TikTok Videos Glamorize Eating Disorders and Harm Women's Body Image

• August 9, 2024
• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter

Women exposed to TikTok videos that make eating disorders look cool and glamorous tend to have worse body image, a new study finds.

These videos include what researchers call "pro-anorexia" clips, as well as other videos focused on weight loss.

“Our study showed that less than 10 minutes of exposure to implicit and explicit pro-anorexia TikTok content had immediate negative consequences for body image states and internalization of appearance ideals," wrote study co-authors Madison Blackburn and Rachel Hogg, from Charles Sturt University in Australia.

TikTok is incredibly popular among young users worldwide, and its algorithm creates a customized "For You" page based on user preferences.

That means that if girls and young women show a liking for weight loss-oriented videos, such clips can quickly flood their TikTok feed.

To understand the impact of all this on viewers' psyches, Blackburn and Hogg surveyed 273 women between the ages of 18 and 28.

They queried the young women on how much time they spent on TikTok, and also assessed symptoms of disordered eating (conditions such as anorexia and bulimia).

These conditions also included what's known as orthorexia: An unhealthy fixation on restricted diets that aim to eliminate "unhealthy" or "impure" foods.

The women were then randomized to one of two groups.

One group watched seven to eight minutes of TikTok clips focused on disordered eating -- for example, young women starving themselves or engaging in workouts, juice "cleanses" or offering up weight-loss tips.

The other group watched "neutral" TikTok content focused on nature, cooking and animals.

The group that watched the pro-anorexia videos focused on weight loss had a bigger decline in body image satisfaction, the researchers said, and a rise "in internalization of beauty standards."

The bottom line for the researchers: TikTok needs to do a better job of controlling pro-anorexia content.

The findings suggest that "psychological harm can occur for young female TikTok users even when explicit pro-anorexia content is not sought out and when TikTok use is of a short duration.," the researchers said.

The findings were published Aug. 7 in the journal PLOS ONE.

More information

Learn the warning signs of an eating disorder at the National Eating Disorders Association.

SOURCE: PLOS ONE, news release, Aug. 7, 2024

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