Fitness influencers are all the rage. But a university study suggests paying attention to the messages they convey…
– Milan
The watchword is #fitspiration: just type it on Instagram or TikTok to be inundated with hundreds of thousands of fitness-themed content, created by industry influencers, which reveal the secrets to a perfect body shape. But appearances are sometimes deceiving: according to a study, the information published by fitness influencers is not always reliable. On the contrary…
Fitspiration or praise of appearances?
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By analyzing the main profiles that use the hashtag #fitspiration on Instagram, a team of researchers from the University of South Australia found that Nearly two-thirds of the 100 most popular fitness influencers post dubious fitness informationand about one in 4 focuses on content to get noticed hypersexualized or about nudity. And they are not few: the hashtags #fitspiration and #fitspo they are used by thousands of fitness enthusiasts who advocate a healthy lifestyle. And they appear in over 100 million posts.
According to Dr. Rachel Curtis, author of the study, the presence of unreliable and unreliable health and fitness content on a social platform that has over 1.3 billion users worldwide is concerning, especially when it comes to body image and self-esteem. “Scroll your Instagram feed with the hashtags #fitspiration or #fitspo and you’ll be bombarded with images of slim, athletic women promoting exercise, fitness and healthy lifestyles,” she explains. “On the surface, sharing photos, videos and inspirational quotes about fitness and healthy eating should inspire our behavior and help increase well-being during exercise, but that may not be the case.”
Unreliable content
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According to Australian researchers, many of the profiles that promote fitspiration focus on sexually appealing images and videos. And, above all, they produce unreliable content from a scientific point of view. “Many promote unhealthy or unrealistic body shapes – focusing everything on ultra-fit and slim physiques – which implies that only lean and toned bodies are considered healthy and beautiful. But such attention to physical appearance can push people to exercise only for external reasons and generate problems and concerns about body image” (a concern that Salvatore Aranzulla had also confided to Gazzetta).
According to Carol Maher, professor of Digital Health at UniSA’s Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity, “many people turn to social media, such as Instagram, to find information and inspiration regarding physical activity, which implies the need to gain awareness of the proposed contents.Our research has contributed to the creation of a reliable method for recognize authoritative and non-authoritative Instagram accounts in relation to exercise and health. If authoritative profiles can be identified, they could be used in far-reaching public health campaigns to incentivize physical activity.”
How to distinguish reliable profiles
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The tool in question, available on the University website, consists of a questionnaire to fill out when you come across a social profile that promotes fitspiration. Some things to look out for include very sexy photos, excessive Photoshop use, extreme thinness, or muscles that are too perfect to be real. Also, be on the lookout for suggestions to skip meals or follow unusual (albeit questionable) diets, accompanied by negative statements about being overweight.
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