Anacoaches
Also known as:
- anorexia coaches
- thinspo accounts
What is Risk ?
Digital risk factors associated with their interests and activities
Anacoaches use online platforms to contact vulnerable individuals, mainly teenage girls. A young person can be contacted by an anacoach on:
- social media
- messaging platforms
- online forums
A young person contacted by an anacoach may already struggle with an eating disorder. They may be asked by the anacoach to provide their age, height, current weight, or ideal weight.
They may also be asked to:
- stick to restrictive calorie intakes and diets
- contact the anacoach before exercise or activity
- send pictures of themselves
- weigh themselves frequently
An anacoach might start by saying negative things about the person they are targeting. This can make someone feel more vulnerable or in need of coaching.
If a young person doesn’t comply with their demands, an anacoach could become hostile and aggressive. They may demand things like nude imagery or forced vomiting as a form of punishment.
Where this can happen
Risks and motivations
Risks
Impact on mental health
Anacoaches can negatively impact a child or young person’s mental health and wellbeing.
A child or young person might develop unrealistic expectations about dieting or body image. For example, that being severely underweight is ideal, or that a highly restrictive diet is a good thing. They may also have less confidence because of something an anacoach has said.
Impact on physical health
Anacoaches might make eating disorders and health conditions worsen. For example, anorexia or bulimia.A child or young person may also relapse into harmful behaviours after being contacted by an anacoach.
Eating disorders can have a serious impact on a child or young person’s physical health. Health risks can include:
- tiredness
- problems with muscles and bones
- infertility
- problems with concentration and memory
- seizures
- heart issues
- a weakened immune system
Eating disorders can also result in death, through health complications or suicide. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder.
Grooming and abuse
Anacoaches may ask a child or young person to send nude or semi-nude imagery.
An anacoach may say that this is to monitor weight loss progress. They may also say it is punishment for not complying with their instructions. This can be the start of a grooming process. An anacoach might then use nude imagery to blackmail or coerce a young person into eventually meeting offline to abuse them.
Motivations
A child or young person can be motivated to speak to or get advice from an anacoach. This might be because they:
- have been approached
- suffer from an existing eating disorder or mental health condition
- want to learn about dieting, exercise or weight loss
- want a self-esteem boost from an anacoach
- have unrealistic views on body image or are overly health-conscious
- have peers who use an anacoach
- are being groomed
Young people’s voice
When she was 14, Carrie (now 17) was concerned about her weight and began searching for weight loss tips and diets on social media. Carrie set up a separate Instagram account to conceal this content from her friends and started following ‘thinspiration’ accounts and posting about her own weight loss. It didn’t take her long to connect with a community of others engaging with similar content, and after commenting a few times on pictures, she was added into several WhatsApp groups that encouraged extreme dieting. She ended up in five of these groups in which people were asking to be verbally abused if they ate more than they had planned to or gone off-course – so that it would encourage them to keep their discipline and reach their ‘thinspo’ goals. Carrie now reflects that being surrounded by edited, unattainable imagery of models, influencers and even her peers while growing up, was instrumental in her journey and admits that she still struggles with her own self-image. While she feels she is now better placed to recognise when she is ‘following’ posts that make her feel insecure about her body, she explained that she would never be able to post a photo without first using filters to change the way she looks.
Pathways: How digital design puts children at risk: 5Rights Foundation 2021
What you can do
You may be working with a child or young person who has engaged with an anacoach.
Having a conversation with a child or young person is one way to get some more information. It can also help you to work out possible risks and harms. You could discuss:
- how they found out about anacoaches
- why they decided to talk to an anacoach
- how they are feeling
- the sorts of things the anacoach advises or asks them to do
- how people online aren’t always who they say they are
- the importance of their personal boundaries and privacy
- why it’s important to talk to a trusted adult if unsure or worried
It might be helpful to learn more about the signs and symptoms of an eating disorder, like anorexia. Online platforms have a legal responsibility to limit harmful content and to keep users safe. However, not all harmful content may be immediately removed by a platform.
Exploring blocking and reporting functions can be one way to give a child or young person more control over what they see online. For example, you might show a young person how to report or hide a post that recommends extreme weight loss techniques. Reviewing privacy settings on things like social media accounts can minimise future contact from anacoaches.
You should contact emergency services by dialling 999 if you have any concerns about a child or young person’s safety or wellbeing. If you think that a young person is at risk, follow your safeguarding procedure and read our safeguarding guidance.
Support
You may be working with a child or young person who is recovering from their experience of an anacoach. They may also have, or previously had, difficulties with:
- eating disorders
- physical health
- mental health
Each child or young person’s recovery process will be different.
Recovery may need intervention from medical or healthcare professionals, as well as further information and support from specialists.
Read more about anacoaches
- Pro-anorexia coaches prey on individual with eating disorders (International Journal of Eating Disorders) – File
- Pro-eating disorders and pro-recovery communities on reddit (International Conference on Information Integration and Web-based Applications & Services) – Website
- The impact of the media on eating disorders in children and adolescents (National Library of Medicine) – Website
- Social media usage linked to eating disorders in young people (University of Central London (UCL)) – Website
Share your experience of anacoaches
You can tell us about:
- other terms you might have heard
- conversations you’ve had with young people
- a related platform or app
- another related risk or harm