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“I aspire to look and feel healthy like the posts convey”: engagement with fitness inspiration on social media and perceptions of its influence on health and wellbeing

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Public Health, August 2018
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (94th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (94th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
3 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
twitter
27 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page
reddit
1 Redditor
video
2 YouTube creators

Citations

dimensions_citation
137 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
569 Mendeley
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Title
“I aspire to look and feel healthy like the posts convey”: engagement with fitness inspiration on social media and perceptions of its influence on health and wellbeing
Published in
BMC Public Health, August 2018
DOI 10.1186/s12889-018-5930-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Michelle Raggatt, Cassandra J. C. Wright, Elise Carrotte, Rebecca Jenkinson, Kate Mulgrew, Ivanka Prichard, Megan S. C. Lim

Abstract

Fitspiration is a popular social media trend containing images, quotes and advice related to exercise and healthy eating. This study aimed to 1) describe the types of fitspiration content that users access and how they engage with content, 2) investigate the disordered eating and exercise behaviours and psychological distress of individuals who access fitspiration, and 3) understand the perceived influence of fitspiration on health and wellbeing. Participants who access fitspiration content were recruited via social media to complete a cross-sectional online survey. Participants' psychological distress was measured using the Kessler 10 Psychological Distress Scale (K10); disordered eating behaviours using the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26); and compulsive exercise behaviours using the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI). Participants also answered a series of open-ended questions about their experiences with fitspiration. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted for quantitative data. Responses to open-ended questions were analysed for key themes using an iterative process of open, axial and thematic coding. Participants (N = 180, 151 female, median age 23.0 years (IQR 19.0, 28.5)) most commonly accessed content posted by personal trainers and athletes (59.4%), posts tagged with the 'fitspiration' hashtag (53.9%) and posted by 'everyday' people (53.3%). Overall, 17.7% of participants were classified as high risk for an eating disorder, 17.4% reported very high levels of psychological distress, and 10.3% were at risk of addictive exercise behaviours. Participants described both positive and negative influences of engaging with fitspiration content. The influence on their health beliefs and behaviours was explained through four key themes: 1) Setting the 'healthy ideal', 2) Failure to achieve the 'ideal', 3) Being part of a community, and 4) Access to reliable health information. Many participants reported benefits of fitspiration content including increased social support and access to health information. However, participants also reported that fitspiration content could negatively influence their wellbeing and perception of healthy goals. Content posted by relatable individuals or qualified experts was perceived as most trustworthy. Future research is needed to determine the individual and content-related factors associated with negative and positive fitspiration experiences.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 27 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 569 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 569 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 101 18%
Student > Master 72 13%
Student > Ph. D. Student 37 7%
Researcher 21 4%
Student > Postgraduate 18 3%
Other 60 11%
Unknown 260 46%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 75 13%
Nursing and Health Professions 37 7%
Social Sciences 32 6%
Sports and Recreations 29 5%
Medicine and Dentistry 26 5%
Other 91 16%
Unknown 279 49%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 49. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 November 2023.
All research outputs
#851,210
of 25,381,864 outputs
Outputs from BMC Public Health
#899
of 17,040 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#17,842
of 337,783 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Public Health
#17
of 299 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,381,864 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 17,040 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 337,783 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 299 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.