YouTube extends limits to body weight and fitness videos for teens in Europe and UK

In an effort to curb teens from watching potentially harmful videos on YouTube, the streaming platform announced Thursday it will expand its limitation of repeated recommendations of videos that idealise specific body weights, types, and fitness levels for teenagers in Europe and the UK. It's an extension of the same move by YouTube in 2023 for U.S. teens, with the company's latest blog post using identical language as its first announcement, just extending the geographical reach. As it has done for U.S. teens, YouTube said it will limit repeated recommendations of videos in particular categories including "content that compares physical features and idealizes some types over others, idealizes specific fitness levels or body weights, or displays social aggression in the form of non-contact fights and intimidation." YouTube has identified these content categories as the type "that may be innocuous as a single video, but could be problematic for some teens if viewed repetitively." SEE ALSO: Young people feel conflicted about the internet and their well-being The post was written by Dr. Garth Graham, director and head of YouTube Health and James Beser, director of product management, YouTube Youth. The recommendations came from YouTube's youth and families advisory committee, a group formed in 2018, made up of independent experts in children's media, digital learning, and development. Their role is to advise on issues like online content and its impact on teens, who remain heavy social media users, especially on YouTube. "One insight [of the advisory committee] is that teens are more likely than adults to form negative beliefs about themselves when seeing repeated messages about ideal standards in content they consume online," Graham and Beser wrote. A 2019 survey by the UK's Mental Health Foundation found that 37 percent of teens felt "upset" and 31 percent felt "ashamed" about their body image. The report also said four in 10 teenagers said images on social media had