Health
‘SkinnyTok’ weight-loss trend could lead to food deprivation, experts caution
Social media can be a great source of fitness, nutrition and wellness tips — but it also has some potentially harmful content.
Enter “SkinnyTok,” a popular weight-loss trend making the rounds on TikTok.
Creators are pairing the hashtag with videos that share various ways to lose weight, many of them based on the goal of getting as thin as possible in a short amount of time.
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As of April 26, there were more than 60,000 videos from creators talking about SkinnyTok. One of those is Mandana Zarghami, 25, a business owner and influencer in Miami, Florida.
“What you eat in private will show in public,” Zarghami told her followers in a recent video.
The influencer spoke with Fox News Digital about her perception of the worldwide SkinnyTok trend.
“There’s an emphasis on portion control, prioritizing daily movement and knowing what foods will make you feel better from the inside out and more,” she said.
The creator acknowledged, however, that some of the content could be triggering for those who have battled disordered eating.
Mandana Zarghami, a TikTok creator, acknowledged that some of the SkinnyTok content could be triggering for those who have battled disordered eating. (Mandana Zarghami/TikTok)
“While some content under the SkinnyTok trend can promote motivation around health and wellness, it can also unintentionally glamorize unhealthy habits or unrealistic body standards if you’re following the wrong influencer or content creator,” Zarghami cautioned.
At the same time, she said, “you control what you consume.”
“What you eat in private will show in public.”
“It’s a little hard to be sensitive to each group, because a lot of the people who talk about SkinnyTok on their platforms also battled disordered eating and overcame it with healthy lifestyle choices,” Zarghami added.
Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon and longevity expert, said he has witnessed the “devastating consequences” of extreme thinness firsthand, including women with fractured bones caused by malnutrition.
“This is a growing crisis, and it is being dangerously celebrated on social media under hashtags like #SkinnyTok,” he told Fox News Digital.
“It’s a little hard to be sensitive to each group, because a lot of the people who talk about SkinnyTok on their platforms also battled disordered eating and overcame it with healthy lifestyle choices,” said influencer Mandana Zarghami (right). (iStock/TikTok-Mandana Zarghami)
“When young people chase after extreme thinness through starvation diets, they invite frailty into their lives. The body, deprived of caloric energy, becomes extremely fragile.”
In teenagers and young adults, malnutrition disrupts hormones, weakens immunity, impairs cognitive function and can cause lasting damage to their still-developing brains, according to Osborn.
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Physical effects of malnutrition can include hair loss, reduced bone density and, in severe cases, irreversible structural damage, he added.
Low body weight or minimal body fat does not equate to good health, the doctor said.
“Starvation is not a virtue – it is an abandonment of the body’s nutritional needs,” he said. “The SkinnyTok trend preys on impressionable youth, particularly young women, encouraging them to shrink rather than thrive.”
Low body weight or minimal body fat does not equate to good health, one doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
Rather than focusing on “extreme thinness,” Osborn called for a focus on building muscle, which he described as the “cornerstone of vitality.”
“In older adults, muscle loss — or sarcopenia — is a medical warning sign linked to increased risks of falls, fractures, hospitalizations, cognitive decline and even mortality,” he cautioned.
“Muscle loss doesn’t just weaken the body — it erodes the mind, hastening the onset and progression of dementia. The body and the brain are interconnected, and when one suffers, so does the other.”
“Muscles are your shield against disease and decline. Being lean and strong, not thin and frail, is the true measure of health,” one doctor said. (iStock)
To those embracing the SkinnyTok trend, Osborn recommends that they shift the focus to building muscle.
“Muscles are your shield against disease and decline. Being lean and strong, not thin and frail, is the true measure of health,” he said.
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“Instead of glorifying starvation, we should teach our youth to nourish their bodies and minds, build resilience through muscle gained by strength training, and prioritize bodily function over any short-lived trend.”
Dr. Jillian Lampert, vice president of The Emily Program, an eating disorder treatment center based in Minnesota, also called out the potential risks of the SkinnyTok trend.
“It is a vicious cycle that quickly spirals from external messaging to internal criticism.”
“This content dangerously glorifies content that encourages people to take drastic measures to change their bodies,” she told Fox News Digital. “It also further ensnares people already struggling with their body image and thoughts of size and shape, reinforcing the notion that being thin at all costs is the norm.”
The behaviors in many of the videos are “often extreme” and highly limit foods or food groups, Lampert noted.
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The algorithms used by social media platforms make the content even more dangerous by amplifying the messages, according to the expert.
“Looking at one TikTok with even some less toxic body image content will teach the algorithms to send you more and more and more until your feed has become an avalanche of toxic content,” Lampert warned.
As people scroll through countless videos of “ideal” bodies and lifestyles, this often leads them to conclude that they’re not thin enough or attractive enough.
“This content dangerously glorifies content that encourages people to take drastic measures to change their bodies,” one expert told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Continual assessment of appearance and eating habits can make a person hypercritical and hyper-fixated on perceived flaws, thus fueling the cycle of eating less, which often leads to overeating and overexercising, which often leads to fatigue and loss of control around food,” said Lampert.
“It is a vicious cycle that quickly spirals from external messaging to internal criticism.”
Dr. Anastasia Rairigh, a Tennessee-based family physician and obesity medicine specialist at the virtual health platform PlushCare, warned that extreme weight-loss behaviors can be deadly.
“As a person severely limits their caloric intake, the body struggles to maintain the correct electrolyte balance,” she shared with Fox News Digital.
“When a person’s electrolytes are severely unbalanced, they can experience heart arrythmias or, in severe cases, cardiac arrest. Even if a person does not experience this, severe food deprivation can lead to damage to the heart, bones and brain.”
“Many of us that promote SkinnyTok focus on proper nutrition, walking over 10,000 steps a day and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle,” a creator told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
People who deprive themselves of food may also notice effects on cognition, mood and sleep, Rairigh warned.
“Modeling a healthy attitude toward food is critically important to combating the negative influence of toxic diet culture,” she said, recommending that people focus on food as a source of energy rather than an enemy.
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“Supporting young people to focus on activities and interests outside social media has been shown to be helpful as well,” she said.
“Encourage and facilitate positive activities in the real world as a counter to time spent on social media.”
“Modeling a healthy attitude toward food is critically important to combating the negative influence of toxic diet culture.”
Those who are showing signs of disordered eating should see a doctor, Rairigh advised.
“While disordered eating is deadly, there is hope and treatment. Do not be afraid to reach out for help.”
Zarghami, the TikTok creator, reiterated the importance of setting positive examples on social media.
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“Many of us that promote SkinnyTok focus on proper nutrition, walking over 10,000 steps a day and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle,” she told Fox News Digital.
“It’s so important to approach these trends with balance, focus on overall well-being rather than appearance, and encourage sustainable, nourishing choices that support both physical and mental health.”
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Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27.
In a post on Substack titled “The Day I’ll Never Remember,” she detailed a sudden episode that left her unable to recall the current month, year and president.
“I thought it was 2024. And I believed Joe Biden was president,” she wrote.
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The event occurred while Couric was attending the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, during which she participated in two public panels — one on AI and one on journalism — both of which she cannot remember at all.
“I have no idea what we talked about, or of what occurred when the panels ended,” she said.
Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27. (Getty Images)
John Molner — Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels — also shared his account.
After the event, someone told Molner that Katie wasn’t feeling well. When he reached her, an EMT and a doctor were tending to her. “I could tell something was off,” he wrote. “It could have been altitude sickness, but Katie was definitely not all there.”
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At the hospital, when Couric struggled to recall the year, the president and her grandchildren’s names, doctors began checking for a stroke.
An MRI revealed no signs of stroke, which was a relief, but “Katie’s ‘fog’ became a lot more apparent,” Molner wrote.
John Molner, Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels, also shared his account. (Getty Images)
“She repeatedly asked me the same questions: ‘What was I doing before we got to the hospital?’ ‘Why am I at the hospital?’”
Couric was ultimately diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that prevents a person from forming new memories and may also erase some recent memories, according to Mayo Clinic.
“The cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself.”
It is not caused by a stroke, seizure or head injury, and it usually resolves completely within 24 hours.
“[It’s] just a very weird neural episode that’s pretty uncommon and, at least in most cases, is a ‘one and done’ experience,” Molner said.
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Couric said she finally began feeling “like herself” again around 9 p.m. and went to sleep at 2 a.m.
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.”
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.” (Getty Images)
Data shows that approximately three to eight people per 100,000 will have an episode of transient global amnesia, with people 50 years of age and older at higher risk.
The specific cause of TGA is not known, but some experts believe it stems from a “temporary dysfunction in the brain’s hippocampus — the area responsible for creating new memories,” Couric shared.
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“Doctors believe this is driven by brief interruptions in blood or oxygen flow, or microscopic spasm in the blood vessels.”
Episodes could potentially be triggered by intense physical exertion, emotional distress, extreme temperature changes or migraines, experts say.
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Approximately 15% of patients will have a recurrence 10 years later.
“Why did this happen to me? Was the altitude an issue? Was I dehydrated? Tired? Stressed? The literature doesn’t seem to indicate that these are contributing factors, but the cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself,” Couric wrote.
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise. (iStock)
“All I know is that those hours will be forever lost. Someone described it as my brain failing to hit the ‘record button.’”
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“While this was a freaky occurrence, it could have been much more serious. So ultimately, I’m relieved — even though several hours of a Saturday in June will always be missing for me.”
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise.
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Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers.
That’s according to a recent study led by Stony Brook Medicine in New York, which evaluated the cognitive function of 4,000 adults 80 and over who participated in multiple aging and longevity studies over several years.
Among this group, 6% to 10% were classified as super movers, which means they walk at a much faster pace than others of the same age and gender — at speeds comparable to people three decades younger.
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The super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology on June 16.
Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers. (iStock)
“The study reinforces that mobility and brain health are closely connected,” lead study author Dr. Joe Verghese, MD, neurologist at Stony Brook Medicine, told Fox News Digital. “This suggests that preserving mobility may be an important marker of healthy brain aging and resilience.”
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The most intriguing finding, according to Verghese, was that super movers maintained cognitive function despite having similar dementia-related brain changes as their peers.
In postmortem brain analysis, there was no difference in dementia-related pathologies between the super movers and the slower walkers, the study stated.
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“This suggests they may possess resilience mechanisms that help preserve brain function even in the presence of age-related changes,” he said. “Understanding these resilience factors could lead to new strategies for promoting healthy brain aging.”
As the study was observational, there were some limitations, and it does not prove that walking faster prevents dementia, the researchers noted.
Super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed. (iStock)
“Other factors, such as cardiovascular health, physical fitness or genetics, may also contribute to both faster walking and better cognitive outcomes,” Verghese said.
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This study adds to growing evidence that what’s good for the heart and muscles also benefits the brain, he noted, adding that “staying physically active remains one of the most effective, evidence-based ways to support healthy aging.”
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment.”
“The broader message is that physical activity is important at any age,” Verghese said. “Walking is an easy step-up point because you don’t need any special equipment. You can do it inside or outdoors, and you can do it on a regular basis. You can walk with a dog, you can walk with a friend.”
Any activity is beneficial if it’s done regularly and with the right intensity, he added.
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Rather than just trying to walk faster, the neurologist recommends that seniors focus on maintaining mobility through regular physical activity, strength training, balance exercises and good cardiovascular health.
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment,” Verghese noted.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking. (iStock)
This can be achieved by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or about 20 to 25 minutes most days. Another option is to engage in shorter sessions that add up over the day.
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“You have to do it within your health limitations and medical conditions,” Verghese advised. “So if there are any medical concerns, I would get your physician to clear you before starting exercise.” The good thing about walking, he added, is that you can start at a slow pace and then gradually build up to a brisker pace.
“And then adding on strength and balance training, whatever age you are, I think is also important.”
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