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Alarming! TikTok trend SkinnyTok promotes dangerous eating disorders!
On July 4, 2025, the "SkinnyTok" phenomenon on TikTok warns of its impact on eating disorders in young people.
Alarming! TikTok trend SkinnyTok promotes dangerous eating disorders!
The “SkinnyTok” TikTok trend has been generating a lot of buzz on social media lately, attracting the attention of medical professionals, educators and parents. This hashtag has now been blocked due to its problematic content, which primarily targets young women and girls. The videos propagate unhealthy weight loss tips and glorify extreme eating habits. Influencers recommend, for example, cutting out entire food groups or eating only a protein shake for lunch. This dangerous content promotes a distorted body image and the so-called “skinny girl mindset,” which suggests that happiness and success can only be achieved through being thin, reports maz-online.de.
The warnings do not come by chance. Sophie Reimers, speaker for youth media protection, and Stefanie Bienioschek, specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, draw attention to the dangers that such content can have for young people. The statistics are alarming: While 4,477 cases of eating disorders among young people were registered in 2018, there will already be 6,380 in 2023, a worrying increase. Girls between the ages of 12 and 17 are particularly affected 1und1.de reported.
The influence of social media
A central factor in this development is the trend towards self-optimization in social media. The content on platforms like TikTok promotes unrealistic beauty ideals and peer pressure. An action research project examining social media use and its consequences highlights that heavy consumption significantly increases the risk of eating disorders. Many young people are unaware of the harmful effects of such content, which makes them vulnerable to triggering or worsening existing problems.
Educator Sabine Dohme, who acts as a digital street worker, actively seeks contact with those affected on social media. Their approach shows that young people often respond more openly to offers of help, which is due to the anonymity of the Internet. This commitment is part of the “DigiStreet” project, which is dedicated to supporting young people with eating disorders and mental health problems center-fuer-essstoerungen.de is to be read.
What should be done?
In order to counteract this threatening development, experts are calling for more social problems that can lead to eating disorders to be addressed. These include crises such as the corona pandemic, which increase the feeling of loss of control. It is also important to improve the distinction between helpful and harmful content. Quality seals for digital content could strengthen young people’s media skills. Destigmatizing mental illnesses is also crucial in order to help those affected at an early stage and encourage them to seek support.
Overall, it is up to society to have a good handle on these issues and create a space where young people feel safe to talk openly about their concerns. This is the only way to respond sensibly to the current challenges in the digital age.