Kartini Clinic for Children and Families

Pediatric Eating Disorder Treatment Program

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Are social media platforms making eating disorders in children worse?

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At least one school district in Seattle thinks so. Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has filed a suit in US DIstrict Court alleging that “defendants [social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat] affirmatively recommend and promote harmful content to youth, such as pro-anorexia and eating disorder content.” Essentially it appears SPS is saying such content exacerbates eating disorder symptoms and undermines effective treatment.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the issue is complicated. First some medical facts: eating disorders are biological brain disorders that are highly heritable (estimates – based on twin studies and genome-wide analyses – are as high as 74%; as a reference, that heritability is similar to the heritability of height in humans is estimated around 80%). This means eating disorders run in families and are emphatically NOT lifestyle “choices”, volitional behaviors on the part of patients, the result of bad parenting or the effects of images on social media. Such theories and explanations were once common but have in recent years been completely debunked by rigorous scientific studies (see above).   

At Kartini Clinic we like to put it this way: parents don’t cause eating disorders and children don’t choose to have them. Period.

So what about the role of social media? 

Consider the following analogy: can a child develop type 2 diabetes (T2DM) from looking at pictures of cheeseburgers? I think most of us would agree this sounds implausible and not very scientific. That’s probably because we understand and acknowledge T2DM to be a biological condition caused by complex interactions of genetics and environment. Eating disorders such as anorexia are no different.

This is not to say social media messaging can’t do any harm, for example by triggering behaviors or making children feel worse about themselves, which in turn could undermine effective treatment. After all, SPS is not alleging that social media platforms cause eating disorders but rather that they are contributing meaningfully (and, crucially, knowingly) to the disease burden on children suffering from these potentially devastating and deadly illnesses. 

At Kartini Clinic we certainly do share these concerns, and we would wholeheartedly support efforts such as additional mental health professionals in schools, lesson plans and additional training for teachers  provided they are grounded in a scientific understanding of these illnesses. Ultimately the key is to ensure that eating disorders are diagnosed promptly and treated effectively using evidence-based practices (i.e. grounding diagnosis and treatment in physical medicine and using behavioral health interventions such as family-centered treatment: families are almost always part of the solution to treatment in children, not part of the problem). Could the social media companies do better? Certainly. Perhaps they could “pair” content of concern with objective information about the causes, symptoms and potential for effective, life saving treatment of eating disorders in children. Although they aren’t directly responsible for these terrible illnesses, social media platforms could be powerful allies in helping us address this problem more effectively.

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School During Eating Disorder Treatment? Not To Worry

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During the school year, families are sometimes hesitant to have their child enter treatment in the Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) because they are worried about time away from school. The teachers at Kartini School understand your concern. 

Often, our patients are super-conscientious students who have done very well in school. They take advanced classes, and they get good grades. What will happen if they are not at their school, parents wonder?

Kartini teachers help students stay on track in their classes by working closely with their school during treatment. Kartini School, as an Oregon Alternative School, is partnered with many school districts around the state. As a result, students stay enrolled.

Our goal is to help students understand the concepts they are studying and enable them to fit in smoothly with their classmates, without missing a beat, when they return to school. These high achieving students almost always do just that!

Sometimes, we see kids who have not been doing well in school because of their health and/or COVID-related, less-than-perfect online school experiences.

Again, please don’t worry. When a student needs to catch up, we take that seriously. Many students missed key concepts over the past few years. We work with these students, one-on-one, to fill in the gaps.

So, do not delay critical medical treatment because of concerns about school. Whether your child is at the top of their class, or wondering if they can graduate, we will work with them and provide the support they need to be the best student they can be.

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Online Reviews

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This post is from Kartini Clinic CEO Morgan O’Toole. 

Online reviews have become part of our everyday lives. Who hasn’t glanced at the star ratings when Googling a new hair salon or looking for a restaurant to try out? Most of the time, online reviews are just another useful data point when trying to make a casual purchasing decision.

But more essential services like doctors’ offices and health clinics come with Facebook and Google ratings these days, too. Kartini Clinic is one of them. Unlike restaurants or hair salons, however, we are strictly limited in our ability to respond to reviews, even when they contain content that is factually untrue or even implies active wrongdoing on the part of clinic staff. While we are always grateful to receive constructive feedback and are eager to work with families to resolve any issues they have during their time at Kartini Clinic, when problems are expressed in the form of an online review, our options are very limited.

These reviews have also sometimes become a way for our young patients to express their frustration during a difficult period in their lives. One example occurred very recently: a spate of negative reviews, at least one of which was written under a pseudonym, claiming to be patients or friends of patients at Kartini Clinic, appeared in a matter of hours. Though treatment is spent working with parents and patients towards a positive, often live-saving goal, there is no question that the day-to-day process of recovery can be difficult. As we have discussed on this blog before, eating disorders are brain disorders. As with any brain disorder, children who suffer from them may be  looking at the world through a distorted perspective — including, in many cases, an inability to acknowledge that their disordered eating is problematic at all. This is a clinical phenomenon called anosognosia.

(Incidentally, this is also partly why Kartini Clinic believes so firmly that weight restoration must be the first step in treatment. Malnourishment only exacerbates these problems. No one’s brain functions properly when they’re starving.)

Parents, we urge you to engage your children on this subject. Please help us to ensure your child is expressing their fear and frustration in a constructive way. And if you have any feedback for Kartini Clinic, we encourage you to reach out to us at help@kartiniclinic.com, where we will be able to directly address your concerns. We always welcome the scrutiny.

We also invite parents to share their family’s experiences at Kartini Clinic, either publicly or privately. Private comments may be directed to an individual staff member, or to help@kartiniclinic.com. If you are willing to share publicly, you may do so on Google or our Facebook page.