--- title: Eating disorders are on the rise. GLP-1s could make... description: Global cases of anorexia and bulimia rose 71% between 1990 and 2023, reaching an estimated 18.1 million people, according to a study published in JAMA... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/eating-disorders-are-on-the-rise-glp-1s-could-make-things-worse--si0vinduy twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Eating disorders are on the rise. GLP-1s could make things worse. | daily.dev og:description: Global cases of anorexia and bulimia rose 71% between 1990 and 2023, reaching an estimated 18.1 million people, according to a study published in JAMA... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/eating-disorders-are-on-the-rise-glp-1s-could-make-things-worse--si0vinduy og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Si0vinDUY.png og:image:alt: Eating disorders are on the rise. GLP-1s could make things worse. og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Eating disorders are on the rise. GLP-1s could make things worse. **[MIT Technology Review](https://daily.dev/sources/technologyreview)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Global cases of anorexia and bulimia rose 71% between 1990 and 2023, reaching an estimated 18.1 million people, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers project the number could hit 21.8 million by 2050. Clinical psychologist Cheri Levinson says many of her patients are misusing GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. In a small study, 30% of people with eating disorders had used GLP-1s, and 10% appeared to have misused them. In one study, TikTok users with eating disorders were fed 4343% more 'toxic eating disorder' videos than other users. Guidelines published this month recommend that doctors screen for eating disorders before prescribing GLP-1s. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What percentage of people with eating disorders have used GLP-1 weight-loss drugs? A small study by psychologist Cheri Levinson and colleagues found that 30% of people with eating disorders had used GLP-1 drugs, and about 10% appeared to have misused them. Levinson believes both figures are likely underestimates, and her team has seen children develop eating disorders after being prescribed GLP-1s or buying them through TikTok. _Anyone weighing the risks of GLP-1 prescribing can follow emerging clinical guidance like this on daily.dev._ ### How much have global eating disorder rates increased since 1990? The global incidence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa rose 71% between 1990 and 2023, according to a JAMA Psychiatry study covering 204 countries and territories. An estimated 18.1 million people had one of these two disorders in 2023, a figure researchers project could reach 21.8 million by 2050, costing about 3.83 million years of healthy life in 2023 alone. _Readers tracking public health research trends can follow studies like this one on daily.dev._ ### Do social media algorithms show more harmful content to people with eating disorders? Yes, University of Melbourne researchers found that TikTok's algorithm delivered 4343% more 'toxic eating disorder videos' to users with eating disorders than to users without them, with many fed over 1,000 problematic videos per month. The content also skewed heavily toward dieting and exercise, prompting one psychologist to describe social media as 'quicksand' for at-risk users. _Developers researching algorithmic harm and recommendation systems can track findings like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [We’re still figuring out the side effects of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs](https://daily.dev/posts/we-re-still-figuring-out-the-side-effects-of-glp-1-weight-loss-drugs-mxxfamfxk) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [GLP-1 may slow biological aging](https://daily.dev/posts/glp-1-may-slow-biological-aging-do1ipu6ql) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Weight-loss drugs show signs of slowing biological aging, say drugmakers](https://daily.dev/posts/weight-loss-drugs-show-signs-of-slowing-biological-aging-say-drugmakers-aq5no0zwq) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [What we still don’t know about weight-loss drugs](https://daily.dev/posts/what-we-still-don-t-know-about-weight-loss-drugs-fonlsys9f) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI chatbots are helping hide eating disorders and making deepfake ‘thinspiration’](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-chatbots-are-helping-hide-eating-disorders-and-making-deepfake-thinspiration--mn1ab7iei) · The Verge · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#social-media](https://daily.dev/tags/social-media), [#healthcare](https://daily.dev/tags/healthcare), [#mental-health](https://daily.dev/tags/mental-health) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/eating-disorders-are-on-the-rise-glp-1s-could-make-things-worse--si0vinduy) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Eating disorders are on the rise. 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