A study published in the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine found a correlation between the use of social media and eating disorders in young adults living in the United States. The DSM-5 definitions indicate that up to 2.6 percent of the population will need bulimia nervosa recovery by the time they reach 20 years of age. This research showed a strong and repeated relationship between eating disorders and social media in a sample of about 1800 adults aged 19 to 25.
For this reason, any bulimia nervosa treatment center has to take the ubiquity of social media into account. In cases where self-image is impaired and comparisons against peers and celebrities are frequently made, social media can be a strong triggering factor in the rise of bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders.