There’s no doubt that social media impacts the way we view our bodies. In two recent YouTube videos, registered dietician nutritionist Elaina Efird, RDN, CD, CEDRD, CSSD explores the influence that social media has on body image and shares a case study of one client’s experience with a social media detox scam. 

How Social Media Negatively Affects Body Image

Let’s rewind and consider a bit of history. Between the 1950s and the 1990s, the media began presenting models and actresses with smaller and smaller body sizes. When compared to the average American woman, the media’s version was always significantly thinner, creating a sharp discrepancy between what was being portrayed and what was real. As a result, during these four decades, there was a big weight loss push with diets like the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet. It’s no surprise that this heightened focus on losing weight actually promoted worsened body image.

Now, let’s review a few statistics that support this connection:

• In a survey conducted in the 1990s, the number one wish of young girls, ages 11 to 17, was that they could lose weight and keep it off.

• Fast forward to the 2000s, and an eating disorder treatment center in Chicago revealed that 30 to 50 percent of their teen patients used social media as a way of supporting their eating disorders.

• For those people who argue that eating disorders only affect a small percentage of the population, consider this study of 4,000 women: 75 percent of participants reported disordered eating behaviors or symptoms consistent with eating disorders. 

• In the same study mentioned above, 53 percent of the respondents were dieting even though they were at a healthy weight, thus showing that they had negative body images.

• Most notably, in a survey of 1,000 women and men, 87 percent of women and 65 percent of men compared their bodies to social media images, with 50 percent of these women and 37 percent of these men comparing their bodies unfavorably.

Body Positivity Movement

One bright spot on social media has been the body positivity movement. Although it gets a lot of flack for sometimes promoting unhealthy body size, research has shown that it’s making an encouraging impact. Exposing women to the body-positive hashtag on Instagram appeared to boost their satisfaction with their own bodies. Additionally, women who viewed the body-positive posts felt more satisfied with their bodies; were more appreciative of the unique features of their bodies, and had a more positive attitude. We can’t control everything that we see on social media, which makes this beneficial hashtag all the more important. 

Case Study: Harmful Social Media Detox Scams

On a similar note, there is a recent trend of social media influencers promoting “quick fixes” and “diet detoxes,” often in the form of a tea or juice — and always a scam. This case study looks at a client of The Kahm Clinic who tried one of these detoxes against the advice of his dietician. As it turns out, the detox didn’t work well for his body composition or help him meet his goals.

When this individual first came to us, he was 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighed 208 pounds. His metabolic rate was 2,148 calories (versus an expected rate of 1,980 calories) and his protein metabolism was 1.1 percent above normal (slightly too high). We initially educated him on the importance of fueling his body enough for exercise and recommended that he increase his caloric intake to 2,500 calories a day. After three months of monitoring, his fat mass was slowly trending down — exactly what we wanted to happen! 

Unfortunately, he wanted to see results faster. He also wasn’t convinced that eating so much food was appropriate for his body, as he was conditioned to eat less in an effort to lose weight. So for three weeks, he decided to try a fad diet that focused on detoxing. While he lost nearly 7 pounds, he also lost over 7 pounds of lean mass (muscles, collagen, connective tissues, etc.) and gained half a pound of fat mass. Despite what his at-home scale showed, these results were not successful.  

It’s easy to see ads or hear success stories for “fast weight loss” on social media and feel tempted to give it a try. Don’t fall for them! There’s no magic pill. Instead, remember that, when it comes to sustainable weight change or even just meeting healthy nutrition goals, the two most important factors are consistency and time. 

To talk to a professional about how to improve your relationship with food, please reach out to our staff or schedule an appointment at The Kahm Clinic.

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