Spending a lot of time on the Internet could be linked with poor body image for teenage girls.

A study of 1100 teenage girls in Australia run by Flinders University’s psychologist Dr Amy Slater, found that more than 40 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with their weight.

Girls who spent more time grooming, listening to music, using the Internet and social networking sites generally felt worse about themselves and their bodies, and experienced higher feelings of depression. By comparison, girls who reported spending more time doing homework had more positive feelings about their bodies, a stronger sense of identity and reduced feelings of depression.

“Body dissatisfaction consistently comes up as one of the biggest, most important issues for young people and our research has shown that the alarming amount of time these girls are spending on the Internet may have a huge impact on the way they think and feel about their bodies,” said Dr Slater.