TikTok and similar platforms linked to body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms

A study in China found that high school students who spend more time on short-form video platforms tend to have more severe eating disorder symptoms and tend to be less satisfied with their bodies compared to peers who spend less time on these platforms. They are also more likely to compare their bodies to those seen in the videos. The paper was published in Psychological Reports.

Short-form video platforms are digital services that allow users to create, share, and view brief videos, typically under one minute. Popular examples include TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat Spotlight. These platforms emphasize fast-paced, engaging content designed for quick consumption.

Short-form videos are especially popular among younger audiences. They use algorithm-driven feeds to tailor content to user preferences. Brands and influencers often use these platforms for marketing and audience engagement. The format has transformed digital storytelling, making content more accessible and participatory.

However, recent studies have indicated that these platforms often depict idealized body types, sometimes digitally enhanced. Users may compare their own bodies to these portrayals and become dissatisfied with their natural appearance. This dissatisfaction may lead some individuals to develop eating disorders—either as a way to cope with negative emotions or to try to reshape their bodies to resemble those seen in the videos through extreme dieting.

Study author Liheng Fan and his colleagues sought to explore the link between short-form video platform use and eating disorder symptoms among adolescents. They were also interested in whether this relationship differed between boys and girls.

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Participants were students from three secondary schools in two cities in China. The researchers distributed questionnaires to 835 students in grades 7 through 11 in October 2022 and collected 795 valid responses. Participants were between 10 and 18 years old, with an average age of about 15. Approximately 57% of participants were girls.

The questionnaire included assessments of eating disorder symptoms (using the Eating Attitudes Test), short-form video platform use (based on a modified version of a social networking site use scale), body image comparison (the tendency to compare one’s body to those seen in short videos), and body dissatisfaction.

The results showed that girls had somewhat more severe eating disorder symptoms than boys. They were also more likely to compare their bodies to those seen in videos and to feel dissatisfied with their appearance.

Across the entire sample, greater use of short-form video platforms was associated with more severe eating disorder symptoms, greater body image comparison, and higher levels of body dissatisfaction. In total, 9% of participants reported unhealthy eating behaviors, suggesting a risk of developing eating disorders.

“First, watching short videos is strongly associated with EDs [eating disorders] in adolescents; the higher the frequency of watching short videos, the greater the chance that the person will have ED symptoms. Second, there are sex differences in the relationship between adolescents’ engagement with short videos and their EDs. Boys’ use of short video platforms was associated with an increased risk of EDs, both directly and through the mediating role of BD [body dissatisfaction]; for girls, such platform use showed a stronger association with BIC [body image comparison – proneness to compare one’s own body to bodies seen in videos], which in turn was linked to higher levels of BD and ED risk,” the study authors concluded.

The study contributes to scientific understanding of the links between eating behaviors and short-form video platform use. However, it should be noted that the study’s design does not allow for causal conclusions to be drawn from the results.

The paper, “Does the Use of Short-form Video Platforms Increase the Occurrence of Eating Disorders in Adolescents? A Study Based on Sex Differences,” was authored by Liheng Fan, Yuchen Zhu, and Ke Yang.