Image by Alex Hairston

Over the last decade, anorexia has become an extreme issue within the media. We are seeing more and more people glamorize anorexic behaviors and scrutinize their bodies.

Research has shown that during the pandemic eating disorders  have skyrocketed. Teens that once had school, activities, and friends to entertain them suddenly had nothing to do, so they turned to social media which is known to negatively affect how many, especially teens body image. The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) states that out of all high school students who use social media more than 2 hours a day were 1.6 times more likely to experience body image issues. 

Posts glamorizing anorexia have not helped this problem but encouraged it. Many of these post  contain tips for the disorder and body checking.

Tumblr stands out as a problematic site when it comes to the glamorization of eating disorders. In the early 2000s, Tumblr had little to no restrictions of content, making it easy for people to post content glamorizing anorexia. Post with images of thin girls being labeled as “thinspo” and low calorie diets filled Tumblr with no consequences.

In recent years, though, Tumblr has increased their restrictions of posts like this on the app but, people are bypassing these restrictions by altering the tags of posts. So even with the restrictions, pro anorexia posts still fill the app. Tumblr has made many statements claiming they are trying their best to support and serve the community. though so far their methods have not worked. 

Besides Tumblr, we also see similar posts on Instagram and now TikTok. Instagram has since changed their community guidelines, making certain hashtags non-searchable. TikTok has also increased its restrictions on pro eating disorder content but, even with these precautions, the pro ED content still lives on these apps today. 

If you or a loved one is currently struggling with an eating disorder, please consider reaching out to the following resource:

ANAD Hotline

1-888-375-7767