Dangerous Diet Trends in Teens

It is no secret that adolescents and teens are influenced by social media. Many influencers have no expertise in the subject matter they endorse. This is vastly true when it comes to dieting and eating habits promoted by individuals with no medical or dietary background, many of whom are thin young women, promoting potentially harmful eating habits with no scientific basis.

Teen girls on social media from which they get much of their health and dietary information.

I will outline many of these diet trends promoted by social media and their hazards. As parents, we need to watch for unusual or restrictive eating behaviors to address them in a nonjudgmental manner and open discussions on healthy eating habits. 

Health and nutrition are the most popular topics on social media and young minds are easily influenced. Influencers often lack medical or dietary education, advocating unproven information. Platforms such as TikTok can promote disordered eating, emphasizing a too-thin body and harmful trends. These primarily affect young women who don’t discern whether the information they view is factual, sound, or safe, and are the group most at risk for eating disorders. 

Many of these fad diets are

• Too restrictive in calories

• Eliminate whole food groups

• Lead to deficiencies in micronutrients (vitamins and minerals)

• May lead to growth and hormonal issues (i.e. menstrual irregularities)

Some of the current social media dietary trends include:

1. Keto or Ketogenic Diet

This diet has been around for a long time, originally developed as a way to treat seizure disorders in children who were not responsive to medication. It was never intended to be used for long-term weight loss management, but is now one of the most popular weight loss diets.

Problem: This is a poor quality diet for the long-term since it eliminates many food groups, including dairy, fruit, and grains. This high-fat, low-carb diet obtains most of the calories from animal products, which are high in fat. On the keto diet, you eat 75% of your calories from fat, rather than the recommended 25-30%.

Although this diet may lead to weight loss, its high protein and fat content can result in nutrient deficiencies, kidney stones, and an increased risk of heart disease. It may also lead to digestive issues, primarily constipation, and cause ketoacidosis. 

2. Low-carb, High-protein Diet

A low-carb diet also significantly reduces carbohydrates, similar to a keto diet, but focuses on protein intake and healthy fats. This can lead to weight loss and help control blood sugar in those with diabetes. It does restrict grains, fruits, and processed foods, which in the long term can lead to vitamin deficiencies.

3. Carnivore or Paleo Diet

This is the meat-lovers diet, composed of animal-based foods while eliminating or restricting plant-based foods. The problems are similar to the keto diet with kidney issues, heart disease, and micronutrient deficiencies. Too much protein can lead to kidney damage and kidney stones.

Foods on a carnivore diet, the most extreme of Paleo-type diets, with zero carbs.

A carnivore diet is the most extreme: a meat-only diet with no carbs. Thus, it eliminates entire groups of foods such as grains, fruit, and vegetables. Although it claims to be anti-inflammatory, there is no scientific evidence to support this. Most anti-inflammatory diets are primarily plant-based.

4. Restrictive Eating/Calorie Cutting/#cleaneating

The goal of these diets is to significantly reduce calories by eliminating food groups such as carbohydrates or fats. Such diets can lead to nutrient deficiencies, which are problematic for a growing child and can affect growth, bone development (especially during the pubertal growth spurt), and cognitive function.

Young girl choosing between snacks of an apple or muffin. Restricting calories and clean eating can be taken to unhealthy extremes.

Clean eating promotes only eating whole, natural foods in their purest form (no processing), which can be too restrictive if taken to the extreme, as is sometimes promoted on social media. Orthorexia or orthorexia nervosa is the extreme situation in which eating healthy food becomes an obsession.

5. Fasting Diets/Time-Restricted Eating

This eating pattern promotes eating only during limited hours of the day, usually fasting for more hours than eating. Fasting or intermittent fasting is helpful for some adults with obesity or type 2 diabetes; this is not appropriate for minors, leading to dehydration, difficulty concentrating, fainting, and deficiencies. It is safer for a growing child or developing teen to eat balanced meals at regular intervals and to limit snacking and ultra-processed foods. 

6. Detox Diets/Teas and Juice Cleanses

This was the topic of a previous article:

https://www.feedfuturehealth.com/post/liver-detox-juice-cleanse-is-this-safe-effective 

These are primarily marketing ploys for quick weight loss methods or liver detox, but the hype is unwarranted. Juicing removes the fiber from fruits and vegetables. This results in negative changes in the microbiome and increases the risk of kidney stones. Detoxification is an ongoing, natural process in the body. Adding whole fruit and veggies to the diet is a much better option. 

7. GAPS Diet (Gluten-free/Dairy-free/Legume-free)

GAPS diet eliminates some group or combination of foods, such as gluten, dairy, or legumes. This limits nutrients causing adverse effects on gut and bone health. It is essential to consume adequate calcium and vitamin D during the pubertal years, when the needs are the highest, to prevent osteopenia and osteoporosis in adulthood. 

8. Weight-loss Drugs

Unfortunately, some of these can be obtained over-the-counter or online. These are easily misused and can be dangerous if not under medical supervision.

9. Dry Scooping

Young man scooping out pre-workout powder before exercise. Swallowing powder without liquid is dangerous.

Dry-scooping is taking pre-workout supplements in powder form before a workout without mixing with water. A more concentrated dose is ingested and can be a choking hazard or accidentally inhaled. Powders are not meant to be taken without liquid, and there is no evidence that this improves performance. Dry scooping has been made popular on social media platforms, especially TikTok, leading to breathing problems, heart palpitations, and even heart attacks, since most of these powders contain concentrated caffeine.

10. #whatieatinaday

Posting food content has become extremely popular, usually related to weight loss. Food is often labeled as “good food or bad food” which is irrelevant. Trying to copy some of these diets can be dangerous and give the idea that following the eating habits of another is going to be safe or healthy for them. Many of these have no sound basis for weight loss, yet they gain many followers.

Some studies show that only about 2% of nutrition information on TikTok is accurate. This is concerning, considering how many teens are influenced by their information, and should be a topic of discussion.

Discuss healthy eating habits, not dieting. Emphasize food as fuel to give your body the nutrients it needs; being too restrictive eliminates many vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients required for the body and brain to function their best.