A recent study by the children’s commissioner for England found children are being “bombarded” with harmful products online. Teenagers aged 13 to 17 regularly see weight-loss drugs, steroids, and skin-whitening creams on social media, apps, and video games. The survey showed 41% saw prescription-only weight-loss drugs, 27% spotted toxic skin-whitening creams, and 24% encountered steroids or muscle-building drugs. These appear in influencer posts, ads from small creators, and gaming, even though many are banned for under-18s. Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, said, “Extreme and potentially dangerous appearance-changing products are being normalised to children through advertising, influencer culture and online posts, despite many of these products being unsafe, illegal or strictly age-restricted.” She added, “For their developing and fragile sense of self-esteem, this is immensely damaging.” The government is considering a social media ban for under-16s, but Dame Rachel warned this would not guarantee immediate safety. She stressed any ban must have clear enforcement to avoid pushing children to darker corners of the internet. More than half of the children reported seeing ads for weight-loss foods and diet plans. One in five had tried weight-loss food, and 8% tried non-prescription weight-loss pills. Some children suffered side effects, like infections from eyelash products with undisclosed chemicals. Over 75% of the 2,000 teens polled said these products hurt their self-esteem. The study also highlighted ethnic differences. Black children were more likely to try weight-loss products and see skin-lightening cream ads, even though these products are illegal in the UK. Two-thirds of children had seen teeth-whitening ads, and 56% of girls saw posts about cosmetic procedures like Botox, which are illegal for minors. The report calls for stricter controls: banning all ads to children on social media, strengthening rules to protect children from body stigma content, and better enforcement to stop online sales of age-restricted products to minors. A government spokesperson said, “The Online Safety Act includes some of the strongest online safety protections in the world. We just launched a campaign to help parents tackle harmful content such as body-shaming.” They added a new consultation is underway to explore bold steps like banning social media for under-16s and tackling addictive features. The call is clear: urgent action is needed to make the internet safer for children and stop it profiting from their insecurities.