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Cited by 13Eating Disorders and BehaviorsNutrition, Health and Food BehaviorImpact of Technology on Adolescents

“Follow to *actually* heal binge eating”: A mixed methods textual content analysis of #BEDrecovery on TikTok

Greene, Amanda K., Norling, Hannah N.·2023·Eating Behaviors
DOI 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2023.101793
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Abstract

Binge eating disorder (BED) has been relatively overlooked in research on eating disorders and social media. Existing literature suggests that time spent on social media may be associated with increased binge eating. However, more granular details of social media experiences such as the consumption of pro-recovery content have not received sufficient scholarly attention. The present study begins to address this gap through analysis of 1074 captions from public posts on TikTok, a video-based social media platform, tagged with #BEDrecovery between July 2021-2022. We generated six themes by examining word frequencies in the data and engaging in reflexive categorization of commonly used words within the context of different posts. These themes were: (1) diets and eating approaches, (2) help and support, (3) mental health, (4) diet culture critique, (5) body monitoring, and (6) fitness. To understand which videos in the BED recovery community had the broadest reach, we also examined how themes were associated with user engagement - concretely, the number plays (times the post was watched) and shares (times users shared a link to the post with other TikTok users). Notably, we found that the number of shares was significantly lower in posts that included diet culture critique than in those that did not. By contrast plays and shares were higher in posts with body monitoring than in those without. Our findings suggest that highly engaged with #BEDrecovery TikTok content may include the promotion of diet culture and potentially create an unproductive environment for individuals seeking BED recovery support.

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  • Many accounts describing users with conditions such as eating disorders, Tourette's Syndrome, Dissociative Identity Disorder, ADHD, and borderline personality disorder received millions of views on TikTok.

    “Notably, many accounts describing the journeys of users with conditions such as eating disorders (ED), Tourette’s Syndrome, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and borderline personality disorder received millions of views [40–43].”

    From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [41]

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Authors
Greene, A. K., & Norling, H. N.
Affiliations
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • University of Denver (US)
Corresponding author
Greene, Amanda K.
ORCID
Venue
Eating Behaviors
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2023-08
Volume
50
Pages
101793
ISSN
1471-0153 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.eatbeh.2023.101793
OpenAlex
W4386123011
Cited by
13
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5
FWCI
3.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Eating Behaviors (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
Keywords
binge eating disorder, recovery, TikTok, social media, body monitoring, user engagement, mental health, fitness, eating disorders
MeSH terms
Feeding and Eating Disorders, Bulimia, Humans, Exercise, Binge-Eating Disorder, Social Media

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