Diet culture on TikTok
Content warning: This blog contains language that pertains to eating disorders.
TikTok, one of the fastest-growing social media platforms, is a place where many teenagers spend a significant portion of their free time. With the newfound reliance on the app, impressionable adolescents are easily influenced by the app’s messaging and its most notorious influencers.
Frequently, I find my “For You” page flooded with “What I eat in a day” videos. These videos consist of TikTok creators showing viewers everything they eat in a given day. Rather than providing wholesome entertainment, these videos often glorify disordered eating behaviors. This encourages negative emotions toward food and self.
Scrolling through the comments, I view statements like “I guess I can't eat tonight” and “I wish I had your metabolism.” When impressionable kids — myself included — view these toxic messages regularly, it makes disordered habits appear trendy and aspirational.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Chloe Ting’s workout challenges crossed many “For You” pages, promising quick fat burning and lean, toned abs. As a part of this challenge, people would post before and after pictures, neglecting to inform everyone about the additional changes they made that enabled those results, such as fad diets or photoshop.
TikTok also glorifies health trends. Some of the most recent trends for weight loss are weighted hula hoops, liquid chlorophyll, and waist trainers. There are little-to-no credible statistics or studies that prove that the use of these items will result in weight loss, and this has been addressed by several nutritionists on the app. Obsessively glorifying health fads is dangerous, irresponsible, and must stop.
A survey administered by King University showed that 87% of women and 65% of men compared their bodies to those they saw on social media. Similarly, 50% of women and 37% of men now view their body in a more negative way due to what they view online. Social media is visibly toxic, with or without diet culture’s influence. It forces self-objectification and comparison. But when diet culture is brought on to social media, it adds to body image concerns.
To evade diet culture on social media, it is important to follow people who make you feel good. Some people might also find it helpful to take a step back from social media periodically, or entirely. Most importantly, however, we need to adjust our perception of food and exercise. Vetting high-engagement content will be necessary to improve the mental health of the teens on the app.
