“I can only say that when I am not exposed to those definitions of a ‘standard’ body, I feel fine. But once I see those boundaries—such as how many kilograms count as thin or what is considered attractive—I start to feel anxious and dissatisfied with myself.” (He et al., 2025).
Research shows that people who are more often exposed to society’s beauty standards are more likely to feel dissatisfied with their bodies and may have a higher risk of developing eating disorders (Bonfanti et al., 2025). Social media may be one place in which users are exposed to these beauty standards. Strengthening media literacy and improving body functionality may be critical strategies to empower users to prevent negative consequences such as body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. Hence, researchers developed and evaluated two online, self-guided single-session interventions: one focusing on strengthening media literacy and the other on improving body functionality.
CORE
- Both interventions produced meaningful improvements in body image and eating-disorder-related outcomes, suggesting that even a short, single-session intervention can be helpful, especially for people who are showing signs of eating disorders.
- Acceptability was also high, with over 95% of participants saying they would recommend the intervention, highlighting the potential for wider use in China’s digital environment.
- The two interventions appear to work in different ways: the intervention strengthening media literacy is more educational and scalable, whereas the intervention focusing on body functionality is more therapy-like and may offer a more direct route to symptom improvement. The intervention strengthening media literacy may serve as a cost-effective and accessible alternative or complement, especially where formal psychotherapy is less available.
RESEARCH METHODS
What? In this study, participants were divided into three groups. One group took part in a media literacy intervention, another group followed a body functionality intervention, and the third group was placed on a waitlist and did not receive any intervention at first, but was offered the interventions after the study ended. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires about body image and eating behaviours at three time points: before the intervention, one week later, and four weeks after the intervention began.
How? The Media Literacy Intervention consisted of one online session with four parts, focusing on appearance pressures, media influences, and personal reflection. It included activities such as defining appearance pressures, comparing retouched images, examining beauty ideals in China, and reflecting on how family and culture may shape body anxiety. The Body Functionality Intervention also involved one online session, combining psychoeducation with three short writing exercises focused on the body’s physical capabilities, sensory experiences, physiological processes, self-care abilities, creative expressions and social communication capabilities. The waitlist control group gained access to both interventions after completing the 4-week follow-up questionnaire.
Who? The study included 204 adult Chinese women who use social media and showed symptoms of eating disorder, measured by a questionnaire commonly used to assess eating-related behaviours and attitudes. Those currently diagnosed with an eating disorder were excluded.
RESULTS
- Compared with the waitlist control group, females in both interventions reported significant improvements in body appreciation, functionality appreciation, and body image flexibility, as well as reductions in body fat dissatisfaction and appearance comparisons.
- The study found that females in both interventions significantly improved intuitive eating and reduced eating disorder symptomatology compared with the waitlist control group. Both approaches also improved eating flexibility, although in slightly different ways: the Media Literacy Intervention showed benefits earlier and more consistently, while the Body Functionality Intervention appeared to have a more gradual effect that became clearer by the 4-week follow-up.
REFERENCES
Bonfanti, R. C., Melchiori, F., Teti, A., Albano, G., Raffard, S., Rodgers, R., & Coco, G. L. (2025). The association between social comparison in social media, body image concerns and eating disorder symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Body image, 52, 101841.
He, D., Siau, C. S., Koo, H. C., Zheng, Y., He, P., & Gilcharan Singh, H. K. (2025). ‘My body isn’t perfect, and I get quite anxious’: a qualitative exploration of body image dissatisfaction among Chinese female undergraduates. BMJ open, 15(10), e099390. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-099390
Cheng, Y., Chen, Y., Barnhart, W. R., Chen, C., Yim, S. H., Nagata, J. M., … & He, J. (2026). Improving body image in female Chinese social media users with eating disorder symptoms: a randomized controlled trial of two online self-guided single-session interventions. Journal of Eating Disorders, 14(1), 37.
This sci-fly was written by Calorta Tan (Radboud University) for RAD-blog, the blog about smoking, alcohol, drugs, and diet.