This article originally appeared in the Health and Medicine print issue, in stands January 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.
Celebrities often promote unrealistic beauty standards. They showcase impossibly tiny waists enhanced by Photoshop and flawless skin created with apps like Facetune. Consequently, young, impressionable adults feel insufficient if they don’t meet these standards, leading to the urge to make drastic changes to lifestyle habits.
Due to Hollywood’s beauty standards, various social media trends of extreme diets overflow the apps. Users take in the information without considering the reliability of the sources. The harmful effects that unhealthy lifestyle habits have on growing young adults are extreme and should not be ignored.
The Dangers of Diet Culture
The diet culture brought on by idolized celebrities is harmful to a person’s physical and mental well-being. In 2009, Women’s Wear Daily published an article spotlighting the famous model Kate Moss. In the article, Moss stated that “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” This statement suggests that no treat, such as a cinnamon roll or soda, is as fulfilling as the feeling of being thin.
The consequences of Moss’s statement are severe and may lead susceptible viewers, such as young college students, to begin dangerous diets.
One dangerous diet often followed by individuals aiming to lose weight quickly is “yo-yo dieting.” Intermountain Healthcare describes this as rapidly losing and then regaining weight.
Eliza Hamilton, RD, said that many people begin “yo-yo dieting” as a quick way to lose weight.
“Most [people] are not patient enough to take a good habit and implement it and nail it down,” Hamilton said, so they resort to restricting necessary nutrients and calories quickly for faster results.
An example of an extreme and strict diet in Hollywood is Kim Kardashian’s rapid weight loss of 16 pounds in just three weeks to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress for the 2022 Met Gala.
The star claimed she healthily lost the weight with the help of a nutritionist. However, the impression left on young minds is that extreme weight loss in a short time is possible. This creates the idea that people should change their bodies to fit into clothes rather than the clothes being designed to fit people’s bodies.
If a person attempts to fit into a piece of clothing better by rapidly losing weight, Hamilton said that when they regain the weight, they are likely to end up with a higher body fat percentage than before the drastic weight loss.
“When you lose weight quickly, you lose water and muscle mass. Then, when you gain that weight back, you’re not necessarily gaining water and muscle back; you’re gaining water and likely fat tissue back,” Hamilton said.
Other potentially negative effects of crash diets, said Hamilton, include slowed metabolism, heart disease and diabetes.
Choosing Positivity Over Pressure
However, it is hard for young adults to resist the urge to change themselves based on what they see online from celebrities and influencers. The figures’ online presence suggests that they are seemingly perfect.
“If your feed is full of very thin, tall, or the look that your body has never looked like,” Hamilton said. “Even if you killed yourself to look like that — which is not healthy or smart — you probably wouldn’t.”
With the rise of harmful influencers like Liv Schmidt, who promotes the idea that being skinny is ideal and provides followers with potentially dangerous tips, it is more important than ever to follow empowering and body-positive figures instead.
“Fill your feed with images and people who inspire and embrace self-love,” Hamilton said.
Research done by the National Library of Medicine has shown a significant connection between disordered eating and self-image in college-aged females and social media, further emphasizing Hamilton’s recommendation to follow body-positive influencers and celebrities.
Accepting Body Diversity
“All kinds of bodies fit,” Hamilton said. “There’s no ideal look that we should be going for.”
College is a difficult time for many as they adjust to a new environment. This time can leave young adults feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable in themselves. Recognizing that not everybody is meant to look the same and that what is praised in Hollywood and online is unrealistic is crucial for a person’s overall health and happiness. Eating a balanced diet, searching for healthy alternatives and understanding that much of what is depicted online is often false can improve one’s quality of life.
