Body Image, Disordered Eating and Social Media: Will the Under-16s Ban Really Help?

I'm seeing a lot of discussion about the ban on social media for under-16s, due to be implemented next year (2027). I personally wonder how this will ever work… kids will definitely find a way if they want something! I understand the fears that this may push young people into other online spaces where there may be more risk or danger. Children may feel they can’t tell an adult if there’s an issue if they think they will get in trouble.
 
There is a lot to consider on this topic, but in this blog, I'd like to focus on body image and eating disorders in relation to this ban. Will it help protect kids from body image and eating problems?
 
In my counselling practice, I only work with people who are 18+, but of course most people have grown up using social media. Due to client confidentiality, I draw on themes in practice, not specifics, but I also draw on my own lived experiences too. 
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​Body Image Problems Existed Before Social Media

When I was growing up, social media wasn't around yet and the internet was in its infancy (showing my age!) We could access the internet, but had to check there wasn't anyone on the landline phone first and when we did get online, it was to those screechy dial-up sounds! I started using social media more when I went travelling, as a way to share photos and keep in touch with people. I still have people on Facebook that I've met for one random night in Australia who are still lingering there from nostalgia.
 
My dissatisfaction with my body started as early as I can remember, which was well before social media. I grew up surrounded by diet culture and experiencing weight stigma, not that I would have known these terms back then. I just thought it was normal that I had to always strive to lose weight to be accepted, respected, and loved. We had other media such as magazines, TV, and films which all had an impact, adding a visual representation of what I already knew: you had to be thin to be attractive.
 
In short, social media can exacerbate things, but it's not the sole cause of body image difficulties or eating problems. Many older people who didn’t use social media struggle with body image and eating problems, and the issue is often generational in their families. Some younger people who have been exposed to more body acceptance online may even have better relationships with food and their bodies. It needs to be noted that eating disorders and body image problems can affect anyone of any age, gender, ethnicity, etc, but often minoritised people are more at risk.
 
No doubt the availability of harmful content has increased on social media, and is consumed faster than ever, but it is just one factor among many that impacts body image and eating. Diet culture thrives in fast-moving social media spaces, exploiting our insecurities to profit off them. The diet/wellness industry makes billions off people’s body shame - on and off social media.
 

The Helpful Side of Social Media

When I joined Instagram, I made a purposeful decision to focus on body positivity and acceptance, which led to learning more about weight stigma, anti-fat bias, and fat acceptance. I also followed people who had bodies different to my own to learn about diverse experiences. I value social media a great deal for this, and for the many connections I have made. I now follow many brilliant academics, therapists, lived experience experts, and more, and I continue to feel connected and educated.
 
For all the risks of social media, there's also the social connection side, which can be so beneficial in terms of body acceptance and eating disorder support. There’s plenty of helpful psychoeducation and lived experiences online which can help recovery. Seeing different bodies and people who respect and love their bodies at any size can be helpful. Connections can be found with like-minded people. Children may be too young to navigate this themselves, but this is why promoting responsible use of social media is so important to help as they grow up.
 
Sadly, I fear that kids who are neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, or from minoritised groups may lose their online support systems and communities due to the under-16s ban. For children who live in unsafe homes, social media can be their place of safety.

Will the Under-16s Social Media Ban Work?

​My personal opinion on the ban is that it likely won't work, in the sense that young people will still find a way to use social media. Either way, they will still be impacted by diet culture, appearance ideals and weight stigma. Even if they do manage to be somewhat protected from it, they might be slightly less bombarded until they're 16, but what then?
 
Either way, what seems more important is education around weight stigma and diet culture, critical thinking skills online, and the promotion of helpful ways to use social media. I know this is probably easier said than done, but no limitation of social media is going to help body image or eating problems all that much. The issue is simply too complex and broad.

Weight Stigma Exists Beyond Social Media

​Diet culture and weight stigma exist beyond social media: in schools, workplaces, families, and peer groups. Clients rarely come to me to talk about being hurt by social media (though it doesn’t help) but rather they have been harmed, stigmatised or bullied by people. Often, people who are meant to care for them. School can be a traumatic experience for many kids who are seen as “different” and struggle to fit in. For kids at higher weights, or those who are neurodivergent, or from marginalised groups, this can be particularly difficult in terms of friendships and feeling accepted.
 
Weight stigma is relational. It exists in relationship to another person and can be deeply harmful to a person's sense of self and their worth. When I was younger, seeing thin, attractive people in films and on TV reinforced appearance pressures, but didn't solely cause them. The media was just one factor that didn't help, but the main harmful narratives came from people. Kids can say mean things, but adults were particularly mean... and they should know better.
 
Growing up feeling like you're not worthy and lovable is a form of relational trauma. To not fit in, or feel like you're broken in some way, is such a harmful experience. It cultivates shame and erodes self-worth. In turn, this can lead to eating disorders, mental health struggles, and can impact all manner of life choices.

Trauma, Disordered Eating and Eating Disorders

​Disordered eating can develop as a way to cope and manage with difficulties in life or trauma. It may be a way to escape weight stigma or as a way to feel in control when life feels chaotic or overwhelming. Many people have experienced relational or complex trauma earlier in life, and an eating disorder can be their only way to survive and get through it. This kind of trauma often happens over time, or follows a pattern, rather than being a single traumatic event.
 
Being bullied for your weight can be traumatic, and facing weight stigma and other forms of discrimination can be traumatic in a relational sense, as it impacts the safety and trust you may have in others. This kind of trauma can be more subtle, but very harmful, leaving the person completely ashamed of themselves and their body. This can manifest in so much body hatred and can lead to disordered eating and eating disorders.
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Body Image and Eating Disorders are Complex and Multifaceted

​Body image and eating disorders stem from a cocktail of factors, never just one. These are often rooted in childhood and relationships, involving intersecting aspects of our lives and identities. Eating disorders sometimes have nothing to do with body image and appearance at all.
 
How we view our bodies is also about how we view our worth in society, and this ties into social inequalities and discrimination. The way body image intersects with ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and disability is important in shaping how we see ourselves and our core self-worth. Class and economic status are important in how we view our bodies, and also how and whether there is access to food.
 

​Blaming Social Media Misses the Bigger Picture

​Blaming social media (or young people’s usage of it) for body image or eating problems only serves to distract from the ways that weight stigma and thin ideals are upheld by people and society. It ignores how weight stigma and diet culture intersect with other forms of inequality and discrimination. It ignores the prevalent weight stigma and anti-fat bias that exists in homes, offices, workplaces, and medical settings.
 
Weight stigma in healthcare is such a problem that people don't feel safe going to see their doctor. Comments and judgments about appearance or weight (in healthcare, at school, at home, etc) in childhood can lead to long-term issues with confidence and self-worth.
 
This should be the focus if we want to help the widespread body image and eating problems that so many young people (and older people) face in the world: reducing weight stigma, diet culture, and the thin ideal. Encouraging body acceptance or body neutrality, building accessible healthcare, and addressing systemic inequalities should all be priorities.
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Targeting Young People Instead of the Sources of Harm

​The ban on social media for under-16s may feel like a punishment for other people’s harm. Young people face the impact and the change, when it should be focused on the people and corporations causing harm. It's not the first time that tactics have focused on victims protecting themselves instead of targeting the perpetrators of harm (this happens with sexual assault and abuse, e.g. “don’t get your drink spiked” and “what was she wearing” etc).
 
Instead of a ban impacting those at risk of harm, efforts need to be targeted towards those causing or contributing to it, e.g. people who harm children, corporations that exploit people (diet industry), tech companies that let it happen. My other area of work is with perpetrators and offenders, which I believe is crucial prevention work. The focus is on helping the harm to be reduced or stopped in the first place. For children at risk of abuse online, efforts need to focus on preventing abuse, and again on tech companies for not doing enough to stop it.
 

​Support for Body Image and Your Relationship with Food

Helping yourself or others with body image or eating involves understanding the complex and unique circumstances as well as the wider social context. Social media is just one factor.
 
In my experience, I curated my social media feeds to help improve my body image, but this wasn't the main solution. I had to understand and process things I'd experienced in my life to build my self-worth back up, block by block. I am now very fortunate to be able to use my experiences to help others.
 
If you want to improve your body image or relationship with food, I offer counselling sessions online. If you'd like to go ahead, I offer a free 15-minute initial consultation – get in touch here.
 
You can also check out my other blogs, and I have a full resources page if you'd like to learn more about body image and eating disorders.