The impact of social media on body image and weight-change behaviors among young people: a systematic scoping review

Abstract

Abstract Background Young people aged 10–24 years are the core users of social media (SM), and are particularly vulnerable to idealized body standards propagated on these platforms. While social media can promote healthy lifestyles, and substantial evidence has confirmed its significant association with body dissatisfaction and unhealthy weight-change behaviors among young people, how specific social media content characteristics shape the full spectrum of weight-change behaviors through differentiated mechanisms remains incompletely understood. Existing evidence, while consistent on core associations, is fragmented regarding causal pathways, content-specific effects, and cross-cultural generalizability. This scoping review aimed to synthesize current empirical evidence on the impact of social media on body image and weight-change behaviors among young people. Method This review was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A systematic literature search was performed across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Studies were included based on a pre-defined PIO framework, and methodological quality of included studies was assessed descriptively using validated tools. Results SM was found to exert a significant impact on young people’s BI and weight-change behaviors. SM platforms propagate idealized body standards (leanness for females, muscularity for males), which are closely linked to BD, restrictive eating, excessive exercise, and misuse of weight-loss products, with unscientific weight-management information being widely disseminated on such platforms. Notably, the type of SM content had a more pronounced impact on young people than usage duration, and gender-specific differences in weight-change behaviors were identified. Although a small amount of anti-diet and body-positive content on SM exhibited limited protective effects against negative BI, such effects were overshadowed by the preponderance of negative content. These findings highlight the urgent need to promote diverse body representations on SM, regulate harmful content, and enhance young people’s digital literacy. Conclusions SM exerts a predominantly negative impact on the weight-change behaviors of young people, with significant effects on BI perception. SM platforms, content creators, and healthcare professionals should collaborate to promote body diversity and evidence-based health content, while enhancing young people’s digital literacy to mitigate the adverse effects of SM. These measures are critical to ensuring healthy weight management in this developmentally vulnerable population.