adequate protein<\/a> and in some cases actually forcing themselves to eat enough to stop that muscle loss.\u201d<\/p>\nBut \u201cpeople accessing these things via the internet, or just taking them because they want to lose 5kg, a lot of the time aren\u2019t doing those things\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said this \u201cskinny-tok\u201d trend is \u201creally harmful\u201d, psychologically and physically.<\/p>\n
The National Alliance for Eating Disorders defines #SkinnyTok as a side of social media that glorifies extreme thinness, \u201cwhat I eat in a day\u201d videos, low-calorie recipes and dramatic body transformations.<\/p>\n
At first, videos may appear helpful for lifestyle advice, but they send a message that worth is tied to your weight, and thin is best.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople become obsessed with the way they look, developing a dysfunctional relationship with food, eating disorders become more common, self-worth becomes linked to what you look like, and it affects people\u2019s relationships,\u201d Turnbull said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysically, if you are not eating enough, it\u2019s highly likely you\u2019re gonna be malnourished, under-fuelling and constantly compromising your bone health.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a short time, it was \u201clet\u2019s be well, stronger, look after our muscles and our brain\u201d, Turnbull said, \u201cnow the narrative is going completely against all that\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dr Meg Vardy, who this year is launching New Zealand\u2019s first dedicated eating disorder charity, JourneyED, is a clinician and someone with lived experience of anorexia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up in the 1990s… and that\u2019s had an impact on me, the way I view bodies and my worth based on my size.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the key influences were, \u201cmagazines, shows like Friends and characters like \u2018Fat Monica\u2019, and the ripple effects of that on our culture were huge\u201d, Vardy said.<\/p>\n
![\"Courtney]()
Courtney Cox (left) as Monica Geller in Friends. Cox wore a fat suit for flashback scenes portraying a “Fat Monica”.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the introduction of GLP-1s is going to completely change our relationship with food again.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is for the younger folk who are being exposed to this on social media, but also for women as we age and the impact this is having on accepting that ageing involves changes in our body.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turnbull said people\u2019s social media feed is like an \u201cecho chamber of ideals\u201d and that influence is \u201cenormous\u201d and \u201cscary\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are following people who look very thin and the diet stuff, you\u2019re just going to get taken over by that ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her advice is to be aware there\u2019s a choice in how to engage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not you that\u2019s the problem, it\u2019s what you\u2019re watching,\u201d Turnbull said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI make a massive effort on my social media feed to expose myself to normal bodies because that is what is actually more normal and healthy,.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk yourself, is what I\u2019m watching, reading and doing helping me feel good and become a healthier version of myself? Or is this harming me?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Nutritionist]()
Nutritionist Claire Turnbull cautions that a smaller body does not always equal a healthier body.<\/p>\n
Turnbull also had a message for parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most challenging things for parents is watching their children engage with this information about bodies and diet.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a parent, how you eat yourself, and what you are showing your children subconsciously is more important than what you say to them in words,\u201d Turnbull said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of parents are telling their kids all the right things, but are restricting themselves, dieting, commenting on their own bodies in front of their children. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat is really damaging, [because] they are watching what you do, not listening to what you say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosie Leishman is a reporter and multimedia journalist based in \u014ctautahi, Christchurch. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2025, after experience working at the Bangkok Post in Thailand. She has a keen interest in social issues, the environment and general news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cFor a little while there, it felt like we had a bit of reprieve, but it definitely feels…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68461,64865,806,22773,2396,1595,5818,156,2678,9866,63708,1073,3065,111,139,147974,69,60781,1527,8601,1321,221350,1072,26660,1886,27300,247232,46960],"class_list":["post-493611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-90s","tag-alarm","tag-as","tag-comeback","tag-culture","tag-disorder","tag-eating","tag-entertainment","tag-fuel","tag-fuelled","tag-jabs","tag-media","tag-medications","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nutritionists","tag-nz","tag-popularity","tag-return","tag-seeing","tag-services","tag-skinny","tag-social","tag-sound","tag-support","tag-theyre","tag-thinobsessed","tag-weightloss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}