TikTok perpetuates unhealthy diet culture among teens, young adults: study – The Hill
, 2022-11-02 12:02:50,
Story at a glance
- The study is the first of its kind to evaluate the association between disordered eating and body image with TikTok content.
- Researchers found the majority of problematic posts were created by young, white females, while professional voices did not have a strong presence.
- Around 67 percent of U.S. teens report using TikTok in 2022.
TikTok helps perpetuate a toxic diet culture among teens and young adults and could contribute to disordered eating and body dissatisfaction in this user base, according to new research released Wednesday.
The app is one of the most popular social media platforms among young Americans, with 67 percent of teens reporting using the platform in 2022.
Study findings were published in the journal Plos One and explored the content of food, nutrition, and weight-related posts on the app.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Changing America.
Researchers from the University of Vermont assessed 1,000 TikTok videos from 10 popular hashtags related to these topics, each with over 1 billion views. Videos were then assessed for key themes including the glorification of weight loss, positioning of food to achieve health and thinness and lack of expert voices providing nutrition information.
Nutrition-related, weight-normative messaging, or the idea that weight is the most important measure of one’s health, was prominent among the posts, while the most…
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