Cultivating Body Neutrality in Young People

Editor’s note: The majority of eating disorder research is conducted based on cisnormative standards and may not account for the experiences of trans and nonbinary individuals. As a result, some data in this article may only represent cis men and women.

As people spent more time scanning social media during the pandemic, teens and young adults were more exposed to content that carried the potential to degrade their body image and trigger or exacerbate eating disorders. Videos chronicling trends like “#fitspiration,” “#cleaneating,” and “#WhatIEatInADay” were just a few of the topics circulating on social platforms while COVID-19 drove more teens and young adults to TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat — and in some cases, to hospitals.

Although body image affects quality of life, disordered eating, and other individual health outcomes, body image issues carry broader social and public health implications. These were amplified during the pandemic as admissions for young patients with eating disorders more than doubled at some hospitals — heightening stress on healthcare facilities that were already strained.

Public health professionals can help develop systems and policies that support all bodies. And on the individual level, body neutrality is one lens that can help teens and adults develop a healthy body image and accept their bodies regardless of appearance. Read on to learn about practices to cultivate body neutrality, even when facing a challenging social media landscape.

Approaches to cultivating a healthy body image continue to evolve, and body neutrality is among the latest perspectives. The body neutrality movement places value on what a body can do over what it looks like. Unlike body positivity, which calls for loving your body regardless of its appearance, body neutrality emphasizes accepting and caring for your body regardless of how you feel about it. Body image coach Anne Poirier, who authored The Body Joyful, helped popularize the body neutrality movement beginning in 2015.

Glossary: Body Image Terms and Concepts

• Body acceptance: accepting one’s body regardless of satisfaction with it. 
• Body dissatisfaction: negative attitude toward one’s physical appearance.
• Body image: perceptions and attitudes toward one’s body, especially physical appearance.
• Body neutrality: mindset that places value on what a body can do rather than how it appears.
• Body positivity: movement that encourages people to love and feel good about their bodies, regardless of appearance.
• Fat acceptance: movement to reclaim the word “fat,” normalize larger bodies, and promote acceptance of fat bodies of all sizes.

There are four factors that play into how a person conceptualizes their body:

The presence of diet culture on social media is not new, but it continues to manifest in problematic ways. TikTok trends, such as “What I Eat in a Day” videos, often show users engaging in extreme under- or overeating. Apps like FaceTune and photo filters built into social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat can create thinner faces and correct physical imperfections, causing some people to seek plastic surgery to resemble altered images of themselves — a phenomenon known as “Snapchat Dysmorphia.” And researchers found that much of the diet discourse on Twitter was dominated by influencers rather than health professionals.

An estimated 1 in 7 men and 1 in 5 women will have experienced an eating disorder by age 40, and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are associated with high mortality rates.

And increasingly, the imagery that appears on social media platforms does not reflect reality: 90 percent of participants in one study reported using photo editing software to retouch their photos (PDF, 827KB) before posting them. Such altered images have a negative impact on the body image of adolescent girls, researchers found.

Edited images that promote unrealistic standards — alongside social media content that includes disordered eating, restrictive diets, and exercise — can be triggering for individuals struggling with eating disorders, body image issues, and relationships with food. An estimated 1 in 7 men and 1 in 5 women will have experienced an eating disorder by age 40, and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are associated with high mortality rates.

The tips below can help parents and caregivers practice body neutrality and model a healthy relationship between body image, food, and social media use for their children.

How to Practice Body Neutrality

The eight strategies that follow can help teens and young adults develop and sustain a body-neutral mindset.

1. Engage in a daily body-appreciation practice by writing down five things your body can do.
2. Acknowledge the ways your body functions well and does not function well through self-talk.
3. Participate in self-care activities only when they feel uplifting, not when they feel like a burden.
4. Do not start conversations about bodies with others, and redirect if those conversations arise.
5. Practice intuitive eating, which includes eating when you are hungry and respecting your body.
6. Choose clothing that you like and that feels good on your body.
7. Listen to your body and focus on movement rather than strict workout regimens when exercising.
8. Set goals that are health-based rather than appearance-based.

It can take practice to reframe negative body image thoughts into compassionate affirmations. Renee Engeln, author of Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women, offers these four examples of transforming negative thoughts about one’s body into body-neutrality statements.

*can be replaced with any body part 

Understanding what types of social media content serve your mental and physical health can help you curate your social media accounts to support a body-neutral mindset. The tips below can help individuals develop a healthy relationship with social media.

Claims around diets and nutrition are rampant across social media, and it can be difficult to discern which claims are reliable. For example, one UK study found that only 1 of the top 9 nutrition and weight-loss bloggers in the country shared information that was evidence-based, trustworthy, and aligned with national nutrition guidelines.

“This is potentially harmful, as these blogs reach such a wide audience,” said Christina Sabbagh, the study’s lead author.

These signals may help social media users understand whether diet-related claims on social media are credible. 

The organizations and pages below offer more information on body image, social media, and eating disorders.

Please note that this article is for informational purposes only. Individuals should consult their healthcare provider before following any of the information provided.

Citation for this content: The MPH online program from Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences.