A recent study demonstrated that watching weight loss TikTok videos for only eight minutes can cause psychological damage, especially for women.
The research, released on August 7, indicates that viewing TikTok videos for five to eight minutes, particularly those promoting pro-anorexia behavior, may negatively impact a young woman’s self-esteem and potentially lead to disordered eating.
According to researchers from Charles Sturt University in Australia, our study revealed that being exposed to implicit and explicit pro-anorexia TikTok content for less than 10 minutes had an immediate detrimental effect on body image states and internalization of appearance ideals.
According to their statement, young female TikTok users may experience psychological harm even when they do not intentionally seek out explicit pro-anorexia content and only use TikTok for a short period of time.
The team of researchers conducted interviews with 273 female individuals regarding their TikTok viewing behaviors and their perceptions of their body image. Following this, half of the participants were instructed to watch seven to eight minutes of TikTok content related to disordered eating.
This encompassed videos featuring young women who were depriving themselves of food, sharing advice on how to lose weight such as consuming ice and chewing gum to suppress appetite, or endorsing exercise routines or juice cleanses while flaunting their slim midsections.
Participants watch videos about disoriented eating, including eating ice
Instead, the remaining half were instructed to view neutral content featuring nature, cooking, and animal themes.
Both groups experienced a decrease in body image satisfaction after watching the videos. However, individuals who were exposed to pro-anorexia content reported feeling significantly worse about themselves and internalizing the belief that thinness is crucial.
The researchers also asserted that there was a higher prevalence of disordered eating behaviors among women who spent over two hours per day using TikTok, but this pattern was not found to be statistically significant.
To address this issue, the study authors are suggesting implementing “stricter controls and regulations”on TikTok content related to pro-anorexia, disordered eating, and body image.
According to their statement, measures are currently being implemented to remove harmful content, including the restriction of searches such as ‘#anorexia.’ However, it seems that users have found ways to bypass these restrictions, leading to the need for additional regulations.
Data was gathered in mid-2021 for this study, approximately three years prior to TikTok’s update of its community guidelines in April 2024, which aimed to address harmful weight loss content. As a result, the platform now prohibits the display or endorsement of disordered eating and dangerous weight loss behaviors.
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