ArticlePloS one2022
Weight-normative messaging predominates on TikTok-A qualitative content analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- TikTok and Eating Disorders: A Narrative Review.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Review
- Tick-Tock, the Time Has Come: Leveraging TikTok to Understand, Prevent, and Treat Eating Disorders.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Review
- Examining the spread of nutrition-based misinformation by TikTok influencers: an experimental analysis of trust among young adults.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2026Article
- A motivation-based theoretical framework for understanding short-form video use and mental health among university students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Defining the guiding principles of weight-inclusive nutrition education.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Reliability and quality assessment of internet videos as guidance for dietary weight loss intervention: a cross-sectional study in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Tendencies of eating disordered behaviours in male content creators: a social media analysis.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- The quality and reliability of short videos about hypertension on TikTok: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Parents' Perceptions of Claims on Packaged Commercial Toddler Foods: A Qualitative Study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Effect of social media use on the orthorexia nervosa tendency among pregnant women.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2025Article
- When Diet Trends Go Viral: Cutaneous Manifestations of Social Media-Driven Fad Diets and Supplements.Cureus · 2025Review
- Relationships among nutrition knowledge level, healthy eating obsessions, body image, and social media usage in females: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- #WhatIEatinaDay: The Quality, Accuracy, and Engagement of Nutrition Content on TikTok.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Videos in short-video sharing platforms as sources of information on osteoarthritis: cross-sectional content analysis study.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Let's talk about body neutrality: content analysis of #bodyneutrality on TikTok.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
- Diet culture on TikTok: a descriptive content analysis.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Identifying methods used to manage weight and shape by first year university students: A qualitative analysis.Eating behaviors · 2024Article
- Social media behaviors and body type ideals predict weight loss and food tracking behaviors among recreational climbers.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Engaging in the good with technology: a framework for examining positive technology use.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Review
- The quality and reliability of herpes zoster information on TikTok and Bilibili: A cross-sectional study.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Tiktok is a social media platform with many adolescent and young adult users. Food, nutrition, and weight-related posts are popular on TikTok, yet there is little understanding of the content of these posts, and whether nutrition-related content is presented by experts. The objective was to identify key themes in food, nutrition, and weight-related posts on TikTok. 1000 TikTok videos from 10 popular nutrition, food, and weight-related hashtags each with over 1 billion views were downloaded and analyzed using template analysis. The one-hundred most viewed videos were downloaded from each of the ten chosen hashtags. Two coders then coded each video for key themes. Key themes included the glorification of weight loss in many posts, the positioning of food to achieve health and thinness, and the lack of expert voices providing nutrition information. The majority of posts presented a weight-normative view of health, with less than 3% coded as weight-inclusive. Most posts were created by white, female adolescents and young adults. Nutrition-related content on TikTok is largely weight normative, and may contribute to disordered eating behaviors and body dissatisfaction in the young people that are TikTok's predominant users. Helping users discern credible nutrition information, and eliminate triggering content from their social media feeds may be strategies to address the weight-normative social media content that is so prevalent.
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