A recent Internet trend could pose a health concern for young women, especially those in college.
The trend, called the thigh gap, has shown up on social networking sites like Pinterest and Tumblr and features a picture of a girl whose thighs are too thin to touch when the girl’s feet are touching. Often, the picture is accompanied with a caption or watermark that says “feet together, thighs apart.”
Caroline Payne-Purvis, a 27-year-old UF doctoral candidate in health education and behavior, said this new fad promotes unhealthy body expectations.
“Through social media, teenagers are now feeling that they have to conform through the Internet as well as through everyday life,” she said. “Objectification has been found to be associated with eating disorders and depression, especially among girls that don’t meet that body type.”
Some students see the trend as unreasonable.
“I think it’s kind of ridiculous,” said 21-year-old Erika Ritzmann.
As a former dancer, the UF international studies and anthropology senior said she is well-versed in the thigh gap but said women should just focus on exercising to be healthy.
“I would never have a thigh gap, like, my hips are too narrow, and I’m OK with that,” Ritzman said.
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 10/9/2013 under the headline "Unhealthy Internet fad urges thigh gaps for girls"
