Social media is filled with posts about fitness and healthy eating aiming to inspire and encourage better lifestyles. However, out today, a new large review study led by an Olympic athlete reveals that this seemingly motivational content can sometimes have unexpected negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of young adults.
Findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Communication , suggest that even short-term exposure to these posts can have unhealthy consequences, leaving the viewers with reduced self-esteem, feeling unhappy about their looks and potentially having unhealthy motivations around their health and wellbeing.
The outcomes follow an extensive analysis of 26 studies involving 6,111 individuals aged 18 to 33 years across seven countries, examining how exposure to 'fitspiration' content on social media – posts promoting exercise, healthy eating and idealised, toned bodies – affects health-related outcomes.
The research was led by Dr Valerie Gruest, a Guatemalan swimmer who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Dr Gruest is now completing a Ph.D. in the Media, Technology, and Society doctoral program at Northwestern University, in Illinois.
She has carried out the paper alongside Dr Nathan Walter, an Associate Professor at the university's School of Communication.
"Fitspiration content is often framed as positive and health-focused, but our findings suggest it may be more harmful than beneficial for some young adults," says Dr Gruest, whose research interests focus on how new media shapes attitudes and behaviors. "Even brief exposure can trigger harmful comparisons and reinforce unrealistic body standards, which may undermine self-esteem and encourage more extreme or unsustainable approaches to diet and exercise."
Social media use has grown rapidly in recent years, with most young adults now regular users. While these platforms can support connection and self-expression, they can also expose users to idealised standards that encourage comparison and may affect mental health. Fitspiration – often shortened to 'fitspo' – is one example of content that appears beneficial but may carry risks.
With nearly 100 million posts using hashtags such as #fitspiration and #fitspo – and billions of views across platforms like Instagram and TikTok – many young adults are frequently exposed to this content, whether intentionally or not. Despite its popularity, its impact on health and wellbeing remains relatively underexplored.
"I've been fascinated by fitspiration content since my time as an athlete, where it was often held up in elite training environments as the ideal. But even then, I knew those body standards didn't reflect the reality of training for performance, especially when following a balanced, sustainable diet, even while training for multiple hours a day," explains Dr Gruest.
"That curiosity has stayed with me as a researcher. I want to better understand how this kind of content is actually impacting people."
To investigate the issue further, Drs Gruest and Walter examined data from experimental studies published between 2015 and 2023, mainly in the United States, with others from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and New Zealand. Participants were typically shown 10 to 100 fitspiration images, or videos, and their behavioural and psychological outcomes were compared with those exposed to non-fitspiration content.
Statistical analysis showed that exposure to fitspiration content led to increased social comparison, poorer body image, more negative emotions, and stronger – sometimes unrealistic – dieting and exercise motivations. These patterns were broadly consistent across gender, age and body mass index, suggesting that the effects may extend beyond the groups most commonly studied, such as young women.
"While I expected some negative effects, I was struck by just how strong and consistent they were," Dr Gruest states.
"The findings show a pretty concerning pattern, as this kind of exposure can harm both psychological well-being and health behaviours, which makes it all the more important that we keep examining its impact."
Dr Walter, whose research specialism concerns the power of strategic storytelling, correction of misinformation, concludes: "This research adds to the growing conversation about the impact of social media on young people's health and emotional wellbeing, and the role of emotion and affect in social influence.
"Unlike traditional media, fitspiration delivers a constant stream of highly curated and idealised images, meaning young adults are likely to be repeatedly exposed to this content in their everyday lives. As its popularity grows, understanding the effects of this ongoing exposure will be key to supporting healthier engagement in the future."
While a key strength of this analysis is that it includes studies from multiple countries, the authors note some limitations. Participants were largely from developed countries and predominantly women, and reporting on factors such as race, ethnicity and body composition was inconsistent, making it difficult to understand how these effects may vary across more diverse populations.
