Thin Is Back With a Vengeance
The eating disorder diagnosis of the future may be spurred by GLP-1 drugs.
Updated November 13, 2025 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk
The idea that “Thin is in” arose with the Twiggy era in the 1960s. It was about this time that the saying, “You can never be too rich or too thin,” became popular and was repeated by celebrities such as the Duchess of Windsor, Joan Rivers, and Truman Capote. Author Stephen King added on a few words, “You can never be too thin or too rich. And if you don't believe it, you were never really fat or really poor.”
At the same time, in 1969, NAAFA was founded—the National Association to Aid Fat Americans—and in 1972, the Fat Manifesto advocating for body acceptance and challenging societal standards of thinness emerged.
In the 1990s, the idealization of the thin body resurfaced with the “heroin chic” look and waifish body image . Crop tops and low-rise jeans designed for skinny bodies were in vogue in the early 2000s. In 2010, Lindo Bacon wrote the book Healthy at Every Size, a book that focused on promoting healthy behaviors, improving self-esteem , and challenging the idea that everyone can lose weight and keep it off. Although it originated in the 1990s, the body positivity movement really took off about the same time as the healthy at every size idea (2010), with social media offering a platform for influencers and others to promote body acceptance. Plus-size models and celebrities were in the limelight.
And then came Ozempic.
Now, thin is back, with the focus on weight loss drugs, celebrity weight loss, and mass marketing . Everyone is once again jumping on the bandwagon. The trend for women is the ballet body—a long, lean, and slender physique in the Balanchine tradition.
There are definitely people who legitimately need these drugs for health reasons, but I know many who are taking them to lose that extra 15 pounds or for vanity reasons.
So, what happened to body acceptance and body positivity? Was it a sham?
Why did Oprah, Kelly Clarkson, and other celebrities who were publicly advocating for and riding the body positivity bandwagon jump off and lose weight when the new GLP-1 drugs became available? Were people who advocated for the acceptance of all body sizes secretly still wanting to be thin?
My eating disorder started because I was influenced by the "Thin is in" movement ignited by Twiggy. The irony is that I was thin at the time, but was young and impressionable, and not thin enough. Could I ever be too thin? How many will follow that same path, now influenced by social media and friends dropping weight like flies? My colleagues in the eating disorder treatment field report people who have been in remission for many years, relapsing after taking GLP-1 drugs. Frankly, if I had been able to access these drugs when I had my eating disorder, I would have taken them in a minute.
All this to say, I hope we are cautious and wise about using what seems like a miracle drug that allows for significant weight loss without dieting and the ability to maintain the weight that has been lost—as long as one takes the drug—maybe the rest of one’s life. I also hope we are wise about the message we are passing on to the next generation about the importance of being thin, and that we are not creating the substrate out of which a whole new kind of eating disorder will develop.
People may become so afraid of stopping the medication and regaining the weight they have lost that they lose too much weight or keep taking the drugs despite health complications. Or they may have a distorted body image where they cannot see that they have gotten too thin and gone too far with their weight loss. This may lead to the development of the core symptoms of eating disorders identified by Christopher Fairburn in 2008, namely the over-evaluation of shape and weight, and their control. Will GLP-1 drugs spur the eating-disorder diagnosis of the future? I hope and pray this is not the case.
Fairburn, C. (2008). Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders. Guilford.
Share this post Facebook Bluesky Linkedin Email
There was a problem adding your email address. Please try again.
By submitting your information you agree to the Psychology Today Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy
Kim Lampson, Ph.D., is a professor of graduate psychology at Northwest University, a certified Gottman therapist who developed Gottman-RED—relationships with eating disorders, and the author of Therapy for Relationships with Eating Disorders .
Get the help you need from a therapist near you–a FREE service from Psychology Today.
This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.