Health
Taylor Swift has a mostly positive impact on fans' body image and diet culture, study reveals
Pop star Taylor Swift has helped her fans achieve a more positive outlook overall on diet culture, disordered eating and body image, according to a new study from the University of Vermont.
The research, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, surveyed hundreds of social media posts on TikTok and Reddit from Swift fans’ remarks about eating disorders or body image.
The common themes included conversations about Swift as a role model for disordered eating recovery; the use of or identification with specific songs that mention struggles with eating or body image; and objectification of Swift’s body.
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The study also examined conflicting reactions from fans on social media to a scene in Swift’s “Anti-Hero” music video that depicted the word “fat” on a scale.
Swift’s disclosure of her own struggles with eating and body image have had an overall positive influence on her fans with similar struggles, the researchers concluded.
Although it was difficult to decipher demographics from social media posts, the “general sense” was that most users were young adults, many on TikTok presenting as high school age or younger, a researcher said. (Getty Images; iStock)
Swift is considered “one of the most popular and influential celebrities” with “power as a role model for millions of fans across the world,” the study findings stated.
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Lead study researchers Lizzy Pope and Kelsey Rose discussed the findings with Fox News Digital.
Pope, an associate professor of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Vermont, said she recognized the admiration many of her students have for Swift.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Veltins Arena on July 17, 2024, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Andreas Rentz/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
In Swift’s 2020 documentary, “Miss Americana,” the pop star spoke candidly about her eating disorder — which led Pope to wonder how such disclosures have impacted her fans.
She and Rose, a clinical assistant professor of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Vermont, began gathering qualitative data from social media to create a “code book” of common themes.
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The researchers found that Swift seemed to be a role model for those dealing with disordered eating.
“People would have really vulnerable, honest reflections on how her work, or her disclosure, had helped them through disordered eating of their own,” Pope said.
Two Taylor Swift fans pose for a selfie in the city center during the pop singer’s concert at the nearby Veltins Arena on July 17, 2024, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Hesham Elsherif/Getty Images)
Swift also appeared to help decrease the stigma around disordered eating and make it more acceptable to seek treatment, according to the researchers.
Despite the overall positive effects, however, Pope noted that many fans still “persistently objectified” Swift’s body online.
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Pope also called the “fat scale” in Swift’s “Anti-Hero” music video an “artistic choice,” although some people claimed that it showed “anti-fat bias.”
“Other people thought it was just her experience as someone with an eating disorder who has body dysmorphia and sees her objectively thin body as fat,” she said.
(Swift has since removed this scene from the video, in response to critics who considered it “harmful,” Pope said.)
Taylor Swift and Lana Wilson are shown speaking onstage during the Netflix premiere of “Miss Americana” at Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 23, 2020, in Park City, Utah. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netfilx)
Given Swift’s “vulnerability and honesty,” Rose pointed out the “profound impact” the singer has had on society.
“A strong female figure in the celebrity world can have a huge impact on our culture and the well-being of our citizens,” she said.
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Eating disorders have risen since the pandemic began, particularly among teens and young adults, Pope pointed out.
“So, maybe there’s an untapped public health potential to partner with celebrities who have had these types of experiences and are willing to be vulnerable and … change the way we think about bodies, eating and what it means to be healthy,” she suggested.
Warning on ‘potential detriment’
Dr. Andrea Vazzana, a psychologist specializing in the treatment of eating disorders at NYU Langone in New York City, reacted to the study findings in an interview with Fox News Digital. She was not involved in the research.
Vazzana pointed out that Swift has driven people to action in other areas, from voting to attending football games and making friendship bracelets.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Veltins Arena on July 17, 2024, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Andreas Rentz/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
The pop star’s influence on disordered eating, however, could be a “potential detriment,” Vazzana warned.
In her 2020 documentary, “Taylor appeared to advocate for body acceptance and against behaviors that sabotage one’s body image and physical or emotional health,” she said.
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“She spoke of the futility of trying to meet societal beauty standards – in part because beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in part because of the incompatibility of meeting multiple standards simultaneously.”
Vazzana, however, said she considers this self-disclosure to be “flawed in several ways.”
“A strong female figure in the celebrity world can have a huge impact on our culture and the well-being of our citizens,” one of the researchers said. (iStock)
“Some people will view Taylor as a role model of vitality,” she said.
“On the other hand, those fans [who are] susceptible to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders are likely to scour her words for tips on how she lost weight and ways that she now maintains what most would consider an enviable physique.”
There is a risk that fans might try to “emulate her exercise and restrictive eating habits, despite her disavowal of them.”
Swift’s disclosure addresses “weight-loss methods, timelines, social reinforcers and excuses [given to] concerned individuals,” the psychologist added.
There is a risk that fans might try to “emulate her exercise and restrictive eating habits, despite her disavowal of them,” Vazzana said.
Swift also shared her clothing size at her current weight and at her thinnest, the expert noted, which could spark comparisons or even self-loathing among fans, Vazzana also said.
Swift’s disclosure of details about her disordered eating could pose a risk for some fans, one psychologist warned. (iStock)
“Multiple well-controlled quantitative research studies have demonstrated the negative impact of comparing one’s appearance with celebrities who promote thinness, with stronger parasocial relationships and celebrity worship magnifying that impact.”
Vazzana also called out potential limitations of the study.
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“Data was sourced from a self-selected population of individuals who were like-minded in their choice of social media and their Swiftie fandom,” she said.
“Swifties are a notoriously cohesive and loyal group of supporters.”
So these fans may be less likely to disagree with the core group of posters to avoid any backlash, Vazzana noted.
The posts were also not randomly selected, she added, which could introduce a “potential source of bias.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the study researchers for reaction to Vazzana’s input and to Swift’s representatives requesting comment.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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