Researchers from Australia’s Flinders University came to this conclusion based on 200 videos.
A ZMEScience based on his report, it is worth thinking twice whether we listen to the opinion leaders who produce content on the topic of fitness on one of – if not the – most popular social media platforms, TikTok, because according to a study, they can do more harm than good. Researchers from Australia’s Flinders University analyzed 200 popular TikTok videos specifically using hashtags such as #fittok and #fitness, and finally the experts came up with worrying results: they came to the conclusion that most of the pop-up videos promote unrealistic body image and questionable health advice, disseminates information.
The research, led by Samantha Pryde, clearly revealed gender differences in the portrayal of body ideals, as nearly 80 percent of the analyzed content featured women who were predominantly thin and athletic. This reflects the so-called “fit ideal”, a look that is just as difficult to achieve for most women as the traditional “thin ideal”. In contrast, for men, very muscular, large physiques were promoted – the problem here is that many of these men often used performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids without communicating this to their audience, giving the misleading impression that viewers they can achieve similar results naturally.
Otherwise, more than half of the videos objectified the female body, with depictions often focusing on specific body parts such as thighs and buttocks, while body shaming was common in 20 percent of the videos, and eating disorders were promoted in 8.6 percent. The researchers came to two conclusions: on the one hand, the so-called “fitspiration” videos mostly paint an idealized picture of body types, which can have a negative effect on the users’ self-image (especially young women), and on the other hand, about 60% of the videos contained incorrect or harmful information, as most of the content producers do not have any training in the field they are making videos about. Everything from dubious diet tips to improperly designed exercise programs to homemade detoxification pills have been tried, but these are unproven methods and have huge health risks in both the short and long term.
Many of these videos encourage exercise primarily for appearance rather than health, often ignoring the importance of fitness for mental and physical well-being, the study found.
Source: www.pcwplus.hu
