Anorexia and other eating disorders are being fuelled by online food bloggers giving out bad advice, a health clinic has claimed.
According to specialists at the Priory, Facebook and Instagram dietary sites run by bloggers who have little expertise in nutrition are promoting dangerous diets.
Due to the growing popularity of Instagram and YouTubers, their word is taken as ‘gospel’ by teenagers, even though some of the diets are potentially dangerous for growing bodies.
Many of the diets cut out vital food groups such as gluten, dairy and sugar, often containing a dangerously low amount of calories.
Specialists at the clinic have said new promoted trends such as juicing and spiralising can be dangerous if not consumed as part of a balanced diet.
Most vulnerable are those with low self-esteem, who rigidly stick to the diets so much that they develop a disorder.
Eating disorder specialist at the Priory’s main hospital at Roehampton, Alexia Dempsey, said: “It is astonishing how many of our patients have Instagram accounts and follow their dietary gurus on social media, believing what is written is gospel.”
Around 121 patients under the age of 18 were admitted to the Priory Group’s 327 health facilities across the UK and the most common age of those admitted was 14.
MORE ABOUT