Dry scooping The TikTok trend could be risky for teens.webp

Dry scooping: The TikTok trend could be risky for teens’ health

The newest Dry Shovel Challenge It’s a social media trend. tick tock This encourages users to consume a spoonful of dry powder supplement, i.e. without diluting the substance in a liquid according to the recommendations. The practice is condemned by experts from the American Academy of Psychiatry.

Further studies are in progress

After it went viral, primarily in the United States, members of the American Academy of Psychiatry stated that children and adolescents should not use supplements given as a preworkout for muscular athletes.

In conjunction with consuming more than the recommended daily allowance of nutrients that can harm the body due to excess, taking the dry powder supplement can lead to accidental choking.

The study, published in the journal Eating Behaviors and conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto, Canada, analyzing dry padding among adolescents, states that one in five of them or young adults has already participated in the viral challenge.

In addition to accidentally inhaling the powdered supplement, ingesting the substance undiluted in water or other liquid can cause problems in the digestive and cardiovascular systems.

Spending a lot of time on social media increases the likelihood of taking part in challenges

Canadian researchers also made interesting discoveries on the subject.

For them, people with the socalled muscular dysmorphia, which is characterized by the search for the perfect body, are more inclined to participate in this trend. Likewise, among survey respondents that included data from 2,700 teenagers and young adults, those who spend more time on social media are more exposed to all types of content. Therefore, these individuals reported the practice of dry shoveling more frequently.

Challenges light alarm

Just as the scientific community is paying attention to the movement of social media To examine the impact of certain trends on physical and mental health, influencers share their experiences with the practice.

Such is the case of Briatney Portillo, a 21yearold dancer who reports suffering a heart attack after practicing dry shoveling. She had to go to the hospital to take care of herself.

It’s too early to say, but researchers are advocating education as a preventative measure to prevent young people from exposing themselves to these and other unhealthy practices.