The Real Legacy Of “America’s Next Top Model” Was Showing Young People How To Hate Their Bodies

In the ANTM documentary, contestant Keenyah Hill shares that she has since heard from viewers that the way her body was discussed on the show actually kick-started their eating disorders, a sobering reminder of how televised body shaming doesn’t stay on the screen. While media alone isn’t responsible for causing eating disorders, it may trigger those with a genetic predisposition or other factors to develop one.

After years of work with an eating disorder therapist, recovery coach and eating disorder dietitian, I was able to recover from my eating disorder.

Sitting here today, viewing the ANTM documentary on a gray velvet couch, I am an eating disorder therapist, founder of The Eating Disorder Center and a married mom of two little kids.

My perspective while watching the show has very much shifted from that of the 16-year-old girl who was viewing ANTM from my parents’ house. Twenty years later, many of us can now see just how toxic that show and the general culture of the 2000s were when it came to the dieting and anti-fat bias in the media. 

Unfortunately, it is my belief that 20 years from now, we will be looking back on the present day with similar discomfort. I wish we could look back and talk about how much has improved, but there is still so far to go. 

Extreme thinness is being promoted in the media, and weight loss (now often aided by GLP-1s like Ozempic) continues to be praised. Today, the “Make America Healthy Again” movement is touting harmful rhetoric demonizing processed foods and promoting a very black-and-white mentality.

I truly hope for the sake of my children and others that the ANTM documentary serves as a wake-up call. Just because something is normalized in society doesn’t mean it is mentally or physically healthy. We truly need to look with a critical eye at how our society continues to promote anti-fat bias and diet culture. The next generation needs us to do better. 

Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C, is a therapist and the founder of The Eating Disorder Center. She specializes in therapy for teens and adults with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, OSFED and body image concerns.

If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for support.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost in February 2026.