TikTok Promotes Diet Culture and Negative Body Image Rhetoric: A Content Analysis

Noam Raiter; Renata Husnudinov; Kaitlyn Mazza; Larkin Lamarche

doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2023.08.001

TikTok Promotes Diet Culture and Negative Body Image Rhetoric: A Content Analysis

J Nutr Educ Behav. 2023 Oct;55(10):755-760. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2023.08.001.

Authors

Noam Raiter¹, Renata Husnudinov², Kaitlyn Mazza³, Larkin Lamarche⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: renata.husnudinov@medportal.ca.
³ Faculty of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

PMID: 37806709
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2023.08.001

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore the presence of body image and diet culture rhetoric in videos under the hashtag #HealthyLifestyle on TikTok.

Methods: The top 250 videos under #HealthyLifestyle were categorized using a codebook of wellness topics. We conducted descriptive statistics and interrater reliability analysis.

Results: #HealthyLifestyle videos had high rates of all coded categories, including negative and positive messages about body image and diet culture. Nearly all content with positive connotations was counteracted by coexisting negative messaging.

Conclusions and implications: Our findings suggest that content under #HealthyLifestyle contains messaging conflicting with the definition of a healthy lifestyle. Considering the young audience consuming this content, improved nutrition education and health literacy in schools is essential.

Keywords: TikTok; body image; body positivity; eating disorders; social media.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Body Dissatisfaction*
Body Image
Diet
Humans
Reproducibility of Results
Social Media*