Latest news with #SkinnyTok
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Influencers Still Do This Disturbing Body-Negative Behavior. But It Helps To Recognize It.
Let's have a check-in about body checking. Even if you don't know this behavior by name, you've probably seen it modeled by influencers. In a looks-obsessed space like social media — and a cultural moment like the present, in which discourse surrounding weight loss drugs is unavoidable and #SkinnyTok content is so ubiquitous that TikTok banned the hashtag — repeatedly scrutinizing your appearance and documenting it online isn't a big stretch. In fact, on the fitness side of TikTok, explicit 'body checks' are super common, even normalized. But just because a behavior is common doesn't mean it's safe or healthy. Left unchecked, body checking can take a serious toll on your mental and even physical health. It's usually a result of negative thoughts about your body. Often, it's connected to eating disorders or body dysmorphia. Here's everything you need to know about this dangerous behavior, including what it is, how to spot it and what to do if you keep seeing it online or can't stop doing it IRL. What is body checking? Body checking is a repetitive, compulsive behavior 'used to gather feedback about one's body shape, weight, or size,' Keesha Amezcua, LMFT, CEDS-C, clinical director at the eating disorder treatment facility Alsana, tells HuffPost. It can look like many different things. However, it's usually centered around a body part or aspect of your physical appearance that's a source of insecurity. Common examples include obsessively looking at yourself in the mirror and scrutinizing your body, using your clothes or accessories to 'measure' parts of your body, or repeatedly capturing full-body videos or photos of yourself to check how you look in real-time. (Fitness influencers who constantly post body check videos under the guise of recording their progress, we're looking at you.) To be clear: Periodically catching a glimpse of your reflection isn't body checking. Taking a selfie to see how your outfit looks before you leave the house isn't body checking, either. Neither example is inherently repetitive, obsessive, or tinged by negative self-image — three key characteristics that differentiate body checking from simply looking at yourself or feeling self-conscious. According to Alyson Curtis, MA, LMHC, a therapist who specializes in eating disorders and body image, body checking becomes a genuine concern when it affects a person's ability to be present in their everyday life. So, if you went out to dinner with your friends, but your evening was ruined because you couldn't stop adjusting your dress or hyper-fixating on how your arms looked? 'That's a problem,' Curtis tells HuffPost. In some cases, body checking can be a sign of disordered eating or body dysmorphia. Anecdotally, body checking is frequently (but not always) linked to eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia, or binge-eating and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Academic researchers have also established a connection between this behavior and feelings of dissatisfaction with one's body, as well as disordered eating patterns consistent with eating disorder pathology. People who struggle with eating disorders or BDD typically have a highly negative, deeply skewed perception of what their body looks like. Consciously or not, body checking gives them a sense of control. It's a way to perpetually monitor their appearance and look out for any real or perceived fluctuations. However, since it stems from fears and insecurities, 'body checking only serves to intensify these negative feelings,' Amezcua said. In some cases, body checking can worsen an existing case of BDD or even lead to an eating disorder that wasn't present from the jump. 'It's a really slippery slope,' Curtis said, 'and some of us are more vulnerable than others.' For context, eating disorders will impact an estimated 9% of all Americans at some point in their life. They can be deadly, so it's important to seek help from a mental health professional if you think you're dealing with one. Curtis works with many clients who bring up body checking in sessions. Treatment modalities for this behavior run the gamut and depend on severity as well as an individual's level of anxiety or distress. For example, if a client can't stop body checking because they don't like how their clothes look, Curtis might first recommend shopping for new clothes that fit in a way they find comfortable or flattering. In general, though, 'the earlier the invention, the better,' she said. 'Body checking alone can be very distressing, but compulsive body checking is most likely connected to other disordered behaviors,' Amezcua adds. 'No one needs to suffer alone.' What to do if you see body checking in your Instagram feed (or do it yourself). 'Social media is definitely an agitator for those who already struggle with body image issues,' Curtis said. It's no surprise that body checks are so common on platforms like TikTok or Instagram. Since it seems relatively innocuous — at least compared to more overt examples of dangerous, disordered thinking, such as pro-ana content — this behavior may not raise concern immediately. That's why it's helpful to be aware of what it looks like. As for what you should do if you notice that an influencer you follow is body checking? Consider muting or unfollowing them. At the very least, take it as a sign to think more critically about who you follow and the kind of content you consume online. 'There is so much toxic information and imagery out there,' Amezcua adds, 'and we all know that mindless scrolling can lead to increased anxiety and decreased self-worth... If someone is dealing with body image issues or food struggles, it can be helpful to examine their relationship with social media and get curious about how their screen time impacts their overall well-being.' Curtis echoes the sentiment. The unfortunate truth is that conventional beauty standards (and the widespread pressure to abide by them) aren't going anywhere. 'Recurrent body checking can be one of the first indicators that the pressure to conform is getting its hooks in you,' Curtis said. 'Bring curiosity and care to it and when in doubt, seek out a therapist for further support.' To that end, if you catch yourself body checking and it's becoming repetitive or compulsive, then it's time to get help from a mental health professional. Consider working with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders or body image. Many online directories allow you to filter by specialty when you're searching for a provider. If you're struggling with an eating disorder, call or text 988 or chat for support. Related... Experts Say These 7 Subtle Behaviors Might Be 'Bigorexia' In Disguise 'Orthorexia' Is More And More Common. Here's What You Should Know About It. Inside The Body Image Movement That Doesn't Focus On Your Appearance
NZ Herald
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
How an innocent search on social media drew me into the disturbing world of extreme dieting
As well as walking daily and eating in a calorie deficit, Schmidt's accounts have shared (and in some cases since removed) controversial dieting advice, such as drinking water or tea to suppress appetite, eating your meals from side plates and implementing something called the 'three bite rule': eating just three bites of something you fancy, then leaving the rest. (In a restaurant, she says she 'tastes everything and finishes nothing'.) It is the kind of weight loss-talk that would be more at home in 2005 than 2025, when the aesthetic ideal was a hangover from the super-thin models of the 1990s. Schmidt's TikTok account, which had amassed more than 670,000 followers, was banned for violating the platform's community guideline in September last year (the hashtag SkinnyTok has also since been blocked, and if a user searches it, they are directed to 'expert resources'). In an interview at the time, she said that 'weight is a touchy topic, but that's what the viewers want'. And despite the ban, her content soon reappeared. It was re-shared by other accounts on TikTok and posted to Instagram and her fledgling YouTube channel, where she has active accounts with 325,000 and 100,000 followers respectively. 'Being skinny is literally a status symbol,' she said, in a now-deleted video that is still doing the rounds online. 'You're living life on hard mode being fat… you're wondering why the bouncer won't let you in? Check your stomach. You're wondering why… this job isn't taking you? Look at yourself.' On Instagram, she captioned a recent photo of her in a bikini with the phrase, 'nothing tastes as good as being this effortless feels' – seemingly a direct reference Kate Moss's now infamous mantra, 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels'. It was there on Instagram, the photo-sharing app owned by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, that Schmidt's videos appeared in my feed. (Instagram has now banned Schmidt's account from using monetisation tools and it is hidden to users under 18.) This type of content isn't new; as long as there has been social media there have been hidden weight loss and even 'pro-ana' – pro-anorexia – communities hidden in its ecosystem. But they were just that, hidden, on the blogging site Tumblr and in obscure forums and chatrooms. What has changed in the context of GLP-1 weight loss drugs is that thin is back in fashion and, with it comes a new wave of pro-anorexia content. This time, it is hidden in plain sight. Schmidt's intentions may well be nakedly commercial. You can buy her 'New Me' diet tracker for US$50 ($85), and her 'skinny essentials', which include resistance bands and fat-free salad dressing, from Amazon. She also runs a members-only group chat, which you can join for a fee, called 'the Skinni Société'. Or perhaps her tough-love rhetoric may be a cynical ploy to farm engagement – as she has said herself, videos that merely mention her name get 'millions' of views as a result. But, judging by the comments, some of her followers take her advice as gospel. And on TikTok, there is no shortage of other creators like her. The app's powerful algorithm can send users down a rabbit hole of content within a niche, meaning videos promoting extreme dieting techniques could be being fed to teenagers. Regulators are taking note – in fact, one French government minister is seeking to ban it once and for all. Clara Chappaz is the Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies in the Government of Prime Minister François Bayrou. In April, she reported '#SkinnyTok' to France's audiovisual and digital watchdog, and to the EU, over concerns that it is promoting anorexia. 'These videos promoting extreme thinness are revolting and absolutely unacceptable,' she said. 'Digital tools are marvellous in terms of progress and freedom, but badly used they can shatter lives… the social networks cannot escape their responsibility.' The European Commission opened a probe into TikTok's algorithm and how it affects minors last February, under the bloc's content moderation rulebook, the Digital Services Act. As part of it, it began investigating how the platform promotes content relating to eating disorders. French politician Clara Chappaz said 'social networks cannot escape their responsibility' to crack down on eating disorder content. Photo / Getty Images Point de Contact, an organisation recently named by regulator Arcom as a 'trusted flagger' of harmful digital content, also confirmed their teams are looking into the matter in co-ordination with authorities, as reported by Politico. 'The difficulty is to prove that the content is illegal, and that the message is directly targeted at minors,' a Point de Contact spokesperson says. 'But it's certain that TikTok isn't scanning this hashtag fast enough.' Experts are clear that eating disorders have no single cause, but there is a growing body of research that suggests – perhaps unsurprisingly – that exposure to this kind of online content could be a factor in fuelling or exacerbating disordered eating. Researchers have studied the impact it can have on young women's body image and concluded that it can cause 'psychological harm even when explicit pro-ana content is not sought out and even when their TikTok use is time-limited in nature'. Dr Victoria Chapman is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal Free Hospital in London who specialises in eating disorders. She says that weight loss social media content often comes up in her clinical practice. 'When we meet patients, when we do assessments, we quite often ask what they're doing on social media,' she says. 'My view – and I think there's increasing evidence for this – is that these platforms that focus on image [such as TikTok and Instagram] are associated with the risk factors that make someone vulnerable to an eating disorder.' More worrying still is how severe mental illness in children and young people has risen. There has been a 65% rise in the number of children admitted to acute hospital wards in England because of serious concerns over their mental health in a decade, according to a study published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. Over half – 53.4% – were because of self-harm, but the number of annual admissions for eating disorders surged over the same period, from 478 to 2938. 'We know that a combination of genetics, biological factors and sociocultural factors contribute to the development of an eating disorder,' says Umairah Malik, the clinical manager for Beat, an eating disorder charity. 'Some of these sociocultural factors include low self esteem, body dissatisfaction… alongside things like anxiety, depression and perfectionist traits. If someone is already vulnerable to developing an eating disorder, [social media] has the potential to be really harmful and damaging.' Chappaz may be fighting a losing battle – it seems that, even when social media platforms attempt to crack down on pro-anorexia content, it is impossible to stem the flow. When I first started researching this not-so-hidden online world, I found out that it wasn't difficult to access. If you search an obvious term in TikTok, such as 'skinny' or 'anorexia' a cartoon heart and a support message appears with links to mental health and eating disorder resources. TikTok does not allow content showing or promoting disordered eating or dangerous weight-loss behaviours, and age-restricts content that idealises certain (thin) body types. But despite these safety measures, users may circumvent content filters by using covert hashtags – misspelt words, for instance, or abbreviations – and speak in code. Moreover, some concerning videos seem to be hiding in plain sight: under the seemingly benign 'weight loss' tag, videos promoting extreme dieting and unhealthy body weights appear. Amy Glover, a 29-year-old writer in recovery from an eating disorder, discovered that it was almost impossible to avoid this kind of content on TikTok, no matter how hard she tried. 'It feels to me like any food or exercise-related search I make [on social media] eventually leads to weight-loss content, and [it's] quite often not what I would consider healthy advice,' she says. 'I wonder if the algorithm is simply 'testing' more controversial content on me. I find that frustrating and worrying… Eating disorders can be competitive and involve a lot of negative self-talk, which I feel a lot of these videos encourage.' Research conducted by Beat has shown that, even if harmful social media content doesn't directly cause eating disorders, it can easily exacerbate them. 'It goes beyond young people,' Malik says. 'We did a survey in 2022, looking at online platforms – of the people who answered, over 90% of those with experience of having an eating disorder had encountered content online that was harmful in the context of that eating disorder. People talked about it being addictive, and not having control over the content that was being displayed. 'That kind of content could be actively encouraging, promoting or glamourising an eating disorder, but then you also have things like diet culture, fitness and weight-loss content that can [also] be really harmful for people,' she adds. A TikTok spokesperson says: 'We regularly review our safety measures to address evolving risks and have blocked search results for #SkinnyTok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content. We continue to restrict videos from teen accounts and provide health experts and information in TikTok Search.' Glover is four years into her recovery, and now in her late 20s, which she says makes it easier. But these algorithms – which seem to be fine-tuned to pick up on the slightest hint of body insecurity – could be force-feeding these videos to young women and girls who are much younger. TikTok, of course, is where they spend all their time. Ofcom research earlier this year found 96% of 13-17 year olds in the UK are on social media. While the app takes measures to shut down dangerous hashtags (as it did with #legginglegs, another tag related to disordered eating, earlier this year), it is like playing whack-a-mole, as more content springs up to evade the platform's safety features. What is clear, though, is that its preternatural algorithm can make this worse, serving up potentially dangerous content to those who aren't even looking for it. 'Even after reporting harmful content or attempting to avoid it, users often still see more being recommended to them, or popping up without warning. We'd like to know what platforms plan to do about recommended content and algorithms,' says Tom Quinn, Beat's director of external affairs. 'We know that people who create and share this kind of content are often unwell themselves... but we'd like to see more proactivity and extensive bans on damaging content being uploaded or shared. Alongside this, we want to see platforms working with eating disorder experts to improve moderation efforts and ensure that recovery-positive, support-based content is widely available,' he adds. In her own defence, Schmidt has said, 'We all have the option to follow and block any content we want.' But when you're a teenager, and potentially a vulnerable one, should the social media platforms be doing more to block it for you? Some lawmakers now certainly think so – and few parents would disagree.
Telegraph
13-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
How an innocent search on social media drew me into the disturbing world of extreme dieting
I did not go looking for Liv Schmidt's videos on Instagram, but they soon found me. Schmidt, a lithe, blonde 23-year-old based in New York, is an influencer who shares weight-loss tips with an audience of hundreds of thousands of followers. The fact that Schmidt's videos appeared in my feed in the first place is testament to how, through the mysterious workings of social media algorithms, viewing benign content related to fitness – as I was doing – or content on weight loss and healthy eating can escalate to something more sinister. On TikTok, as I started viewing fitness videos, the results that began showing up on my 'For You' page (FYP) – a feed that TikTok populates with videos its algorithm thinks you will be interested in – were more concerning still. Almost instantly, it became filled with 'model secrets to stay thin', food diaries that amounted to less than 800 calories per day and, most disturbingly, painfully thin young women showcasing hip bones, collarbones and ribs. Welcome to 'SkinnyTok', where users post extreme weight-loss tips and 'thinspiration' (images of very thin women meant to be aspirational). This type of content isn't new, of course, nor is it limited to TikTok. But on the social media platform – widely considered to be the most popular app among young people, with over 1.5 billion monthly users – these influencers have experienced a particularly meteoric rise in popularity and reach. But it's Schmidt, with her 326,000 Instagram followers, who is the unofficial social media leader. As well as walking daily and eating in a calorie deficit, Schmidt's accounts have shared (and in some cases since removed) controversial dieting advice, such as drinking water or tea to suppress appetite, eating your meals from side plates and implementing something called the 'three bite rule': eating just three bites of something you fancy, then leaving the rest. (In a restaurant, she says she 'tastes everything and finishes nothing'.) It is the kind of weight loss-talk that would be more at home in 2005 than 2025, when the aesthetic ideal was a hangover from the super-thin models of the 1990s. Schmidt's TikTok account, which had amassed more than 670,000 followers, was banned for violating the platform's community guideline in September last year (the hashtag SkinnyTok has also since been blocked, and if a user searches it, they are directed to 'expert resources'). In an interview at the time, she said that 'weight is a touchy topic, but that's what the viewers want'. And despite the ban, her content soon reappeared. It was re-shared by other accounts on TikTok and posted to Instagram and her fledgling YouTube channel, where she has active accounts with 325,000 and 100,000 followers respectively. 'Being skinny is literally a status symbol,' she said, in a now-deleted video that is still doing the rounds online. 'You're living life on hard mode being fat… you're wondering why the bouncer won't let you in? Check your stomach. You're wondering why… this job isn't taking you? Look at yourself.' On Instagram, she captioned a recent photo of her in a bikini with the phrase, 'nothing tastes as good as being this effortless feels' – seemingly a direct reference Kate Moss's now infamous mantra, 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels'. It was there on Instagram, the photo-sharing app owned by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, that Schmidt's videos appeared in my feed. (Instagram has now banned Schmidt's account from using monetisation tools and it is hidden to users under 18.) This type of content isn't new; as long as there has been social media there have been hidden weight loss and even 'pro-ana' – pro-anorexia – communities hidden in its ecosystem. But they were just that, hidden, on the blogging site Tumblr and in obscure forums and chatrooms. What has changed in the context of GLP-1 weight loss drugs is that thin is back in fashion and, with it comes a new wave of pro-anorexia content. This time, it is hidden in plain sight. Schmidt's intentions may well be nakedly commercial. You can buy her 'New Me' diet tracker for $50 (£37), and her 'skinny essentials', which include resistance bands and fat-free salad dressing, from Amazon. She also runs a members-only group chat, which you can join for a fee, called 'the Skinni Société'. Or perhaps her tough-love rhetoric may be a cynical ploy to farm engagement – as she has said herself, videos that merely mention her name get 'millions' of views as a result. But, judging by the comments, some of her followers take her advice as gospel. And on TikTok, there is no shortage of other creators like her. The app's powerful algorithm can send users down a rabbit hole of content within a niche, meaning videos promoting extreme dieting techniques could be being fed to teenagers. Regulators are taking note – in fact, one French government minister is seeking to ban it once and for all. Clara Chappaz is the minister delegate for artificial intelligence and digital technologies in the government of prime minister François Bayrou. In April, she reported '#SkinnyTok' to France's audiovisual and digital watchdog, and to the EU, over concerns that it is promoting anorexia. 'These videos promoting extreme thinness are revolting and absolutely unacceptable,' she said. 'Digital tools are marvellous in terms of progress and freedom, but badly used they can shatter lives… the social networks cannot escape their responsibility.' The European Commission opened a probe into TikTok's algorithm and how it affects minors last February, under the bloc's content moderation rulebook, the Digital Services Act. As part of it, it began investigating how the platform promotes content relating to eating disorders. Point de Contact, an organisation recently named by regulator Arcom as a 'trusted flagger' of harmful digital content, also confirmed their teams are looking into the matter in coordination with authorities, as reported by Politico. 'The difficulty is to prove that the content is illegal, and that the message is directly targeted at minors,' a Point de Contact spokesperson says. 'But it's certain that TikTok isn't scanning this hashtag fast enough.' Experts are clear that eating disorders have no single cause, but there is a growing body of research that suggests – perhaps unsurprisingly – that exposure to this kind of online content could be a factor in fuelling or exacerbating disordered eating. Researchers have studied the impact it can have on young women's body image and concluded that it can cause 'psychological harm even when explicit pro-ana content is not sought out and even when their TikTok use is time-limited in nature.' Dr Victoria Chapman is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Royal Free Hospital in London who specialises in eating disorders. She says that weight loss social media content often comes up in her clinical practice. 'When we meet patients, when we do assessments, we quite often ask what they're doing on social media,' she says. 'My view – and I think there's increasing evidence for this – is that these platforms that focus on image [such as TikTok and Instagram] are associated with the risk factors that make someone vulnerable to an eating disorder.' More worrying still is how severe mental illness in children and young people has risen. There has been a 65 per cent rise in the number of children admitted to acute hospital wards in England due to serious concerns over their mental health in a decade, according to a study published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. Over half – 53.4 per cent – were due to self-harm, but the number of annual admissions for eating disorders surged over the same period, from 478 to 2,938. 'We know that a combination of genetics, biological factors and sociocultural factors contribute to the development of an eating disorder,' says Umairah Malik, the clinical manager for Beat, an eating disorder charity. 'Some of these sociocultural factors include low self esteem, body dissatisfaction… alongside things like anxiety, depression and perfectionist traits. If someone is already vulnerable to developing an eating disorder, [social media] has the potential to be really harmful and damaging.' Chappaz may be fighting a losing battle – it seems that, even when social media platforms attempt to crack down on pro-anorexia content, it is impossible to stem the flow. When I first started researching this not-so-hidden online world, I found out that it wasn't difficult to access. If you search an obvious term in TikTok, such as 'skinny' or 'anorexia' a cartoon heart and a support message appears with links to mental health and eating disorder resources. TikTok does not allow content showing or promoting disordered eating or dangerous weight-loss behaviours, and age-restricts content that idealises certain (thin) body types. But despite these safety measures, users may circumvent content filters by using covert hashtags – misspelt words, for instance, or abbreviations – and speak in code. Moreover, some concerning videos seem to be hiding in plain sight: under the seemingly benign 'weight loss' tag, videos promoting extreme dieting and unhealthy body weights appear. Amy Glover, a 29-year-old writer in recovery from an eating disorder, discovered that it was almost impossible to avoid this kind of content on TikTok, no matter how hard she tried. 'It feels to me like any food or exercise-related search I make [on social media] eventually leads to weight-loss content, and [it's] quite often not what I would consider healthy advice,' she says. 'I wonder if the algorithm is simply 'testing' more controversial content on me. I find that frustrating and worrying… Eating disorders can be competitive and involve a lot of negative self-talk, which I feel a lot of these videos encourage.' Research conducted by Beat has shown that, even if harmful social media content doesn't directly cause eating disorders, it can easily exacerbate them. 'It goes beyond young people,' Malik says. 'We did a survey in 2022, looking at online platforms – of the people who answered, over 90 per cent of those with experience of having an eating disorder had encountered content online that was harmful in the context of that eating disorder. People talked about it being addictive, and not having control over the content that was being displayed. 'That kind of content could be actively encouraging, promoting or glamourising an eating disorder, but then you also have things like diet culture, fitness and weight-loss content that can [also] be really harmful for people,' she adds. A TikTok spokesperson says: 'We regularly review our safety measures to address evolving risks and have blocked search results for #SkinnyTok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content. We continue to restrict videos from teen accounts and provide health experts and information in TikTok Search.' Glover is four years into her recovery, and now in her late 20s, which she says makes it easier. But these algorithms – which seem to be fine-tuned to pick up on the slightest hint of body insecurity – could be force-feeding these videos to young women and girls who are much younger. TikTok, of course, is where they spend all their time. Ofcom research earlier this year found 96 percent of 13-17 year olds in the UK are on social media. While the app takes measures to shut down dangerous hashtags (as it did with #legginglegs, another tag related to disordered eating, earlier this year), it is like playing whack-a-mole, as more content springs up to evade the platform's safety features. What is clear, though, is that its preternatural algorithm can make this worse, serving up potentially dangerous content to those who aren't even looking for it. 'Even after reporting harmful content or attempting to avoid it, users often still see more being recommended to them, or popping up without warning. We'd like to know what platforms plan to do about recommended content and algorithms,' says Tom Quinn, Beat's director of external affairs. 'We know that people who create and share this kind of content are often unwell themselves... but we'd like to see more proactivity and extensive bans on damaging content being uploaded or shared. Alongside this, we want to see platforms working with eating disorder experts to improve moderation efforts and ensure that recovery-positive, support-based content is widely available,' he adds. In her own defence, Schmidt has said, 'We all have the option to follow and block any content we want.' But when you're a teenager, and potentially a vulnerable one, should the social media platforms be doing more to block it for you? Some lawmakers now certainly think so – and few parents would disagree.
The Irish Sun
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘The world opens up when you're thin' – The dark truth of extreme thinness ‘Skinnytok' trend targeting girls and teens
IF you thought we left diet culture back in the 1990s, think again. Toxic ideas about bodies and weight are creeping back into our lives, and it's clear the lessons of the past haven't sunk in. Advertisement 4 Bobbi McDermott battled anorexia for years 4 Ana B has shared the challenges of the unrealistic pursuit of a perfect body 4 Barry Murphy said that the TikTok algorithm is a systemic issue Leading the charge is social media, with TikTok at the centre of it all. A disturbing trend dubbed SkinnyTok has blown up so much on the app TikTok bosses had to step in and ban the hashtag. Advertisement But that hasn't stopped sneaky variations of it from slipping through the cracks and landing in front of young girls and teens. The trend saw the social media platform, with TWO million Irish users - many of whom are underage despite the 13-year-old age limit - flooded with hundreds of thousands of videos showing weight loss tips that could "promote eating disorders" and "objectification of women's bodies". Both the European Commission and Coimisiún na Meán warned that the trend was promoting "unrealistic body images" and "extreme weight loss". Bobbi McDermott, 42, from Dublin, knows more than most just how insidious "skinny talk" can be. She battled anorexia for years in the era of a comment made by model Kate Moss back in the 2000s that "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels", a comment that the top model has since distanced herself from. Advertisement Bobbi told The Irish Sun: 'This is skinny talk. They glamourise [the weight loss] like it's amazing but they're playing with fire. 'Kate was right for about five minutes until the world shrinks along with your body, and all that is left is pain. "These trends add into that competitive nature and that need for perfection, which is so dangerous for addictions like 'The biggest interest rates in the world are the weight loss industry and the porn industry. "And both of them are designed to take you down and both promote an unhealthy body image. I think it's always going to be there.' Advertisement The English model's comment was heavily criticised in 2009 after it was adopted by a number of pro-anorexia websites. Kate was accused of encouraging eating disorders at the time, and almost a decade later the supermodel said she regretted saying the controversial quote. But years later, skinny talk is back, flooding social media channels with extreme weight loss tips. TikTok chiefs have said the #SkinnyTok searches are now blocked since 'it has become linked to unhealthy weight-loss content'. And now searches for the hashtag lead to a link to Advertisement But searches related to the hashtag 'skinny' are still available on the social media platform with hundreds of thousands of pieces of content related to weight loss. And trends like 'You Don't Need A Treat You're Not A Dog,' 'Skinny is self respect,' 'Being hot and skinny,' 'SK!NNITOK' are still attracting hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. 'SOCIAL ADDICTION' Bobbi added: 'I think that there should be optional protections that you can put in there. "I personally would go on and ban all these hashtags and I report damaging things that come up. 'And now, thankfully, they do not come up any more because of my algorithm. Advertisement "But [skinny talk] is a social addiction. We're obsessed with how we look. 'I think if we want to fight against or if we want to starve the oxygen out of these trends, we have to push against it with more healthy trends, with more connection to real people, not these people that are, you know, putting on filters, doing angles. 'You fight it back with positive connections, positive stories, positive lifestyles.' 'PRESSURE TO BE SKINNY' She said: 'I have binge eating because of severe anxiety. I've had it since I was a teenager. Advertisement "I was around 15-years-old when I started taking weight loss pills along with laxatives, overexercising, and doing all sorts of things, because when I lived in Brazil, I really wanted to be thin. 'I really felt that pressure to be thin in Brazil. And from that point on, I started developing a binge eating disorder. 'It's still something I carry with me. Now that I'm older, with therapy and self-awareness, I understand it. I know what it is. I'm working on it but it is hard, it's really hard.' Ana has also noted a change in social behaviour - especially online - after the Covid-19 pandemic in which the plus-size bodies were embraced through the lens of body positivity which also reflected in the fashion landscape. But now, five years later, skinny talks are once again dominating the headlines - this time, the Brazilian woman believes it could be driven by the growing popularity of weight-loss drugs. Advertisement Ana added: 'The whole of society embraced the plus-size business, and curvy women, because that's what they were selling. "But today, when you walk into the shops, you can't find plus-size options anymore. 'And then people say it is because 'there's no demand' or come up with other excuses, but to me that's just not true. I genuinely believe it's tied to the pharmaceutical push — there's a lot of money involved. 'Sadly, especially on TikTok, people now feel increasingly comfortable promoting the idea that being thin is the ultimate goal. "There's even a trend going around in the US with people saying: 'I'll never be unhappy, because I'll be thin.' Advertisement 'And what scares me most is the level of engagement – so many likes and so many comments. "People feel more and more free to say these things out loud. 'But I can't even bring myself to blame them — it's a reflection of the world we live in: the fashion industry, beauty standards, society.' The 35-year-old revealed that she underwent bariatric surgery due to health reasons last April, and has lost 15kg since then. 'QUITE CHALLENGING' She added: 'After losing weight through bariatric surgery, I can see how people treat me differently now. Advertisement 'The decision to have bariatric surgery was for health, but from the moment you start to see that the world is easier and people are nicer when you start to lose weight, it is quite challenging. 'The way the world opens up to you when you're thin — it's real. The life of a thin person is way easier than the life of a fat person. Sadly, that's just the reality we're living in.' New data from the Health Service Executive showed that more than 500 people were diagnosed with an eating disorder last year, 118 more diagnoses than in 2023. And there was a 33 per cent increase in referrals for treatment in 2024. Research and Policy Officer with Bodywhys, the Eating Disorders Association of Ireland, Barry Murphy, said that the algorithm is a systemic issue, adding: 'It's like a bad neighbour or someone you did not invite to your family party.' Advertisement He continued: 'The algorithm gets to know our preferences in what we search for and what we access, view, watch and follow. "And the concern with eating disorders is the person might then fall down a rabbit hole of content that ultimately promotes eating disorders. 'The problem with weight-loss-based content is that it really brings up objectification and that your worth is tied up in this part of your appearance when it should be a focus on health and not a particular body type.' SIGNS & SYMPTOMS OF ANOREXIA ACCORDING to the HSE, the main symptom of anorexia is losing more weight than is healthy for your age and height. The full list of signs are: deliberately missing meals, eating very little or avoiding eating any foods you see as fattening lying about what and when you've eaten, and how much you weigh taking medicine that makes you feel less hungry (appetite suppressants) exercising too much making yourself sick using medicines to help you poo (laxatives) or to make you pee (diuretics) to try to avoid putting on weight an overwhelming fear of gaining weight strict rituals around eating seeing losing a lot of weight as a positive thing believing you are fat when you are a healthy weight or underweight not admitting your weight loss is serious He added: 'You can see problems with TikTok linked to eating disorders going back as far as 2020. "There are some long-term issues there that clearly haven't been fully addressed. Advertisement "They need to look at the algorithm from a risk perspective, so to identify the harms, to assess them and then ultimately report on them, so being more transparent with what's going on. 'And individually, people need to be careful where they get validation from, particularly if it is online, because online is very fleeting.' Over one million units of illegal medicines were detained by the The HPRA also noted an upward trend in detentions of GLP-1 products - medications used to treat type 2 In a statement, a spokesperson said: 'The HPRA confirmed that it detained 1,000,984 dosage units of falsified and other illegal medicines in 2024. Advertisement 'The data highlights that anabolic steroids, sedatives and erectile dysfunction products are consistently the most detained categories of medicines year on year. 'While overall numbers remain low, 1,582 units of GLP-1 products were detained in 2024 compared to 568 units in 2023 and just 40 units in 2022." An estimated 188,895 people in Ireland will experience an eating disorder at some point in their lives, according to Bodywhys. And one in 20 people across the country will experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. BODYWHYS provides a non-judgmental and confidential support and information service to anyone experiencing an eating disorder. You can get in touch at (01) 270 7906 or alex@ 4 TikTok has blocked the search results for #SkinnyTok since 'it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content' Credit: AFP
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
The Unrepentant Return of Christian Diet Culture
'Less Prozac, more protein.' That quote, uttered by the wellness influencer Alex Clark, jumped out at me from coverage of the Young Women's Leadership Summit, a gathering of around 3,000 hosted by Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit organization focused on the next generation. Clark went on to discuss the melding of diet, exercise, religion and politics that, as she sees it, defines the conservative brand for 20- and 30-something women. 'The girls who lift weights, eat clean, have their hormones balanced, have their lives together' are right wing, the 'cool kids' and 'mainstream.' By contrast, liberals are 'TikTok activists with five shades of autism, panic attacks and a ring light.' My first reaction: Enough about protein (that macronutrient needs a rest) and grass-fed beef from Whole Foods is neither Republican nor Democrat. I lift weights, married and got pregnant in my 20s; yet by Turning Point standards, I am basically a Marxist career harpy. But my second reaction is that our ever-present diet culture once again has a conservative, Christian bent to it. I had recently seen some social media postings about sinfulness, gluttony and 'SkinnyTok,' and since Trump's re-election there have been magazine articles tying thinness to conservative values and the idea that women should take up less physical space in the public sphere. But it was the explicit pushing of diet and exercise at the Young Women's Leadership Summit that tied it all together for me: religiosity, conservatism, the Make America Healthy Again movement and diet culture. Despite rumblings about 'body positivity' that peaked about 10 years ago, for decades the white American beauty standard has been thin. As part of the focus on body positivity in the 2010s, it became unfashionable to talk about skinniness as a goal, so it just got rebranded as wellness, health or self-care, though the pressures to conform remained the same. In the '90s and '00s, thinness had a debauched, libertine air to it; if anything, I guess it was default coded as liberal, but it wasn't really tied to electoral politics or health. The image that comes to me is of the model Kate Moss at the famously muddy Glastonbury Music Festival in 2005, where her uniform was tiny shorts, Wellington boots, a troubled rock star boyfriend on her arm and a cigarette dangling from her mouth. The subtext was always that the skinniness came from cocaine and dancing all night, or simply not eating. Many women of my vintage can quote a relevant line from 'The Devil Wears Prada' (2006): 'I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
