The Skinny Epidemic Is Back

Imagine opening TikTok for a few minutes, only to be met with videos telling you how to lose weight, embrace your curves, or transform your body. Women’s bodies have become a public conversation, dissected, celebrated, and criticized in every corner of the internet. From videos that advertise extreme weight loss to content creators endorsing body positivity, it seems as if the narrative for women's bodies is changing drastically. Recently, the body positivity movement has slowly come to a stop, starting the rise of “The Skinny Epidemic.” In pop culture, extreme thinness is making a comeback. In the past, particularly during the 90s to the early 2000s, extreme thinness was glorified by the term “heroin chic.”

In 2026, Y2K made a comeback bringing the skinny epidemic along with it. In the media, we’ve seen this trend tainting our favorite celebrities like Jenna Ortega and Ariana Grande. In Grande’s most recent music video, fans expressed disdain for her weak appearance. Constant remarks and criticism have escalated online disputes posing the question: when is it just for people to comment on a woman’s body? This fear of commenting on someone's body has exacerbated the skinny epidemic and unless something is done it could grow to become more dangerous.

On TikTok, the algorithm feeds into those who are vulnerable. The viral “#SkinnyTok” was recently banned, but that doesn’t stop the damage it has already done. Extreme weight loss tactics have contributed immensely to many young girl’s insecurities and the intensification of extremely thinness becoming the norm. Along with dangerous weight loss tactics, it tends to glorify eating disorders, applaud the feeling of being hungry, and value a smaller body over a healthy one. Unless social media, along with Hollywood, corrects the glorification of unnaturally skinny bodies, the skinny epidemic has the potential to spiral completely out of control, if it hasn’t already.