Is Social Media Affecting Your Child's Health?

Last Updated on 24th February 2025

Read Time: 6.5 Minutes

24th February 2025

While social media has the potential to educate children and young people about their health and wellbeing, there is also content that can be incredibly harmful to them, both mentally and physically.

Previously, Ofcom warned social media platforms that they must comply with new online safety rules, stating that they are required to protect under 18s from being exposed to harmful content. This includes having stronger age-checking measures in place as well as preventing their algorithms from pushing upsetting videos or images towards young people.

A survey by Stem4 found that nearly all young people, aged 12-21, use social media and 62% of them worry that their mental health is being negatively affected by content that the algorithms are showing them. This report shows that young people feel more stressed, anxious and depressed after viewing these harmful materials.

Knowledge is power when approaching social media. The first step is knowing what to look-out for. We’ve created a list of some of the main things to consider that may affect the health and wellbeing of the children and young people in your care.

Cyberbullying

Nearly half of 12-18 year olds are regularly bullied online by someone they know, and the bullying is often focused on their appearance. Online bullying can have long-lasting psychological effects on children and young people, including:

Low self-esteem.
Developing mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
Trouble performing well at school.
Withdrawing from social activities with family or friends.
Being suspicious of others and not building friendships.

Misinformation

Although health professionals can utilise online platforms to provide useful knowledge to users, these public forums are also filled with false information that can spread rapidly. Sometimes, although not intending to cause harm, the lack of control over what is published can lead to harmful practices relating to topics such as fitness, eating disorders and self-harm. Self-diagnosing is a big issue, with many young people relying on social media instead of a medical professional to identify if they have mental health issues. This can lead to an incorrect diagnosis and result in unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Additionally, the rise of amateur fitness influencers over the last few years has caused a “fitness misinformation epidemic”. Social media influencers and online ‘personal trainers’ are sometimes not adequately educated on fitness and nutrition, leading them to promote harmful fitness routines and unhealthy diets. This can lead children and young people to develop dangerous diet and exercise habits, and even causing injuries if they are misinformed about how to carry out certain exercises.

Focus On Aesthetics Instead of Wellbeing

Social media has placed greater pressure on obtaining the ‘perfect’ body type, instead of focusing on health benefits. These ‘fitspiration’ posts have been proven to contribute to eating disorders and over-exercising. Researchers report that that the trend is “fuelling new waves of disturbed eating and exercise pathology”.

This can cause children and young people to see exercise as a form of punishment and only for weight loss or muscle growth, instead of seeing it as an enjoyable activity or hobby. Research has shown that many teenagers adopt certain exercise routines with the goal of achieving certain body types observed on social media. The research has noted that it’s important for young people to engage in exercise for the right reasons to ensure it doesn’t become “compulsive and harmful.”

Fitness influencers will often promote the use of supplements such as energy drinks, creatine, protein, pre-workout or even steroids with the promise of results such as weight loss or muscle growth. Some do not disclose the irreversible consequences they may have on a young person’s health, such as liver and kidney damage, digestive issues and excessive weight fluctuations.

Unrealistic Body Standards

These unrealistic body expectations might be easy for adults to spot, but for children and young people it could be trickier to identify. The outcome can be a person putting their body through extreme dieting and exercise measures to achieve these body shapes.

Like any fad, body types go through the same cycle of trends and fitness influencers also contribute to this, with a 2023 study finding that nearly two thirds of the top 100 fitness influencer accounts on Instagram promoted unhealthy or unrealistic body shapes.

As viewers, we are unaware of the lighting, angles and filters that are being used, providing us with unrealistic expectations of what we can achieve. This can cause many of us, especially children and young people, to compromise our wellbeing in order to conform to these unrealistic body standards.

Screen Time

As technology evolves and becomes more involved in our lives, it’s easy to forget how it can affect our wellbeing including our mental health, physical health and relationships. Children and young people are more likely to fall victim to this, with research showing that 8–12-year-olds spend around 4 to 6 hours a day using screens, while older children, aged 12-18, spend up to 9 hours.

Without clear boundaries on using devices, children and young people can fall into negative habits that might affect their life in the real world, such as:

Relationships with family and friends.
Not engaging in social activities, such as sports and after-school clubs.
Socialising with strangers online which can put them in danger of being groomed.
Their mental health, including body image and self-esteem.

Top Tips

Social media continues to become more intertwined with the lives of children and young people, with technology becoming an essential part of friendships, relationships and even education. It’s important now, more than ever, to educate ourselves on this digital playground to empower the children and young people in our care to be smarter and safer online.

With all of this in mind, we have put together some tips to help you navigate social media to protect the health and wellbeing of the children and young people in your care.

Encourage Open Conversations

Ask them what platforms they’re using and have these discussions regularly and casually. Ensure they know who their trusted adults are so they can talk to them if they see something worrying on social media or have questions about their online activity.

Curate Their Feed

Teach the children and young people in your care to set up their social media feeds to minimise harmful content. This can include blocking and reporting harmful content that the algorithm pushes on their feed as well as being mindful about who they are following. Check out our Safety Centre for help with this.

Teach Digital Literacy

Educate them to question information that they come across on social media and seek to identify reliable sources. Also, children and young people should understand that how they act online is public, permanent and can affect them in later life.

Use Privacy Settings

Go through the privacy settings for the social media platforms used by them, explaining how to use them and why they’re important.

Limit Screen Time

Overexposure to social media can push children and young people to develop unhealthy behaviours. If they seem to be spending too much time on their phone, suggest regular breaks and encourage activities that don’t involve screens such as sports, reading or doing a hobby they enjoy.

Lead by Example

Adults spend nearly as much time on their screens as children and young people, with the average adult in the UK spending over 6 hours a day on screens. Always remember, the children and young people in your care are looking to you as an example, so seek to manage your own screen time as well as theirs!

Further Resources