From body shaming to fake news on treatments. The worst nightmares and dangers for obese people often travel on social networks. Yet TikTok and Whatsapp can be a real resource in fighting this disease. This was discovered through two studies by Antonella Franceschelli, internal medicine specialist, nutritionist and professor at the Unicamillus University of Rome, who noted that on the one hand, young people with obesity problems use Chinese social networks above all to find out about the disease, consequently analyzing the potential, and on the other hand how patients, when choosing their profile photo for the messaging app, reveal their discomfort with their physical appearance and how this should guide the doctor in taking charge. The two studies were presented at the Lido Casino in Venice, which is currently hosting the 31st European Congress on Obesity of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (Easo).
Franceschelli presented his research at the European congress on obesity, underway in Venice. “Over 90% of teenagers,” he reminded him, “have at least one social media account. These spaces can represent an engaging way to support adolescents and young adults in maintaining a healthy diet and learning information regarding nutrition in general and obesity treatment.” After studying the ways in which young people seek information on obesity, the researcher opened a dissemination profile on TikTok and evaluated the data of 108 TikTok videos published from September 6, 2021 to February 17 of this year. The most viewed video was dedicated to semaglutide, an anti-diabetes drug studied for obesity, it was viewed almost one million (959,536) times, with an audience made up of 57% women and 4% (around 38,000) young people aged between 18 and 24.
“The results demonstrate that social networks are a tool that the doctor must learn to use in the context of his activity”, the researcher explains to Adnkronos Salute. As regards messaging “we analyzed the Whatsapp images of 59 patients suffering from obesity relating to our clinic (49 women, 10 men, average age 53 years, average body mass index (BMI) 32 kg/m2, the analysis was aimed at identifying the presence of body dysmorphic behaviors, for example choice to show the face but not the body or an image of something else. Images of objects, real or otherwise, landscapes, animals and/or other people/characters. “This study – underlines Franceschelli – highlights the presence of body dysmorphia starting from the Whatsapp profile images of patients with obesity, suggesting an interesting discrepancy between the personal perception of body image and physical reality. The identification of these patterns could have relevant implications for the clinical management of patients with obesity, opening new avenues of intervention and psychological support”.
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