Social media leads to methods of unhealthy dieting

With an increase in the use of social media and trends, health has become a flourishing subject. When the world went into lockdown because of COVID-19, the habit of exercising daily and eating healthy was advertised by many influencers. Routines were created for their followers that would “get them in shape for after quarantine.” With this, “diet culture” was reawakened.

“Diet culture” refers to the belief of thinness being prioritized over health and nutrition, or overall wellness. It centers around calories and unhealthy dieting that can lead to a deprivation of nutrients. The constant promotion of unhealthy diets has normalized eating disorders and self-deprecation. Additionally, some begun ways of losing weight through unsafe methods such as cutting calories, skipping meals, and excessively exercising.

Social media is based on algorithms— meaning the content that is viewed is based on the content that is shared and liked, or interacted with. People continue to interact with content creators that promote unhealthy or toxic ways to diet.

The main way that dieting is being promoted is through stopping overall food intake. They claim that in order to lose weight people must exercise more and eat less. In reality, it is important to simply watch what kind of food is being consumed rather than the amount of exercise that is being done and how much you eat. As you exercise more and burn calories, the body responds with a need for more calories, whereas if you eat sufficient calories and burn excess, the body is able to maintain a healthy balance.

Additionally, with body image becoming an overall “trend” on social media, teenagers with lower levels of self-esteem are prone to developing eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. Content creators may be subconsciously promoting these disorders to their audiences through advertising “appetite suppressants” or other supplements that serve to decrease hunger. Orthorexia is a newly found type of eating disorder developed due to obsession with healthy foods. The line between promoting healthy dieting and developing eating disorders has become incredibly blurred, relating the cause of these disorders directly to food and weight loss.

Wellness influencers are usually underqualified to promote wellness advice in the first place. The health that they promote is closely related to appearance rather than nutrition, which usually deals with weight. In order to actively promote healthy dieting, it is evident to promote qualified influencers through the algorithm. There are ways to spot unethical influencers that spread misinformation: they constantly post ads and promotions of products, copy other content, lack qualification, and misrepresent research.

Those who should be trusted are those who show their resources and mention qualified doctors or nutritionists. Another way to avoid misinformation through is doing There are many resources available online that are trustworthy. Planning meals ahead and generally choosing healthy foods instead of processed ones are good rules of thumb when it comes to healthy nutrition, eating when your body tells you to eat, and balancing nutrition and exercising.

As far as exercise goes, there are many other benefits besides weight loss. Exercise has proven to help with sleep and energy as well as focus. Over time, exercise helps with building muscle and strength as well as maintaining a constant weight.

Social media has created the false sense that nutrition is directly tied to weight loss, which in turn is tied to overall appearance. Numbers on a scale should not be put above wellness and nutrition. Health is a puzzle that is composed of many pieces, none which should be ignored to please an unrealistic societal standard.

TheHawk , the official student newspaper of Hendrickson High School, is an open forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions.

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