TikTok is perpetuating a toxic diet culture among teens and young adults according to a recently published study from the University of Vermont. The study, which found weight-normative messaging largely predominates on TikTok, has received widespread national and international media attention.

“We know that people are struggling with [body image and weight]. Seeing this content that makes weight loss look really easy or achievable just reinforces kind of a fantasy that doesn’t exist,” said the study’s author Lizzy Pope, assistant professor in the Dept. of Nutrition and Food Sciences in an article from Fortune Magazine.

Other notable U.S.-based media coverage includes stories from CNBC, NY Post, People, International Business Times, The Hill and Salon, as well as many health news publications including Healthline and Healio.

The study has garnered international attention from Canada to Australia with stories in daily newspapers such as the Toronto Sun (CA), Daily Mail (UK), and Jerusalem Post (IS), local radio stations like PEACE FM (Accra, Ghana), and Australia-based science magazine Cosmos.

Vermont media also covered the study, including WCAX and the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.