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TikTok Bans #SkinnyTok, But Experts Say More Is Needed
TikTok recently announced that it blocked search results for the hashtag #SkinnyTok due to its association with unhealthy weight loss content. The ban occurred after several European policymakers began investigating the app's impact on youth mental health. In the U.S., eating disorder experts say the ban is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to stop the glamorization of weight loss.
"It will help by making a statement," says Stephanie Michele, an intuitive eating coach and co-host of the podcast Life After Diets. "When bigger systems call out a social trend as harmful, and change their rules around how that trend is available, it sends a message. It's a short-term win."
The issue, says Michele, is that this type of content is likely to reappear under a different hashtag. "The root issues like systemic fatphobia, beauty privilege, and social media algorithms that reward thinness still need to be addressed," she says.
Banning a hashtag seems like a step in the right direction, says Cynthia Vejar, PhD, the director and associate professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Lebanon Valley College. "It shows that platforms are trying to take some responsibility for the kind of content they allow and promote. Removing this specific tag may minimize how easily users can engage with triggering or harmful content."
Still, Vejar cautions that bans can backfire since there's a natural human tendency to be curious about what's off-limits. "Bans can unintentionally make something more appealing just because it's taboo. Especially online, internet users can code [their] language and create secret communities to sidestep bans.""A once-banned term gets replaced by another. It might be #fitspo this week and #almondmomcore the next. What [isn't changing] is the underlying value system—that thinness equals worth. Until that changes, the harmful messaging will keep popping up under different names."Even without #SkinnyTok, Vejar explains that they may use different spellings, new hashtags, or code words. Moreover, this ban scratches the surface of a much bigger issue: TikTok's algorithm doesn't rely on hashtags alone. According to Michele, if someone engages with body-centric content once, they're often fed more of it, whether the label is banned or not. So, teens may still be seeing harmful messaging about weight and body types.
"Language evolves quickly in these online spaces," says Michele. "A once-banned term gets replaced by another. It might be #fitspo this week and #almondmomcore the next. What [isn't changing] is the underlying value system—that thinness equals worth. Until that changes, the harmful messaging will keep popping up under different names."
Social media didn't invent body image issues, but it absolutely amplifies them, says Michele. "It can be especially dangerous when it reinforces a false sense of virtue, like when restrictive eating or compulsive exercise is framed as 'wellness' or 'discipline.' That kind of content is everywhere, and it gets disguised as empowerment."
Disordered eating is also easy to disguise, says Alyson Curtis, LMHC, a licensed therapist specializing in eating disorders, binge eating, emotional eating, and body image concerns. "You've got young people, influencers, and [other people] promoting low-calorie 'WIEIAD' (what I eat in a day) videos, or boasting about losing X amount of weight in X amount of time, and the content all flies under the radar. "
According to Curtis, this happens because the definition of disordered eating isn't widely established, creating an uphill battle for professionals to spread correct information. "We're up against industries that not only want, but need, a new generation of young [people] to become obsessed with how they look, with feeling inferior, so that they become lifetime buyers of their products."
While most experts agree that the #SkinnyTok ban is a step in the right direction, they say much more needs to be done. To start, Michele says platforms like TikTok need to take more responsibility for the content their algorithms push. Once someone has viewed enough weight loss content, or #SkinnyTok posts, they will continue receiving those messages from similar content or hashtags.
"We also need larger media and marketing to change," she says. "That includes more diverse body representation in movies and television and advertisements; better education on the biology of appetite and weight; and less emphasis on weight loss as the end-all-be-all overall."
She also notes that eating disorders don't always look like extreme thinness. "Most disordered eating lives in people who appear normal or even healthy by societal standards, and they're often praised for it," she explains.
Teachers and school administrators also need to have honest conversations about body image and mental health, and do more to educate young people about media literacy, says Vejar. "Media literacy should be included in the curriculum so kids can better understand how content is filtered and unrealistic."
Curtis agrees. Children need to learn that some online content can be predatory, especially if it promotes thinness, disordered eating, and ultimately that they are not enough, she says.
"If you're a young person and you have never been educated on the predatory nature of these practically immediately indoctrinated into a cultural value of—be pretty for us, be cool, be thin," she says. "Young people so badly want to be cool and to fit in. The initiation into this warped cultural value is essentially seamless."
Vejar recommends having open, honest, judgment-free conversations with your kids. "Ask questions, but also listen, and be present and supportive." Focus on how your child feels, not how they look. Instead of saying, 'You look so skinny in that outfit,' try saying, 'You look happy,' or 'You seem confident today.'
Here are some additional things you can do:
Get professional help early if you suspect a problem. Therapists, dietitians, or healthcare providers who specialize in eating disorders can be crucial to your child's recovery, says Vejar.
Model healthy behavior. Your kids notice if you obsess about weight or make negative body comments. "If they hear you criticizing your body or glorifying restraint, they're learning that message, too," says Michele.
Educate yourself. Vejar suggests learning the warning signs and understanding the mental health side of disordered eating so you can get help and intervention when needed.
Monitor social media. Be aware of what kind of content your child is exposed to online, suggests Vejar. Talk to them about what they are watching and how it makes them feel.
Be curious but not controlling. According to Michele, eating behaviors are usually a symptom of something else, and the goal is to build trust so your child can let you in. Allow them to talk freely without judgment and help them find tools that will help them recover.
Expose them to positive messages. Curtis says she recalls reading interviews with Kate Winslet when she was a teen battling an eating disorder. "Her sole voice, advocating for body diversity and acceptance, kept me from truly diving into an irrevocable descent with my eating."If you or a loved one are coping with an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) Helpline for support at 1-800-931-2237 or text NEDA to the original article on Parents
