I have recently started seeing ED related content on instagram and don’t remember ever looking at anything like this. It has made me wonder if this kind of content appears because of what someone else on my WiFi is doing (dd) or maybe people I’m connected to on insta? Is this how the algorithm works these days?
For context, there are some girls in dd’s wider friendship group at school who are struggling with eating issues, one has a diagnosed ED and I’m wondering if dd is looking up information or if she finds it intriguing. I have talked to her about it and she says she has not. She is in year 10, there is some competition among her peers. One girl’s mum gives her dd a hard time for not being slimmer, nagging her when she snacks and several of the girls do want to eat healthy foods only, which I thought was a good thing, no sweets, no ice cream, no pizza that sort of thing, they basically want to be thin.
Is there a social contagion element to all this? Isn’t there a fine line between encouraging each other to cut out sugar and processed food and competitive under eating? I should add that dd eats all her meals at home, no problem. She has stopped eating take away pizza when we order it and she declines treats and pudding.