Liv Schmidt, the rise of the 'Skinny Influencer' and the danger it poses to youth

Her name? Liv Schmidt. Her brand? Being skinny.

While most fitness and lifestyle creators veer away from equating health and thinness, Schmidt built a platform saying the quiet part out loud, growing a following of 670,000 on TikTok before she was barred from the platform in September.

“Basic fit because the accessory is being blonde & skinny,” she captioned one outfit video. “Please don’t ask me how I’m so skinny if you’re not ready for the answers,” she wrote over another.

Her supporters say she’s “just telling the truth,” but mental health experts warn content like hers can negatively impact young users’ perceptions of body image and influence disordered eating habits — and say it’s part of a larger shift in how Americans are discussing thinness. The key to combatting this is raising parents' awareness about the conversations happening online.

“We're almost seeing a return to the outward profession of the desire to be skinny, whereas for a while it's been, ‘I want to be healthier, I want to engage in wellness,’” said University of Vermont Associate Professor Lizzy Pope, whose research focuses on how diet culture appears in popular culture and on social media. “What I'm seeing is a return of that language being accepted.”

Who is Liv Schmidt, and why was she banned from TikTok?

Schmidt, 23, rose to popularity last year through her candid discussions of achieving thinness, in series like her “living slim in the city” videos and her “Holiday Meal Skinny Girl Guide." With an Instagram profile featuring polished photos donning matching workout sets to Pilates and enjoying New York City dining and nightlife, she markets thinness as an essential part of being an “it girl.”

The creator opened up about her ideology in a Wall Street Journal profile last year, where she discussed limiting calories and defended her content.

Her LinkedIn states that she works as an Social Event Coordinator at a Private Family office in New York City. She attended the University of Arizona, where she told the Journal she experienced pressure to fit the "blonde and skinny" stereotype.

“Weight is a touchy topic, but that’s what the viewers want," she said.

TikTok banned Schmidt’s account for violating the site's community guidelines, according to The Journal. A TikTok spokesperson did not respond to USA Today's request for comment on specifics, but some of Schmidt's videos appeared to violate the site's disordered eating and body image guidelines, which prohibit content that "promotes potentially harmful weight management."

She’s still barred from the app, but has continued posting Instagram reels to her 129,000 followers and the 1,600 subscribers to her exclusive content, which she sells for $19.99 a month. She also shared 86 new videos to YouTube with titles like “Bye bye thunder thighs… hello slim legs."

Schmidt has addressed the backlash on her account in November, stating in one caption, “I’m not problematic, you’re just too sensitive.”

Schmidt declined USA TODAY's request for comment.

The rise in 'skinny' content can influence disordered eating in young people

TikTok has guidelines in place to restrict harmful weight-related content. But users have maneuvered around them, posting pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia content under sneakily-named hashtags and covert “what I eat in a day” videos that often portray unhealthy caloric intake.

The most widely viewed food, nutrition and weight content on the app are videos that perpetuate toxic diet culture among teens and young adults, according to a 2022 University of Vermont study that analyzed the top 100 videos from popular nutrition, food and weight-related hashtags.

Pope, one of the study’s coauthors, said representation of diet culture and weight loss was framed as a part of being healthy or being fit in most of the videos they analyzed. If they did the study again in 2025, she suspects they would find “a lot more of this very blatant, ‘I'm doing this to be skinny’ content.”

The problem with taking advice from non-expert creators, according to Pope, is that their one-size-fits-all advice doesn’t consider genetics and reflects a misunderstanding of how eating disorders develop, which is often “piece by piece” instead of from an all-at-once mentality.

Factors like social media and isolation have contributed to a large increase in youth eating disorders since the pandemic. The growing aspiration to skinniness is amplified by discourse surrounding drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic, whose usage has surged, particularly among women.

Is 'skinny' making a comeback? Pilates, low-rise jeans and Kardashian weight loss

Pope said videos like Schmidt’s are “like siren songs” for insecure young adults, and make it seem “like the best idea” or “the easiest thing” to go on diets. But mimicking this behavior and expecting similar results could set young adults up for disappointment or disordered eating habits.

What parents can do to counter toxic online diet culture

Diet culture and disordered eating is always reinventing its buzzwords and formats, whether it was '90s supermodel Kate Moss’s mantra "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" or the prevalence of eating disorder Tumblr in the 2010s. Even if TikTok is banned, Pope warned the same content will replicate on other platforms as long as skinniness is seen as an indicator of societal status and health.

Schmidt's not alone – though she may be one of the most prominent, other skinny influencers exist online. Pope said parents of teenagers should assume their child will see this type of content and recommends proactively addressing diet talk and creating a home environment that fosters strong value outside of appearance. She clarified that it's important not to make presumptions about a thin person's body size, and that the problem comes in when someone is giving advice without medical backing about how to become skinny.

“Open a dialogue of, ‘Hey, do you ever see nutrition content? Or do you ever see anything about eating on your FYP? Do you ever see anything about weight loss on your FYP?’,” Pope said.

In general, the best way to minimize similar content is not to interact with it in the first place, since commenting or liking videos makes similar content more likely to appear in one’s algorithm. Pope said working on the ability to reject content is an important aspect of making sure toxic diet culture doesn’t permeate one’s mental health, and recommended seeking professional support through therapists and dietitians if unhealthy thoughts persist.

If you or someone you know is struggling with body image or eating concerns, the National Eating Disorders Association's toll-free and confidential helpline is available by phone or text at 1-800-931-2237 or by click-to-chat message at  nationaleatingdisorders.org/helpline. For 24/7 crisis situations, text "NEDA" to 741-741.

Hale’s role covering youth mental health at USA TODAY is funded by a grant from Pivotal Ventures. Pivotal Ventures does not provide editorial input. Reach her at rhale@usatoday.com and @rachelleighhale on X.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Liv Schmidt, TikTok ban and why skinny influencers are so dangerous