For many young people, social media fuels anxiety, calorie-counting and eating disorders. Stopping the endless scrolling can help.
Warning: This story discusses eating disorders
The room is quiet. Only the light on the screen shines up at me. As I scroll TikTok, the same body type — slim waists, top-tier abs, six-pack lines, perfect facial contours – is endlessly repeated.
The comments section on these videos is flooded with both complementary and insulting posts: "You're already so fit", "You're stunning", "Lose weight! Lose weight!"
After staring at the screen for too long, I ask myself: "If I don't look like that, am I not pretty enough? Would I be better if I lost more weight?"
Counting calories, losing myself
From June 2023, I cut back on how often I ate. Even when my stomach ached from hunger, I forced myself to drink more water instead.
This continued for around a year and a half. Frequent, prolonged periods of fasting turned eating from a pleasure into a guilt-ridden battle.
It felt like I had a calculator inside my head, constantly tallying the number of bites I took. I'd look up at my thinner reflection in the mirror and still find flaws. When others remarked, "You've lost weight", I couldn't hear them.
Until one day, I suddenly realized I was counting the calories in a single egg.
My mind snapped: "When did I become afraid of even an egg?" It used to be the most ordinary thing, but now it has become a ‘number’ I dreaded.
In that moment, I began to question myself: "Was this pursuit truly healthy?"
I once thought this phenomenon was unique to me. But later, I discovered many people share similar feelings and experiences. And this so-called self-discipline is, at its core, often a psychological and spiritual illness.
A wider pattern
Research from the University of New South Wales suggests that social media platforms, particularly those driven by short-form video, can have a significant impact on young people’s body image. A 2023 UNSW study found that exposure to idealised appearance-focused content on platforms like TikTok may negatively affect body satisfaction among young women.
My friend Lily* put it simply: "I just feel like nothing about me is good enough".
She regularly scrolls through images of perfect bodies and faces, convinced she must join their ranks.
Another 2023 UNSW-led study showed that evenbrief exposure to body-positive content can improve body image, highlighting how strongly online visual environments shape self-perception. Researchers noted that image-driven platforms encourage constant comparison, making unrealistic beauty standards difficult to escape.
These findings align with broader international research. A 2023 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found a clear association between exposure to idealised social media images and increased body dissatisfaction among young adults.
Australian data also reflects this trend. According to the Butterfly Foundation’s Body Kind Youth Survey, based on responses from nearly 3,000 Australian adolescents, more than half reported dissatisfaction with their bodies, with many identifying social media as a key influence.
Media reporting has also drawn attention to the role of algorithms in reinforcing these pressures.
In 2023, ABC News reportedthat experts were concerned that TikTok and Instagram’s algorithms and short-form video feeds could contribute to body image pressures and disordered eating, particularly among young people.
Cultural silence
In my hometown in Shandong, eastern China, eating disorders are rarely recognised as illnesses.
Comments about weight are common and frequently framed as jokes, particularly during family meals. When relatives noticed how little I ate, they would often laugh and say, "You’d look even better if you lost a little more weight".
They did not recognize the harm such remarks could cause. The pain behind avoiding food, the compulsive counting and the quiet fear surrounding eating frequently.
When asked, Lily’s parents said they’d never considered taking their daughter to see a doctor.
"We thought she was just being picky, or trying to look better", they said.
In many parts of China, academic success, self-discipline and appearance are closely intertwined. A slim body is often associated with control and achievement, while weight gain is viewed as a lack of discipline or even laziness. Within this cultural framework, disordered eating is easily misunderstood as a personal weakness rather than psychological distress.
This cultural silence only deepens the isolation of those who struggle. Caught between the pressures of social media and the expectations of family, many young people suffer quietly, misunderstood at home and unseen online.
Social media makes it worse
In recent years, eating disorders have become more common in young Australians, according to the Butterfly Foundation. Counsellors have seen that calls from those under 25 to their helpline have more than doubled.
"What worries us most is that these issues are starting earlier, and they’re not just affecting girls — boys and young people from many different backgrounds are struggling too," a spokesperson said.
"Young people tell us the constant stream of so-called ‘ideal bodies’ makes them feel worse about themselves. Surveys show more than half of teens feel less satisfied with their bodies because of what they see online. Some even get drawn into harmful trends, like extreme dieting hashtags, which can be very dangerous", they added.
University counsellors see similar patterns.
"Students often come in saying they feel guilty after eating, or that they’ve been skipping meals because they don’t want friends to notice," said a UNSW student support counsellor.
"Social media makes it worse. After just five minutes of scrolling, some students already feel like they’re not good enough. It’s not the only factor, but it pours fuel on the fire," they said.
There is free and confidential support available for students as well as online resources.
"If a student needs longer-term care, we’ll connect them with specialist services. The most important thing is that students know they’re not alone."
Can regulation help?
As concerns grow over the impact of social media on young people’s mental health, many governments have begun discussing tighter regulation of digital platforms, particularly around age limits and algorithm-driven content.
Such measures are intended to reduce young users’ constant exposure to unrealistic body ideals during a critical stage of development.
While regulation may help limit the most harmful content, the research shows that it cannot address the deeper cultural pressures surrounding body image on its own.
For many young people, meaningful change is likely to depend not only on policy, but also on education, awareness and open conversations at home and online.
Breaking the chain
For me, a comment about beauty stopped being a compliment long ago. Under the filters of social media, it became a kind of restraint. If we never question this narrow definition of beauty, more people will end up like me — treating food as dangerous numbers and seeing their own bodies as enemies.
Breaking the cycle didn’t happen all at once. It started with small, deliberate choices. I reminded myself that I was still young, that there were dreams I hadn’t yet reached and places I still wanted to see — people, landscapes, lives beyond a screen.
Beauty, I realised, is one of the least important things we are taught to measure. Life needs energy to be sustained, and the brain needs nourishment to function.
I began changing the way I used social media. I stopped following accounts that promoted extreme dieting or glorified unrealistic bodies. Social media felt less like a mirror and more like a stage — showing only the most polished moments, while quietly convincing us that this is all there is. I muted keywords linked to calorie counting and body checks and paid closer attention to how scrolling made me feel, rather than what it suggested I should look like.
What I needed was not more filters or polished standards but honesty. We need to talk openly about how platforms feed us unrealistic ideals and recognize disordered eating for what it is: a serious illness, not a lifestyle choice.
For every young person caught between scrolling and starving, being seen and understood may be the first step toward breaking free.
*Name changed for privacy
If you need someone to talk to, call:
- 1800 Respect National Helpline on 1800 737 732
- Lifeline (24-hour crisis line) on 131 114
- The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673
- Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
