Exposure to ‘pro-anorexia’ content on TikTok has a negative impact on young female social media users’ mental health and body image, new research shows — potentially putting them at risk of developing eating disorders.
TikTok is full of useful information that can help you organize your house, learn how to do your makeup, or cook a delicious meal. But it also contains plenty of content that may be harmful to viewers — particularly when it comes to body image and eating disorders, new research suggests.
Researchers from Charles Sturt University in Australia aimed to examine the influence of pro-anorexia TikTok content on young women’s body image and internalization of beauty standards, while also exploring the impact of daily time spent on TikTok and the development of disordered eating behaviors.
Their study, published in PLOS ONE, suggests that young women who spend a lot of time on the app, and particularly those who are exposed to pro-anorexia content on their feeds, are more likely to experience reduced body image satisfaction.
“This research has implications for the mental health of young female TikTok users, with exposure to pro-anorexia content having immediate consequences for internalization and body image dissatisfaction, potentially increasing one’s risk of developing disordered eating beliefs and behaviors,” the authors wrote.
Unlike some other social media platforms, TikTok contains explicit eating disorder content. The “pro” eating disorder communities that exist on the app, also known as “pro-ana,” actively encourage and normalize disordered eating. In this corner of TikTok, individuals bond over a shared rejection of eating disorder recovery and routinely share weight-loss tips, excessive exercise routines, and images of emaciated figures.
And the app’s “For You” algorithm makes it so that anyone who engages with content related to diet or fitness may unintentionally end up being exposed to this harmful content.
In an attempt to determine the impact this may be having on young women, the researchers surveyed 273 women between the ages of 18 and 28. The asked participants how often they used TikTok, and they also measured their eating disorder behavior, body satisfaction, and internalization of societal beauty standards.
Participants were also screened for orthorexia risk — a form of disordered eating that occurs when an individual becomes obsessed with only consuming foods considered to be “healthy” and “clean.”
Following the screening, half participants were shown a roughly eight-minute compilation of pro-ana TikTok content, while the second half viewed content about nature, cooking, and animals.
After viewing the TikToks, both groups reported a decrease in body satisfaction, but the effect was much more pronounced in the participants that viewed the disordered eating content. This group was found to internalize societal beauty standards to a greater degree after being exposed to pro-ana TikTok content.
“There are current steps being taken to delete dangerous content, including blocking searches such as “#anorexia”, however, there are various ways users circumvent these controls and further regulation is required,” the authors wrote. “Unless effective controls are implemented within the platform to prevent the circulation of pro-ana content, female-identifying TikTok users may continue to experience immediate detrimental consequences for body image satisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and may experience an increased risk of developing disordered eating behaviors.”
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