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.
Over the two and a half years following the 2022 rollout of the 988 national suicide prevention hotline, the rate of suicides among young people in the United States dropped 11 percent below projections, decreasing most sharply in states with a higher volume of answered 988 calls, a new study has found.
The findings, published today as a research letter in JAMA, compared suicide deaths from July 2022 to December 2024 with sophisticated mathematical projections that were based on historical trends. This yielded good news, with 4,372 fewer suicides of adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 34, than had been projected.
To ensure that the decline was related to the use of the hotline, researchers at Harvard Medical School teased out the trends in states with high and low usage of the hotline. The findings were striking: The 10 states with the largest increases in 988 calls experienced an 18.2 percent reduction in observed suicides compared with expected suicides; in the 10 states with the lowest uptake, the reduction was smaller, 10.6 percent.
The results suggest that the government’s investment in the 988 rollout has translated into “a measurable reduction of deaths,” said Dr. Vishal Patel, a resident physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and one of the authors of the study.
“What our study has added,” he said, “is evidence for the deeper benefit of the program, and that is, that at the population level, among young people at least, suicide mortality is lower than it would have been without the program.”
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He added, “The implication of that is that sustained funding for this program matters.”
The United States rolled out the three-digit hotline with bipartisan support in July 2022, replacing a 10-digit hotline number, and augmented it with a $1.5 billion investment in crisis center capacity. Since its inception, the service has fielded more than 25 million contacts, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency has asked Congress for $534.6 million to fund the program for 2027.
Last summer, the Trump administration terminated one element of the hotline, the Press 3 option for L.G.B.T.Q.+ callers. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said that the Press 3 option was being discontinued because it had exhausted its funding from Congress and that the hotline would “focus on serving all help seekers.”
But advocacy groups and policymakers protested the decision, and in testimony before the Senate on Tuesday, the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said his agency was planning to restore the Press 3 option.
Dr. Patel said his group had become curious about measuring the program’s effectiveness after Press 3 was eliminated. While call volume and satisfaction surveys suggested that 988 was succeeding, he said, the harder question was, “Did the creation of this 988 program, the transition from the old hotline to this hotline, actually move the needle on suicide mortality?”
Experts said it was difficult to tease out the beneficial effect of 988 from other things that changed in 2022, the year that the new hotline was created. Around that time, suicide prevention programs were being introduced in schools, in faith communities and on social media, but more important, the pandemic was ending.
“We were finally out of this crazy time, and there was a sense of optimism and hope,” said Jonathan B. Singer, a professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago and a co-author of “Suicide in Schools.” He called the downward trend in youth suicides “encouraging, but it is tempered by the fact that we don’t have a good explanation as to why.”
The authors acknowledged that their findings could not account for the influence of social and economic changes, changes in mental health services or public awareness about services.
But they did make comparisons to exclude other possible explanations. The authors looked for similar effects among American adults over 65, who are less likely to use the hotline. In that group, there was a reduction in suicides that exceeded expectations, but it was smaller, at just 4.5 percent.
To ensure the decline in suicides did not reflect a general improvement in young-adult mortality, the researchers tracked cancer deaths, and found there was no change. They also looked at the rates of suicide among young people in England, where no change had been made to the national crisis line in that time period; they found no reduction in youth suicides there.
Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said she was persuaded that the hotline had contributed to the improvement in suicide rates, in part because it did not appear among English youths or in older Americans.
“To me, that really helps hone in that this might really be the differentiator,” she said. “We are seeing potentially a pretty significant decline in suicides among young people. For public policy, this is strong evidence to double down on that we are doing.”
Emily Hilliard, a senior press secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said H.H.S. and SAMHSA are “committed to ensuring that all Americans have access” the 988 line, which she said “clearly provides lifesaving support, helping millions of people every year.”
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.
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A highly contagious digestive virus is surging across the U.S., experts warn.
Rotavirus, a double-stranded RNA virus, causes acute gastroenteritis — inflammation of the stomach and intestines — which can lead to severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach pain.
The virus primarily affects infants and young children, but there have also been outbreaks in elderly populations, such as nursing homes.
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Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in the week ending April 4, out of 2,329 rotavirus tests, 7.3% were positive for the infection. Last year’s highest infection rate was 6.77% as of the week ending April 19.
Rotavirus, a double-stranded RNA virus, causes acute gastroenteritis — inflammation of the stomach and intestines — which can lead to severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach pain. (iStock)
“We’re seeing a lot of rotavirus in the wastewater right now,” Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, confirmed to Fox News Digital. “Testing for rotavirus is way down, but the percentage of positive tests is up.”
While the virus typically peaks in the spring, it is not currently slowing down, he noted.
Why cases may be rising
Patricia Pinto-Garcia, M.D., a medical editor at GoodRx who is based in California, said there are several possible reasons for the rotavirus spike.
“Vaccine rates are down overall among young children, as they decreased during COVID,” she told Fox News Digital. “This means there’s a growing number of infants and young children who are vulnerable to infection.”
The rotavirus vaccine series must be completed by the time a child is 8 months old, she noted.
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As a result of the declining vaccinations, herd immunity isn’t protecting vulnerable children, according to Pinto-Garcia. “Children who haven’t finished the vaccine series yet, are too young to get vaccinated, or can’t get the vaccine due to medical illness are more likely to get exposed to the illness because other children aren’t vaccinated,” she said.
Siegel noted that before the vaccine became available, rotavirus resulted in 55,000 to 70,000 in the U.S. per year.
“Vaccine rates are down overall among young children, as they decreased during COVID,” a doctor told Fox News Digital. “This means there’s a growing number of infants and young children who are vulnerable to infection.” (iStock)
“I am concerned that the vaccination rate has been declining over the past seven years and is continuing to decline in the current climate of vaccine skepticism,” he said.
Surveillance methods are also much better than they used to be, Pinto-Garcia noted, which means public health experts are able to pick up and track cases better than ever before.
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“But we see that rotavirus-related healthcare visits are also up, so improved detection is not the only reason we are seeing this spike,” she said.
The COVID pandemic also disrupted the pattern of infections, according to Pinto-Garcia, so it’s “tricky” to compare the current levels against older cycles.
“It’s possible that what we are seeing is still some post-pandemic rebound, but it’s unlikely that this year’s pattern is fully explained by just this factor,” she added.
Transmission and risk
Dr. Zachary Hoy, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Pediatrix Medical Group based in Nashville, Tennessee, often sees young patients with rotavirus.
“Rotavirus is spread via the fecal-oral route, meaning that a person comes into contact with virus droplets from contact with other children or adults, or from contact with objects such as toys that have been contaminated with the virus from someone who is sick,” he told Fox News Digital. “This can lead to outbreaks, especially at schools where many young children share the same toys.”
“It’s possible that what we are seeing is still some post-pandemic rebound, but it’s unlikely that this year’s pattern is fully explained by just this factor.”
Rotavirus is associated with many dehydration cases in the hospital due to the degree of diarrhea, according to Hoy.
In some severe cases, the virus can lead to seizures due to electrolyte imbalances from dehydration and loss of electrolytes in the stool.
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“Younger children do not have the reserves that older children and adults have, so they can become more dehydrated quicker and develop more severe electrolyte imbalances, leading to more severe infections,” Hoy said.
“Patients with problems with their immune systems or on medications that can decrease their immune systems can have more severe and prolonged infections, too.”
Treatment and care
Because rotavirus is a viral infection, antibiotics are not effective against it. There is no specific antiviral treatment for the condition, with doctors typically recommending supportive care.
“The mainstay of treatment is hospitalization for rehydration via intravenous (IV) fluids,” Hoy told Fox News Digital. “Sometimes it can take up to two to three days of IV fluids to help get patients rehydrated.”
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Blood draws are often necessary to evaluate patients’ electrolyte levels, such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, according to the doctor.
“If these electrolyte levels are significantly low, sometimes patients need special IV solutions or individual electrolyte medications,” he added.
“The mainstay of treatment is hospitalization for rehydration via intravenous (IV) fluids,” a doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
Dr. Daniel Park, medical director of the Pediatric Emergency Department at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, noted that most children recover with supportive care, but parents should seek medical attention if a child shows signs of dehydration. Those include decreased urination, lethargy or inability to keep fluids down.
“While rare, rotavirus can be life-threatening in vulnerable populations, especially very young infants or children with underlying medical conditions,” Park told Fox News Digital.
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Prevention strategies
Given the lack of antiviral medications for rotavirus, doctors emphasize the importance of prevention, primarily the vaccine.
There are two rotavirus vaccines – Rotateq (a three-dose series) and Rotarix (a two-dose series). They are given starting at age 2 months as oral drops, not injections, according to Hoy.
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“It’s important to get the rotavirus vaccines on schedule, because these younger infants are at greatest risk if they get rotavirus,” he advised.
Other recommended prevention methods include handwashing with soap and water.
Every day we’re faced with a zillion small choices: Go to sleep early, or watch one more episode of that Netflix drama. Call an old friend to catch up, or cruise social media. Of course, no single action will guarantee a long, healthy life or doom you to an early grave. But those little daily decisions do add up, and over the long term they can make a difference when it comes to both your longevity and your health span, the amount of life spent in relatively good health.
Scroll through this theoretical “day in the life” and select the option that best fits your typical day. Not every situation will apply perfectly, but think about which choice you’d be most likely to make. This isn’t a formal scientific assessment. The goal here isn’t to assign you a “good” or “bad” score, but to help you understand the central factors that shape the way we age and how long we live.
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