TikTok Subcultures: FitTok

by Ayanah Dowdye, Contributing Author

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Introduction

FitTok is a subculture on TikTok where users share content related to fitness, health, and wellness. This community focuses on workout routines, fitness tips, nutrition advice, and motivational content, often catering to a wide range of fitness levels and goals. Additionally, FitTok features food recommendations, including healthy recipes and meal prep ideas, helping users both align their diet with their fitness objectives, and discover new healthy meals that can be integrated into their lives. Teens are particularly engaged with the FitTok subculture, using it as a source of inspiration and guidance to develop healthy habits, discover new workouts, and connect with peers who share similar fitness interests. However, FitTok can be triggering for those who have a history of body image issues, eating disorders, and supplement misuse.

Relevant Videos

1. Videos catered to teens: click here

2. Video created by a teen: click here

3. Healthy Eating: click here

4. Dietician Thoughts on TikTok remarks: click here

How to talk to kids about it

1. Check it out: Check in to see if their individual algorithm shows them this kind of content. If so, engage your kids in dialogue about what does and does not appeal to them

   
   

2. Begin the dialogue: Ask how they feel about their body. What is healthy in terms of their definition? Implore moderation with any health trend.

   
   

3. Join them: Offer to do workouts together based on some of the content they are seeing - ranging from an outdoor walk, to dancing, to sports, to bodyweight workouts or even full blown gym workouts. See what appeals most to them to inspire a healthy relationship with movement!

   
   

4. Cook together: Offer to meal prep new dishes together, with a focus on meals that look both healthy and delicious. This may inspire long term changes in their diet

Pros and Cons

Pros

1. Aspiring to a healthier lifestyle early on can improve mood, sleep, and interpersonal relationships

2. Involving the family can create a family household that can reinforce each other to be healthy

Cons

1. FitTok is unregulated in terms of content. Some content creators post pro-anorexia content and disordered eating content

2. The supplement industry is heavily involved on FitTok. Majority of supplements are not approved by the FDA.

3. Unrealistic expectations of what healthy is are portrayed on FitTok which can influence how a teen views their body

Other relevant stuff

1. More on FitTok How Fitness Influencers Are Turning TikTok into 'FitTok' 

2. The Oracle: “FitTok”: social media’s influence on gym culture – The Oracle

3. UC Berkeley: Fitness Influencers and the Unseen Market of Teenage Exploitation - Berkeley Political Review  

4. Body image concerns: TikTok on the clock but the #fitspo don’t stop: The impact of TikTok fitspiration videos on women’s body image concerns - ScienceDirect 

5. FitTok Posts: Fitness Culture | TikTok