YouTube still recommends videos with eating disorders, researchers say.

Alexandra Johnson, senior research manager at CCDH, said there was “hope to gain” from the report because it showed the regulation had an impact.

“But one video is too many and we don’t want any of this content to get through, especially for vulnerable users. A small algorithm can be enough to get into a very dangerous situation,” she said.

Still being recommended by YouTube, the “thinspo” (short for spoof) account features a collection of girls who believe they are super thin. Below is a video promoting a 170 calorie per day diet for young people. And a video that claims to help users lose weight dramatically is linked to a document titled “The Highly Degraded Bone Danity Body EVA.”

The study also looked at problem panels – a blue box on YouTube that appears below a video on a sensitive topic that can direct users to popular support services.

In the year In 2026, none of the harmful diet videos suggested by YouTube’s algorithm triggered a crisis panel, although the warnings on other diet and body image videos did not list the potential risk of CCDH.

Google says it will block YouTube content that promotes or advocates for eating disorders while “enabling people to share recovery stories.”

It has now removed the videos featured in the CCDH report for violating the Community Guidelines.

A YouTube spokesperson said: “The safety of our viewers is our number one priority, and we are working with professionals including the NHS, Psychiatry and Hybrid to review our approach to mental health.

The site has launched videos from experts that can be seen when a teenage account searches for topics such as depression or eating disorders.

CCDH focused on YouTube for its research because of the website’s popularity among children and young people. Ofcom figures, External It shows that 88% of 3-17 year olds have used it.