Recent research has shown that participants who use TikTok for more than 2 hours a day may experience disordered behaviors, decreased self-esteem, and exposure to unhealthy trends.
A recent study from Charles Sturt University (Australia) revealed that nearly half of the teenagers in Australia are dissatisfied with their appearance.
8 minutes of scrolling on TikTok may lead to unexpected disorders (Image: Getty).
Social media is playing an increasingly significant role in exacerbating body image issues among youth.
Young people tend to compare themselves to online role models, striving to meet beauty standards that are often unattainable and even unhealthy.
Body Image and Eating Disorder Behaviors
The research team recruited 273 female TikTok users aged 18 to 28, dividing them into two groups.
The first group watched a 7-8 minute compilation of content promoting “anorexia support” and “fitness inspiration” sourced directly from TikTok.
These video clips primarily featured advice from young women on restricting daily food intake, as well as workout and dieting tips, such as describing their detox juice processes for weight loss.
Social media can distort health and beauty standards (Image: Getty).
The second group, referred to as the control group, viewed a 7-8 minute set of TikTok videos with “neutral” content, such as nature, cooking, and wildlife videos.
Surprisingly, both groups reported a decrease in body satisfaction before and after watching the videos.
Among them, those exposed to content supporting anorexia showed a more significant decline in satisfaction. They also noted an increase in adopting distorted beauty standards.
Further research indicated that participants who used TikTok for more than 2 hours a day experienced more eating disorder behaviors.
Harmful Content Continues to Spread
On TikTok, popular hashtags like #GymTok and #FoodTok allow any user to post content related to daily eating habits, transformation journeys for weight loss, and their workout routines.
However, the concerning fact is that not all these habits are healthy.
Researchers and experts question why TikTok users place significant value on the opinions of influencers who lack expertise and promote harmful nutritional messages.
The likely answer is that simple messages are often easier to grasp.
Many recipes on TikTok are criticized for being unhygienic and wasteful, causing negative impacts (Illustration: Sarah Palmer).
According to Rebecca Hambright, a nutrition expert and diet therapist at Wise Heart Nutrition & Wellness in Bellingham, people tend to follow rules, especially regarding nutrition.
If an influencer can capture and address viewers’ conflicting thoughts with simple, relatable food rules, they are likely to sell products and garner attention easily.
Ironically, the search for positive content can still lead users to negative eating disorder content due to TikTok’s personalized algorithms.
This can result in users continuously being at risk of inadvertently encountering distorted ideals of body image, nutrition, and exercise on TikTok.
The study emphasizes that just 10 minutes of viewing inappropriate content on TikTok is enough to create some negative impacts for users. Limiting time on TikTok can help mitigate this.
