America’s Next Top Model, Diet Culture, and the Anti-Fat Bias So Many Grew Up With

By: Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, Therapist & Founder of The Eating Disorder Center

With the recent documentary about America’s Next Top Model, a lot of people are revisiting a show that once felt like “harmless reality TV.” For many of us, it was seen as entertaining at the time: dramatic makeovers, high-stakes challenges, and the promise that being beautiful and “picture perfect” could change your life.

But watching it now, especially through the lens of what we know about eating disorders, trauma, and body image, it is hard not to feel a deep sense of anger and sadness.

America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) was a microcosm of early 2000s diet culture. It did not exist in a vacuum. At the time, tabloids openly mocked women’s bodies. Britney Spears was relentlessly criticized for her postpartum body after giving birth. Headlines dissected her stomach, her weight, and her perceived “loss of control.” This was normalized.

Still, the fact that this culture was widespread does not absolve the show or its creators of responsibility.

On ANTM, contestants were weighed, scrutinized, shamed, and compared. Their bodies were discussed as objects to be corrected. Hunger was normalized. Extreme thinness was praised. Vulnerability was often met with dismissal or punishment rather than care. Young women were taught that their worth, success, and safety depended on shrinking, conforming, and enduring discomfort without complaint.

As a teenager, I watched the show and internalized it. Many of us did.

For me, the messaging stepped in quietly but powerfully. It taught me what a “good” body was. It taught me that being smaller made you more deserving of praise and opportunity. It taught me to see my body as a problem to manage, not a home to live in. These are all utter lies.

I want to be very clear about something, especially as an eating disorder therapist now: media messaging alone does not cause eating disorders. Eating disorders develop from a complex combination of factors, including genetics, temperament, anxiety, trauma, perfectionism, and more.

But for people who are already vulnerable due to biology, mental health, or life circumstances, harmful media messaging can become part of a perfect storm that leads to the development of an eating disorder. It can legitimize behaviors that are already brewing internally.

What seemed like a “harmless” reality show, which clearly was highly problematic in many ways, even outside of the blatant anti-fat bias, was widely watched. It is important to note that even if it was viewed as being watched “just for fun,” the subtle and overt messaging the show contained could still take hold for viewers.

I am passionate about this topic not only because I lived it, but because there are many others who are still untangling the damage: teens and adults who grew up in the 2000s; parents who absorbed these messages and are terrified of passing them on; and people who cannot separate their sense of self from their body size because they were never taught how.

What frustrates me most is how familiar this all feels.

Today, we are watching another wave of extreme thinness being promoted in mainstream culture. Weight loss is once again being framed as a moral achievement. It always has been, but it seems even more socially acceptable now than it did a few years ago. There is a renewed obsession with so-called optimization and “clean” eating. Certain foods are being labeled as “toxic” or “unacceptable,” often under the guise of health or morality. I am looking at you, MAHA. This is incredibly problematic.

There is also a rise in extremism around so-called “processed foods,” where fear and rigidity replace nuance and balance. This kind of black-and-white thinking is deeply aligned with eating disorder thinking, even when it is marketed as wellness.

We may not be weighing models on television in the same way, but the underlying message feels eerily similar: smaller is better. Your body is a problem to solve. These messages are completely false and extremely harmful, especially to vulnerable people.

I believe that in twenty years, we will look back on this moment with the same discomfort we now feel when watching America’s Next Top Model. We will ask how we normalized it, how we missed the warning signs, and how so many people were harmed while being told it was all about health, beauty, or success.


Get Eating Disorder Treatment

At The Eating Disorder Center, we work with individuals and families who are trying to heal from exactly this kind of cultural conditioning. We understand that eating disorders are not choices. They are serious, complex mental health conditions that deserve specialized care.

We also believe full recovery is possible.

Our team provides eating disorder therapy in Rockville, Maryland, and in a variety of other states where we are licensed, as well as recovery coaching and parent coaching worldwide.

If you or someone you love is struggling with food, body image, or the lingering impact of growing up in diet culture, you are not alone. We would love to help you find freedom from constantly thinking about food and your body.
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You deserve treatment that acknowledges the damage done by diet culture and offers a path forward that does not require focusing on shrinking yourself.

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Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation to explore how eating disorder therapy or recovery coaching can help you to find freedom.

🌟 Available in MD, VA, DC, PA, FL, and CA for eating disorder therapy
🌍 Offering recovery coaching worldwide​

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Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C (she/her), is an award-winning eating disorder therapist and the founder of The Eating Disorder Center, a specialized therapy practice for eating disorders and body image concerns. Jennifer uses ACT, CBT, and DBT to help clients find freedom from eating disorders and body image struggles.  Jennifer is recognized as a leading eating disorder expert and was named one of the top professionals in the field by a premier treatment center. She is the recipient of the Best of Bethesda Award for Best Individual Therapist (2025) and the Best of Rockville Award (2020–2024). She helps clients to live full, meaningful lives, beyond food and body image concerns. ​

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The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping children, teens, and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington, D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in Florida, Pennsylvania, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland and Virginia. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com