In connection with her speech at the Christian Democrats' municipal days in Karlstad, Energy and Business Minister Busch announced that the government is allocating an additional 50 million kronor to eating disorder care in the spring budget.
In her speech, she pointed out that every other 15-year-old thinks they are too fat or too thin. And that many regions are signaling that those seeking care for eating disorders are both more numerous and sicker than before.
Busch urged parents to ask themselves how this can happen and who they allow to become their child's "inner voice".
As an explanation, the KD leader pointed out that the majority of Swedish schoolchildren today spend between three and six hours a day with digital media outside of schoolwork.
Hating their bodies
I could name influencers who convey body ideals that make children hate their bodies, she said in her speech.
These are not the voices we want our children to hear. But if we are not present, if we do not give children attention, then the absence of you and me is filled with something else.
Busch thinks that social media giants and influencers should ask themselves if this is a message and a way of doing business that is right and proper.
Is it okay to sow uncertainty in the lives of 13-14-year-old girls or 15-16-year-old boys about whether they are good enough, says the KD leader at a press conference.
Is there another way to earn an honest living than playing on that uncertainty or creating algorithms that whip it up.
The new threat
Despite the harsh criticism of some influencers, Busch does not want to name any.
I choose not to name them here, since we have many influencers who are also a good counterforce, she says.
At the press conference after the speech, Busch stated that the KD now believes that the greatest threat to the family comes from social media giants.
The biggest family challenge now is the battle for parents' time with their children, she says.
Social Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD) states that there is an "extremely destructive symbiosis between social media giants, influencers, and the beauty industry".
