Beauty filters on ‘dangerous’ social networks, in a context in which the obsession with physical fitness turns into illness, because they confirm the sense of inadequacy. Thus, on the eve of the National Day of the ‘Lilac Bow’, dedicated to the prevention of eating disorders, the Italian Association of Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition, focuses attention on all types of eating disorders and in particular on some increasingly more difficult to diagnose.
“When we talk about nutrition and eating disorders, we immediately think of anorexia or bulimia, but there are even more subtle and apparently less serious forms such as orthorexia or vigorexia. It is increasingly found among young people and not only that, a morbid obsession for perfection that translates into very intense physical training plans and rigid and nutritionally deficient eating patterns.And the filters and standards of beauty proposed by social networks only fuel the sense of inadequacy which very often haunts those suffering from this kind of disorder”, say the specialists.
“The most frequent syndromes are now very far from the classic and best known cases of mental anorexia, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder”, comments Carmela Bagnato, Adi secretary “In the last ten years, but above all in the last 3 – she continues – there have appeared in the adult and very young population, eating disorders linked to psychiatric comorbidities, unfortunately extremely severe forms and difficult to treat.Pathologies which, if not recognized in time and not treated appropriately, can become chronic, with consequent very high costs for the individual, for the family and for society”.
‘The families of patients with eating disorders are a great resource but they need to be helped’
“The beauty filters proposed by social algorithms, dangerous cultural trends focused on the physical appearance and on food models considered healthy – adds Bagnato – certainly do not help in this, on the contrary they constitute relevant risk factors and explain why some categories are particularly exposed to the onset of eating disorders that actually express a profound identity malaise”.
According to the Adi experts, it is important to work on the support that families can give in identifying these diseases early through the observation of important physical changes and disturbed eating behaviors such as restrictions, binge eating, food selectivity, but also physical hyperactivity and body dissatisfaction, exaggerated concern about food and weight, social isolation, mood swings and a tendency to avoid certain social and convivial contexts associated with meals.
“The families of patients with nutrition and eating disorders can also be a great resource in the therapeutic process by supporting their children – explains Annalisa Maghetti, ADID national councilor – but in turn they must be helped in the management of these pathologies which have a all-encompassing and destabilizing effect on parental equilibrium”. Only “with careful multidisciplinary work can we arrive at an early diagnosis of the disorder and its treatment – adds Barbara Paolini, president of Adi – accompanied by intensive prevention campaigns also extended to the world of school and sport. The pandemic from Covid- 19 has unfortunately amplified the onset of these phenomena, isolation has certainly not helped, for this reason the scientific community must equip itself to deal with them”.