.

But the researcher considers that his results also point to some errors in the perception of the population about those who suffer from these ailments.

“Eating Disorders (ED), anorexia or bulimia are associated with thinness, but we have seen that the higher the body mass index, the higher the prevalence of eating disorders”, he affirms.

“And it makes sense, because a person with more excess body weight is likely to have a worse body image, self-esteem issues, and even bullying issues

in their educational center”, he adds.

“On many occasions it is assumed that the person who is overweight or obese is by choice, but this is not the case.

There are factors that depend on the individual, but there are others that do not.

This social pressure leads, on occasions, to the fact that the eating disorder is more frequent in these people, so it is very important to pay attention to them, ”he concludes.

Ask.

Like anxiety, eating disorders are more common in girls.

For what is this?

Answer.

We cannot point to a single factor, but we do have hypotheses about it.

On the one hand, there are the stereotypes that are generated through the ideal image represented in social networks or the media (especially in the female sex).

It may also be due to the greater social pressure on them for aesthetics.

Through social networks, a distorted image of reality is sometimes transmitted that is tried to imitate and could generate these behaviors, mainly in girls.

We have also seen a rise in anxiety, stress or depression disorders, and these mental health-related problems could be a mediator of eating disorders.

Q.

Other than identifying the problem, what can be done to prevent it from growing or shrinking?

R.

First of all, it is about improving the early detection of this type of behavior.

There are tools, such as the questionnaire that we have used, which includes five questions that can be answered with yes or no, and can be used to screen these eating disorders.

Thus, this behavior could be kept in mind a little more, through awareness raising in primary care or families.

It must be borne in mind that if we observe these behaviors in our children and they are maintained over time, they could lead to much more serious problems.

Secondly, campaigns should be carried out that promote a positive body image and correct eating habits.

Eating a large meal and then skipping several meals to compensate, for example, are behaviors that we should take into account.

We should work on these issues very early, because we are seeing that in this age group the prevalence is very high.

José Francisco López-Gil, specialist in eating disorders in children and adolescents. PABLO LASAOSA

Q.

What are the signs to watch out for?

A.

One factor is age.

The onset of these behaviors is usually between the ages of 12 and 14.

Other factors are excessive concern about body image, feeling overweight when others see you as thin, self-induced vomiting, or a large loss of body weight in a very short time.

And if you feel that food dominates your life, that is, eating and not being able to stop.

These are some of the aspects evaluated by this questionnaire.

It does not mean that if we have a boy or a girl with any of these symptoms in isolation we have to go immediately to mental health professionals, but if they persist for a long time, it may be a sign that we need to go to said professionals.

Q.

Do you think that it can be something positive to apply this type of questionnaire in schools or institutes to prevent, in the same way that adults measure their blood pressure or do blood tests?

A.

These questionnaires are not easy to apply in any context to obtain reliable results.

If the class tutor applies it, for example, and the student does not have a good relationship with him, perhaps he does not recognize a behavior, because he does not want that person to know about it or he is afraid that he will tell his parents or tutors.

But perhaps with a health professional or with a counselor who does not have such an active role in daily classes, it may be an alternative to use this tool and serve as screening.

The questionnaire is simple, but it must be applied by a person with knowledge in the area and who knows how to use it correctly.

Q.

And once the problem is detected, how is it treated?

R.

As the problem is multifactorial, the treatment must be multidisciplinary.

This is one of the mistakes that is often made.

Here there must be a place for psychiatrists or psychologists, who are usually the professionals who are believed to only be seen, but nutritionists or primary care doctors are also important in the prevention part.

Once the problem has appeared, in addition, physical activity and sports science professionals could also be key, because there are behaviors such as compulsive exercise that could be a symptom of an eating disorder.

José Francisco López-Gil, specialist in eating disorders in children and adolescents. PABLO LASAOSA

Q.

Sometimes eating disorders appear due to an excess of awareness about what is healthy and what is not.

How can you monitor your diet naturally, without going overboard?

R.

With the use of social networks such as Instagram or TikTok, we have seen an increase in behaviors related to orthorexia, which is a compulsive obsession with healthy food, and which must also be taken into account.

At the moment it is not an eating disorder defined as such, but these behaviors are on the rise, due to the comments, positive or negative, that can be received on social networks, due to the possibility of using filters that generate an unreal image of the person, for following people who show a behavior or a lifestyle in networks that later does not resemble reality or that are idealized figures.

All of these factors can increase these increasingly prevalent behaviors.

In prevention, it would be necessary to raise awareness that, on numerous occasions,

Q.

There is a lot of talk about the relationship between networks and anxiety or eating problems, but is it confirmed with data?

A.

There aren't that many.

We have carried out a study with adolescents from Archena, which we have not yet published, and where we have observed that there is an association between longer use of social networks and these eating disorders.

We cannot stop people from using technology, but it is possible that what we sometimes perceive as an enemy could also be the solution.

The frequent use of social networks and the integration into the lives of adolescents could be used so that, through these same networks and through recognized

, prevention campaigns aimed at children and adolescents are carried out.

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