Less than 10 minutes on TikTok could do significant harm to young women, study finds

Social media and its impact on mental health have been widely discussed for many years, with some studies revealing shocking results.

Now, a recent survey has revealed that just eight minutes of TikTok consumption focused on exercise and dieting immediately has a negative effect on relationships with the body.

The study, published in Journals , explored TikTok usage of 273 females aged 18 to 28. The participants were split into two groups.

One group was shown fitspiration content for seven to eight minutes. It showed clips restricting food intake and workout advice. Meanwhile, the second group was shown neutral content consisting of animals, cooking and nature.

All participants were then given a questionnaire to fill out to determine levels of body image satisfaction before and after watching the content.

Both groups experienced a decline in satisfaction, with the first group having a greater decline and an increased internalisation of beauty standards.

The study worryingly found that people who consumed TikTok content for more than two hours a day had more behaviours associated with disordered eating.

It comes after a separate study highlighted that a staggering 40 per cent of Gen Z struggle with body image after scrolling social media.

Marina Klimenka, wellness expert and visionary co-founder of the face yoga app Luvly , provided six tips to help combat online pressures and build a healthy relationship with the body.

These include cleaning up their social media feeds, practising self-compassion, nourishing the body and ultimately doing/wearing more of the things they love.

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