Emily Kwong

And TikTok banned a hashtag called Skinny Talk.

which aggregated a lot of extreme weight loss content, unrealistic depictions of people's bodies.

And yet this content, it is still out there, right?

Even in advertisements, even on television, whether you have social media or not.

So I want to ask you a question that comes from Maria Friedman, a teen mental health advocate who's on the road to recovery herself.

So it sounds like how you look at recovery that's sustainable is it has to go beyond the clinic.

People surrounding the patient also need to be educated and on board.

That's shocking.

Because eating disorders have some of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disorders.

Eva, thank you so much for talking to me.

And thank you for everything you are doing for people out there who are struggling with eating disorders.

And that includes patients like Maria.

She's advocating for herself and other teens.

imagining a future where she is free.

This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and edited by Rebecca Ramirez.

It was fact-checked by Tyler Jones.

The audio engineer was Maggie Luthar.

I'm Emily Kwong.

Thank you for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.