TikTok has banned #SkinnyTok, but will it make a difference?
TikTok has banned the hashtag #SkinnyTok after public outrage and warnings that it was promoting unrealistic body standards, eating disorders and extreme weight loss.
It's not the first time content like this has been blocked by the platform. In September, influencer Liv Schmidt, who built her platform on the outward pursuit of thinness, growing a following of 670,000, was banned.
'Basic fit because the accessory is being blonde & skinny,' she captioned one outfit video on Instagram, where she now has over 320,000 followers. 'Please don't ask me how I'm so skinny if you're not ready for the answers,' she wrote over another.
#SkinnyTok's content is eerily similar to the thinspo – or, inspiration on how to be skinnier – that dominated social media platforms like Tumblr in the 2010s. Though Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest banned #thinspo in 2012, it didn't stop these communities from populating the sites.
Even with the ban of #SkinnyTok, removing harmful content may be an uphill battle. Content creators like Schmidt have paved the way for the 'skinny influencer,' and mental health experts have cautioned that this represents a larger shift in how Americans are discussing thinness.
'We're almost seeing a return to the outward profession of the desire to be skinny, whereas for a while it's been, 'I want to be healthier, I want to engage in wellness,'' said University of Vermont associate professor Lizzy Pope, whose research focuses on how diet culture appears in popular culture and on social media. 'What I'm seeing is a return of that language being accepted.'
The era of #SkinnyTok, Liv Schmit and 'gym bros'
TikTok banned Schmidt's account for violating the site's community guidelines, according to the Wall Street Journal. A TikTok spokesperson did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on specifics, but some of Schmidt's videos appeared to violate the site's disordered eating and body image guidelines, which prohibit content that "promotes potentially harmful weight management."
However, other communities on TikTok also promote unrealistic body standards, but do so under the guise of wellness.
Some 'gym bros' are sharing similar content, amassing followers by sharing their tough-to-achieve physiques and gym journeys. A simple TikTok search of 'trust the bulk' will lead users to thousands of transformation videos, with many detailing how they toned their bodies through binge/purge cycles and excessive exercise.
When regular gym goers don't see these same results, body dysmorphia and disordered eating practices can worsen, according to therapist and certified eating disorder specialist Sarah Davis.
Experts say this is contributing to a culture of orthorexia, a lesser-known eating disorder characterized by an obsession with clean, healthy eating.
More: Are 'gym bros' cultivating a culture of orthorexia?
The rise in 'skinny' content can influence disordered eating in young people
Sneakily named hashtags and covert 'what I eat in a day" videos that often portray unhealthy caloric intake also allow users to evade TikTok's new #SkinnyTok ban and restrictions around posting harmful weight-related content.
Factors like social media and isolation have contributed to a large increase in youth eating disorders since the pandemic.
The most widely viewed food, nutrition and weight content on TikTok are videos that perpetuate toxic diet culture among teens and young adults, according to a 2022 University of Vermont study that analyzed the top 100 videos from popular nutrition, food and weight-related hashtags.
Lizzy Pope, one of the study's coauthors, said representation of diet culture and weight loss was framed as a part of being healthy or being fit in most of the videos they analyzed. If they did the study again in 2025, she suspects they would find 'a lot more of this very blatant, 'I'm doing this to be skinny' content.'
In general, the best way to minimize eating disorder-related content is not to interact with it in the first place, since commenting or liking videos makes similar content more likely to appear in one's algorithm. Pope said working on the ability to reject content is an important aspect of making sure toxic diet culture doesn't permeate one's mental health, and recommended seeking professional support through therapists and dietitians if unhealthy thoughts persist.
Contributing: Rachel Hale
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Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Mountain Hiker, 26, Develops 'Weird Cough'—Then Comes Shock Diagnosis
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A keen mountain climber thought he was just feeling under the weather when he developed a strange cough last year. But when he started to cough up blood, that's what changed his life forever. In the summer of 2024, Bohdan Suprun became increasingly fatigued, but as he was just 26 years old and felt fine otherwise, he didn't think much of it. He'd started hiking in the mountains in Switzerland, noting that his "lungs were performing well" throughout those challenges. But by late August, Suprun, now 27, told Newsweek that he developed a "weird cough that wouldn't go away" and a low-grade fever. The longer that continued, Suprun started to notice chest pains and severe night sweats that caused him to wake up completely drenched. "I thought it was weird since I didn't have any other typical flu-like symptoms. There was no running nose and not even a sore throat," Suprun said. Bohdan Suprun before his diagnosis, pictured snowboarding and hiking. Bohdan Suprun before his diagnosis, pictured snowboarding and hiking. @praesidens / TikTok Soon enough, he started to cough up blood, which felt "serious and disturbing." Something was clearly wrong, and it wasn't just a simple cough. He scheduled a doctor's appointment and went for a blood test to find out what could be causing his mystery illness. The results showed shockingly high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a protein made by the liver. His CRP level wasn't just slightly higher than normal, but "multiple times above the threshold." High CRP can be a sign of inflammation, possibly due to a serious infection or chronic disease. As a result, doctors believed that Suprun could have pneumonia, so they prescribed him antibiotics to fight it off. 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So, they scheduled a CT with contrast for that same day, and the contrast revealed the lung tumor and multiple affected lymph nodes in the lungs," Suprun continued. "The tumor board suggested it was something infectious rather than cancerous, so they kept treating me with antibiotics for another month or so. I told them a few times that it didn't help, and the symptoms didn't improve." He just felt worse and worse as the days passed by. Once it was clear that the antibiotics weren't working, he was taken for another CT scan. To their horror, doctors saw that the tumor had grown aggressively. By then, it was 7x6 centimeters in size, and a biopsy was the only way to find out the real diagnosis. In the end, it wasn't pneumonia or tuberculosis—it was in fact Hodgkin's lymphoma. The stage 4 cancer had spread outside Suprun's lymphatic system and formed a tumor in his lung. He said: "I felt both shocked and relieved. Shocked because of the fact of the diagnosis, and relieved because I finally knew what it was after two months." Bohdan Suprun after undergoing chemotherapy to treat his cancer in 2024. Bohdan Suprun after undergoing chemotherapy to treat his cancer in 2024. @praesidens / TikTok Treatment needed to begin straight away, and Suprun has since undergone six grueling cycles of chemotherapy over a span of three months. Thankfully, the treatment appears to have worked, and recent scans have shown no trace of cancer. Although Suprun is still experiencing some lasting symptoms. He told Newsweek: "I still have some pain in the area where the tumor was located, but it's not too severe. My energy levels are not that high yet, and the worst is the polyneuropathy. The tips of my fingers are numb, and my toes are also numb." As he faces his road to recovery, Suprun has been sharing his experience on TikTok (@praesidens) to educate and inspire others. There were so many times that he felt uncertain about what was going on with his body, and times when he felt alone on this journey. Now he hopes to prevent others from feeling that way too. He's been amazed by the online response, with one post detailing "the cough that changed everything" going viral with over 388,400 views and 23,600 likes at the time of writing. Being diagnosed with cancer at 26 was an intensely difficult challenge, but he's so relieved to have pushed through and to raise awareness. Looking back now, it amazes him to think of what he went through when the symptoms started. He often reflects and wishes it was just a case of the flu after all. Suprun said: "I am happy to survive this, but there are so many other people affected by cancer. So many of life's problems are not problems anymore when you are getting chemo in a hospital bed and fighting for your life. I posted on TikTok after I received the news about being in remission, and the response was very positive." Is there a health issue that's worrying you? Let us know via health@ We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Many forget the damage done by diseases like whooping cough, measles and rubella. Not these families
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — In the time before widespread vaccination, death often came early. Devastating infectious diseases ran rampant in America, killing millions of children and leaving others with lifelong health problems. These illnesses were the main reason why nearly one in five children in 1900 never made it to their fifth birthday. Over the next century, vaccines virtually wiped out long-feared scourges like polio and measles and drastically reduced the toll of many others. Today, however, some preventable, contagious diseases are making a comeback as vaccine hesitancy pushes immunization rates down. And well-established vaccines are facing suspicion even from public officials, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, running the federal health department. 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Getting rubella while pregnant shaped two lives With a mother's practiced, guiding hand, 80-year-old Janith Farnham helped steer her 60-year-old daughter's walker through a Sioux Falls art center. They stopped at a painting of a cow wearing a hat. Janith pointed to the hat, then to her daughter Jacque's Minnesota Twins cap. Jacque did the same. 'That's so funny!' Janith said, leaning in close to say the words in sign language too. Jacque was born with congenital rubella syndrome, which can cause a host of issues including hearing impairment, eye problems, heart defects and intellectual disabilities. There was no vaccine against rubella back then, and Janith contracted the viral illness very early in the pregnancy, when she had up to a 90% chance of giving birth to a baby with the syndrome. Janith recalled knowing 'things weren't right' almost immediately. The baby wouldn't respond to sounds or look at anything but lights. She didn't like to be held close. Her tiny heart sounded like it purred – evidence of a problem that required surgery at four months old. Janith did all she could to help Jacque thrive, sending her to the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind and using skills she honed as a special education teacher. She and other parents of children with the syndrome shared insights in a support group. Meanwhile, the condition kept taking its toll. As a young adult, Jacque developed diabetes, glaucoma and autistic behaviors. Eventually, arthritis set in. Today, Jacque lives in an adult residential home a short drive from Janith's place. Above her bed is a net overflowing with stuffed animals. On a headboard shelf are photo books Janith created, filled with memories like birthday parties and trips to Mount Rushmore. Jacque's days typically begin with an insulin shot and breakfast before she heads off to a day program. She gets together with her mom four or five days a week. They often hang out at Janith's townhome, where Jacque has another bedroom decorated with her own artwork and quilts Janith sewed for her. Jacque loves playing with Janith's dog, watching sports on television and looking up things on her iPad. Janith marvels at Jacque's sense of humor, gratefulness, curiosity and affectionate nature despite all she's endured. Jacque is generous with kisses and often signs 'double I love yous' to family, friends and new people she meets. 'When you live through so much pain and so much difficulty and so much challenge, sometimes I think: Well, she doesn't know any different,' Janith said. Given what her family has been through, Janith believes younger people are being selfish if they choose not to get their children the MMR shot against measles, mumps and rubella. 'It's more than frustrating. I mean, I get angry inside,' she said. 'I know what can happen, and I just don't want anybody else to go through this.' Delaying the measles vaccine can be deadly More than half a century has passed, but Patricia Tobin still vividly recalls getting home from work, opening the car door and hearing her mother scream. Inside the house, her little sister Karen lay unconscious on the bathroom floor. It was 1970, and Karen was 6. She'd contracted measles shortly after Easter. While an early vaccine was available, it wasn't required for school in Miami where they lived. Karen's doctor discussed immunizing the first grader, but their mother didn't share his sense of urgency. 'It's not that she was against it," Tobin said. "She just thought there was time.' Then came a measles outbreak. Karen – who Tobin described as a 'very endearing, sweet child' who would walk around the house singing – quickly became very sick. The afternoon she collapsed in the bathroom, Tobin, then 19, called the ambulance. Karen never regained consciousness. 'She immediately went into a coma and she died of encephalitis,' said Tobin, who stayed at her bedside in the hospital. 'We never did get to speak to her again.' Today, all states require that children get certain vaccines to attend school. But a growing number of people are making use of exemptions allowed for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. Vanderbilt's Schaffner said fading memories of measles outbreaks were exacerbated by a fraudulent, retracted study claiming a link between the MMR shot and autism. The result? Most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. 'I'm very upset by how cavalier people are being about the measles,' Tobin said. 'I don't think that they realize how destructive this is.' Polio changed a life twice One of Lora Duguay's earliest memories is lying in a hospital isolation ward with her feverish, paralyzed body packed in ice. She was three years old. 'I could only see my parents through a glass window. They were crying and I was screaming my head off,' said Duguay, 68. 'They told my parents I would never walk or move again.' It was 1959 and Duguay, of Clearwater, Florida, had polio. It mostly preyed on children and was one of the most feared diseases in the U.S., experts say, causing some terrified parents to keep children inside and avoid crowds during epidemics. Given polio's visibility, the vaccine against it was widely and enthusiastically welcomed. But the early vaccine that Duguay got was only about 80% to 90% effective. Not enough people were vaccinated or protected yet to stop the virus from spreading. Duguay initially defied her doctors. After intensive treatment and physical therapy, she walked and even ran – albeit with a limp. She got married, raised a son and worked as a medical transcriptionist. But in her early 40s, she noticed she couldn't walk as far as she used to. A doctor confirmed she was in the early stages of post-polio syndrome, a neuromuscular disorder that worsens over time. One morning, she tried to stand up and couldn't move her left leg. After two weeks in a rehab facility, she started painting to stay busy. Eventually, she joined arts organizations and began showing and selling her work. Art "gives me a sense of purpose,' she said. These days, she can't hold up her arms long enough to create big oil paintings at an easel. So she pulls her wheelchair up to an electric desk to paint on smaller surfaces like stones and petrified wood. The disease that changed her life twice is no longer a problem in the U.S. So many children get the vaccine — which is far more effective than earlier versions — that it doesn't just protect individuals but it prevents occasional cases that arrive in the U.S. from spreading further. ' Herd immunity " keeps everyone safe by preventing outbreaks that can sicken the vulnerable. After whooping cough struck, 'she was gone' Every night, Katie Van Tornhout rubs a plaster cast of a tiny foot, a vestige of the daughter she lost to whooping cough at just 37 days old. Callie Grace was born on Christmas Eve 2009 after Van Tornhout and her husband tried five years for a baby. She was six weeks early but healthy. 'She loved to have her feet rubbed," said the 40-year-old Lakeville, Indiana mom. "She was this perfect baby.' When Callie turned a month old, she began to cough, prompting a visit to the doctor, who didn't suspect anything serious. By the following night, Callie was doing worse. They went back. In the waiting room, she became blue and limp in Van Tornhout's arms. The medical team whisked her away and beat lightly on her back. She took a deep breath and giggled. Though the giggle was reassuring, the Van Tornhouts went to the ER, where Callie's skin turned blue again. For a while, medical treatment helped. But at one point she started squirming, and medical staff frantically tried to save her. 'Within minutes,' Van Tornhout said, 'she was gone.' Van Tornhout recalled sitting with her husband and their lifeless baby for four hours, "just talking to her, thinking about what could have been.' Callie's viewing was held on her original due date – the same day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called to confirm she had pertussis, or whooping cough. She was too young for the Tdap vaccine against it and was exposed to someone who hadn't gotten their booster shot. Today, next to the cast of Callie's foot is an urn with her ashes and a glass curio cabinet filled with mementos like baby shoes. 'My kids to this day will still look up and say, 'Hey Callie, how are you?'' said Van Tornhout, who has four children and a stepson. 'She's part of all of us every day.' Van Tornhout now advocates for childhood immunization through the nonprofit Vaccinate Your Family. She also shares her story with people she meets, like a pregnant customer who came into the restaurant her family ran saying she didn't want to immunize her baby. She later returned with her vaccinated four-month-old. 'It's up to us as adults to protect our children – like, that's what a parent's job is,' Van Tornhout said. 'I watched my daughter die from something that was preventable … You don't want to walk in my shoes.'
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Takeaways from interviews with families forever changed by diseases that vaccines can prevent
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — In the time before widespread vaccination, devastating infectious diseases ran rampant in America, killing millions of children and leaving others with lifelong health problems. Over the next century, vaccines virtually wiped out long-feared scourges like polio and measles and drastically reduced the toll of many others. Today, however, some preventable, contagious diseases are making a comeback as vaccine hesitancy pushes immunization rates down. And well-established vaccines are facing suspicion even from public officials, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, running the federal health department. 'This concern, this hesitancy, these questions about vaccines are a consequence of the great success of the vaccines – because they eliminated the diseases,' said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 'If you're not familiar with the disease, you don't respect or even fear it. And therefore you don't value the vaccine.' Anti-vaccine activists even portray the shots as a threat, focusing on the rare risk of side effects while ignoring the far larger risks posed by the diseases themselves — and years of real-world data that experts say proves the vaccines are safe. Some Americans know the reality of vaccine-preventable diseases all too well. Here are takeaways from interviews with a few of them by The Associated Press. Getting a disease while pregnant can change two lives. Janith Farnham has helped shepherd her daughter Jacque through life for decades. Jacque, 60, was born with congenital rubella syndrome, which resulted in hearing, eye and heart problems at birth. There was no vaccine against rubella back then, and Janith contracted it in early pregnancy. Though Janith, 80, did all she could to help Jacque thrive, the condition took its toll. Jacque eventually developed diabetes, glaucoma, autistic behaviors and arthritis. Today, Jacque lives in an adult residential home and gets together with Janith four or five days a week. Janith marvels at Jacque's sense of humor and affectionate nature despite all she's endured. Jacque is generous with kisses and often signs 'double I love yous,' even to new people she meets. Given what her family has been through, Janith finds it 'more than frustrating' when people choose not to get children the MMR shot against measles, mumps and rubella. 'I know what can happen,' she said. 'I just don't want anybody else to go through this.' Delaying a vaccine can be deadly. More than half a century has passed, but Patricia Tobin still vividly recalls seeing her little sister Karen unconscious on the bathroom floor. It was 1970, Karen was 6, and she had measles. The vaccine against it wasn't required for school in Miami where they lived. Though Karen's doctor discussed immunizing the first grader, their mother didn't share his sense of urgency. 'It's not that she was against it,' Tobin said. 'She just thought there was time.' Then came a measles outbreak. After she collapsed in the bathroom, Karen never regained consciousness. She died of encephalitis. 'We never did get to speak to her again,' Tobin said. Today, all states require that children get certain vaccines to attend school. But a growing number of people are making use of exemptions. Vanderbilt's Schaffner said fading memories of measles outbreaks were exacerbated by a fraudulent, retracted study claiming a link between the MMR shot and autism. The result? Most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. Preventable diseases can have long-term effects. One of Lora Duguay's earliest memories is lying in a hospital isolation ward with her feverish, paralyzed body packed in ice. She was three years old. It was 1959 and Duguay, of Clearwater, Florida, had polio. It was one of the most feared diseases in the U.S., experts say, causing some terrified parents to keep children inside and avoid crowds during epidemics. Given polio's visibility, the vaccine against it was widely and enthusiastically welcomed. Given polio's visibility, the vaccine against it was widely and enthusiastically welcomed. But the early vaccine that Duguay got was only about 80% to 90% effective. Not enough people were vaccinated or protected yet to stop the virus from spreading. Though treatment helped her walk again, she eventually developed post-polio syndrome, a neuromuscular disorder that worsens over time. She now gets around in a wheelchair. The disease that changed her life twice is no longer a problem in the U.S. So many children get the vaccine — which is far more effective than earlier versions — that it doesn't just protect individuals but it prevents occasional cases that arrive in the U.S. from spreading further and protects the vulnerable. When people aren't vaccinated, the vulnerable remain at risk. Every night, Katie Van Tornhout rubs a plaster cast of a tiny foot, a vestige of the daughter she lost to whooping cough at just 37 days old. Callie Grace was born on Christmas Eve 2009. When she turned a month old, she began having symptoms of pertussis, or whooping cough. She was too young for the Tdap vaccine against it and was exposed to someone who hadn't gotten their booster shot. At the hospital, Van Tornhout recalled, the medical staff frantically tried to save her, but 'within minutes, she was gone.' Today, Callie remains part of her family's life, and Van Tornhout shares the story with others as she advocates for vaccination. 'It's up to us as adults to protect our children – like, that's what a parent's job is,' Van Tornhout said. 'I watched my daughter die from something that was preventable … You don't want to walk in my shoes.' ____
