YouTube will begin limiting access to fitness videos for European teens. Here's why

European teenagers may notice a change in their YouTube recommendations, after the video platform said it will stop ushering them toward some types of health and fitness videos, particularly those that "idealise" certain body types.

YouTube – which is among the most popular social media apps for teens – recommends videos that are similar to those the viewer has watched previously. 

That means people can fall into feedback loops, watching many similar videos in a row and at times delving into more extreme content.

YouTube first rolled out these restrictions in the United States last year, and is now expanding them in Europe and around the world, on the guidance of its youth and family advisory committee.

The new rule is an effort to prevent teens from forming "negative beliefs about themselves," Dr Garth Graham, who heads YouTube Health, and James Beser, YouTube Youth’s director of product management, said in a statement.

So what does this mean and what kind of content will now be restricted?

YouTube said it will now limit repeated recommendations of videos that:

Idealise particular fitness levels or weight groups

Compare and idealise certain physical features, or

Are socially aggressive, meaning they show intimidation or fighting.

These types of content “may be innocuous as a single video, but could be problematic for some teens if viewed repetitively,” Graham and Beser said.

Social media can lead to poor body image, eating disorders, and mental health issues, according to a major review of 50 studies from 17 countries published last year. 

That’s because people tend to compare themselves to others they see online, internalise a thin or fit standard as the ideal body type, and engage in self-objectification.

That doesn’t mean