A recent study has found that teen girls who spend hours looking at photos on Facebook are more likely to experience body image problems that could lead to eating disorders.

The Daily Mail is reporting that the study, conducted by researchers at American University in Washington, DC, analyzed the Facebook use of 103 girls. The teens were then given a questionnaire to complete which was designed to test their body image satisfaction.

What researchers discovered is that the more time a girl spent looking at photos or sending “selfies” on Facebook, the worse was her body image satisfaction.

“It is not the total time spent on Facebook or the internet, but the amount of Facebook time allocated to photo activity that is associated with greater thin ideal internalization, self-objectification, weight dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness,” said researchers Evelyn Meier and James Gray.

In other words, even girls who are fit begin to see a very thin physique as being more attractive than their own. The resulting dissatisfaction with their body can lead to anorexia and other eating disorders.

Writing in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, researchers say Facebook also results in replacing traditional face-to-face conversation with a “digitized” version. Seeing a person in the flesh gives a different visual impression which the girls do not have access to while pouring over photos on Facebook.

“The more they look at photos on Facebook, the more likely they are to think of themselves as too fat or as having the wrong body shape,” the Daily Mail writes.

“Given the connection between eating disorders and body image distortion and dissatisfaction, it is important to identify contributing factors in this particularly vulnerable group,” said Journal editor Brenda K. Wiederhold. “By identifying these factors, we can move towards designing more effective prevention programs.”

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