The Dangerous Allure of #SkinnyTok: Why we need to talk about it
- Maddy Kirkpatrick
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Looking forward to a sweet treat or getting excited for lunch is something I’m sure many can relate to. But with the new #SkinnyTok trend sweeping across TikTok, this normal hunger and interest in food is now being shamed. Creators, and the algorithm, are now pushing toxic mantras like “If your stomach is growling, pretend it's applauding you” and “You don’t need a treat, you’re not a dog”.
#SkinnyTok is a corner of TikTok where thinness is glorified, often in dangerous and harmful ways. The social media trend, featuring up to half a million posts, is packed with unregulated diet advice, much of it focused on restricting food and celebrating hunger through “tough love” messages designed to shame weight gain and glorify weight loss. Phrases such as: “if you’re paying for a gym membership and not going, cancel it so you can afford bigger clothes” and “being skinny is a form of self-respect” are just some examples of the messaging around body image that this trend is creating. Despite experts issuing warnings about the damaging effects of the trend, it has gained a large amount of traction, echoing old "pro-ana" (pro-anorexia) content which was rife on platforms such as Tumblr in the early 2000s.
In a world where weight loss drugs like Ozempic dominate the headlines, the rise of the #SkinnyTok trend continues to reinforce thinness as the ‘ideal’. I have previously written articles here on Inspire The Mind on the topic of Ozempic and the impact it can have on body image and mental health. But could #SkinnyTok be even more dangerous? And what effect might this relentless content have on the huge number of young people who are being exposed to it?
The psychological impacts of #SkinnyTok
#SkinnyTok promotes extreme weight loss methods and restrictive eating habits, often disguised as easy hacks or wellness practices to remain thin. It is well evidenced that restrictive eating habits are harmful to both physical and mental health. What’s especially worrying is how #SkinnyTok sends the message that hunger is a good thing, that it means you’re burning fat and making progress, instead of recognising it as your body’s natural way of saying it needs nourishment and resources. This kind of mindset takes the joy out of eating. When food is villainised as something to avoid, it strips away the comfort, enjoyment and sociability that can come from it.
Perhaps the biggest concern with the #SkinnyTok trend is the environment of shame it creates around food and weight gain. It creates the illusion that losing weight and being thin is solely down to willpower, and not being able to stop yourself from indulging is the single reason you are not thin. However, this mindset completely ignores the complexities of the human body and weight, and how other factors outside of food intake, such as genetics, sociodemographic factors and physical and mental health, can equally impact one’s natural, healthy size.
#SkinnyTok hasn’t just brought an environment of shaming others, but it’s also creating the mindset of people shaming themselves into being thin. People are even going to the lengths of creating AI images of themselves on TikTok, looking either bigger or smaller, to motivate themselves to stay away from or strive towards a certain look. For young, impressionable people who are being exposed to this content, it would be difficult to maintain the opposite, healthy mindset.
This is made worse by the fact that many followers of the trend commend its benefits, claiming that maintaining the #SkinnyTok mindset is the only success they have had in losing weight. The community it has created, where individuals bond and collectively promote unhealthy weight loss habits, further normalises this outlook, making it increasingly difficult to resist engaging. Of course, there will be many people who are exposed to the trend and are unable to attain the unrealistic body standards which are being promoted, creating a cycle of self-criticism that can quickly escalate into damaged mental health and eating disorders. Unlike Ozempic, exposure to #SkinnyTok is unregulated and doesn’t come with warnings or prescriptions. It’s freely consumed by young people who may not yet have the tools to recognise the harm it’s doing to their mental health and self-image.
Concerns surrounding the relationship between TikTok and mental health, particularly eating disorders, are not new. Indeed, there has even been research on this association. A study conducted in 2024 aimed to investigate the impact of “pro-anorexia” TikTok content on body image and eating behaviour. The study found that women who were exposed to just 8 minutes of pro-anorexia videos immediately had a decrease in their body image and increased internalisation of societal beauty standards.
Another study, also conducted in 2024, looked instead at how TikTok could exacerbate symptoms in those already suffering with eating disorders. Strikingly, this study identified that the algorithms TikTok uses to deliver personalised content meant that individuals with eating disorders were delivered up to 4343% more “pro-anorexia” related content than healthy people. Furthermore, this study identified that these people were more likely to be delivered these problematic videos, even if users had not been “liking” them to encourage this personalisation. Indeed, exposure to more of these videos was associated with more severe eating disorder symptoms.
This highlights that for many, algorithm targeting can create situations where we are being exposed to this content involuntarily.
Is TikTok doing anything to prevent these harmful posts?
TikTok is aware of the trend and does have guidelines in place to crack down on content which promotes disordered eating or body shaming. When you search the #SkinnyTok tag, you are first greeted with a message from TikTok stating “You are more than your weight” and encouraging you to seek help if you suffer with body image issues. Additionally, TikTok has even banned a major influencer who was actively promoting the trend.
The French minister for digital media, Clara Chappaz is concerned about the trend, claiming that the videos are “revolting and absolutely unacceptable”. The French government was made aware of the trend and has since approved a parliamentary commission to look into the psychological effects of TikTok on children and adolescents.
Despite these steps to improve the narrative of the content, #SkinnyTok posts are still scattered in people’s feed. Many creators have learnt to circumvent the barriers TikTok introduced by purposefully misspelling words (for example, “Skinni”) in order to avoid AI detection.
How can we reclaim a healthy narrative?
It’s easy to say that the way to maintain a healthy mindset is to simply ignore the content. However, this is unrealistic for many, particularly vulnerable young people or those already suffering from eating disorders, who may not be able to resist engaging.
While the regulation of this content is largely based on the individual, we can work as a society to try to push the narrative away. By talking openly about SkinnyTok, and how it is damaging, unrealistic and dangerous, we can hopefully encourage people to just scroll past and disengage. It’s important to remember that eating disorders are serious, life-threatening conditions. Allowing an environment of shame to thrive only fuels these issues. Instead, we should foster spaces where body diversity is accepted, and food is celebrated and enjoyed.