The majority came from Australia, with 71 percent saying they spend up to two hours a day on TikTok.
126 people in this group were shown TikTok videos about eating disorders, such as young women restricting their food intake and giving tips on how to lose weight. They were also shown videos of slim women showing off their cinched waists and content about fitness training and juicing.
The rest of the group was shown videos about nature, cooking, comedy and animals.
After watching seven to eight minutes of TikToks, the two groups were asked to complete the body image and beauty standards surveys again.
The study, published in the journal Plos One, found that thinness-promoting content “significantly reduced” the first group’s satisfaction with their own body image and increased their internalization of beauty ideals.
The researchers said: “Our findings suggest that TikTok users who identify as female may experience psychological harm even when they are not seeking out explicit pro-anorexia content and even when their TikTok use is time-limited.”
The team also called for stricter controls on the publication of content promoting eating disorders on the platform.
They added: “The results of this study suggest that cultural and organizational changes are needed.
“TikTok needs to have stricter controls and regulations on pro-anorexia content, as well as more subtle forms of eating disorders and body-focused content.”
Banning or restricting these videos could reduce the risk of users developing eating habits, the study says.
“Measures are currently being taken to remove dangerous content, including blocking searches such as ‘#anorexia’. However, there are various ways users circumvent these controls and further regulation is needed,” the researchers said.
“Unless effective controls are implemented within the platform to prevent the spread of anorexia-friendly content, TikTok users who identify as female could continue to experience immediate adverse consequences for body image satisfaction and internalization of the thinness ideal, and could be at increased risk of developing eating disorders.”
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at UK eating disorder charity Beat, said: “Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses and while we don’t know the exact causes, it is worrying that watching so-called ‘pro-anorexia’ content may be a contributing factor.”
“Unfortunately, a lot of harmful content is shared on social media platforms, mostly by people who are not doing well themselves.
“These platforms have a responsibility to their most vulnerable users and should take steps to protect them from harm wherever possible. This includes ensuring that their algorithms do not promote content that advocates eating disorders, preventing irresponsible content from being uploaded, and making it easier for users to report and block videos they come across.
“We would urge anyone who is struggling with their social media use to step away and instead focus on positive resources like Beat that promote recovery.”
TikTok stated that its community guidelines do not allow it to “depict or promote eating disorders or dangerous weight loss behaviors” or “facilitate the commerce or marketing of weight loss or muscle building products.”
