Research Information System
XXIth International Conference Cyberspace 2023, Brno, Czech Republic, 24 - 25 November 2023, pp.43-44
Background: Using diet pills is prospectively associated with the escalation of eating disorder symptoms. Regular use of muscle-building supplements is identified as a risk factor for subsequent steroid abuse in youth. There is currently limited research on whether exposure to online fitness- and appearance-related content is related to online purchasing of weight loss and muscle-building products in adolescents.
Methods: Czech adolescents (N = 1530; 50% girls) aged 13–18 participated in this study. Quota sampling was used with equal distributions for gender and age. Fitness-related health information seeking, exposure to online body-ideal content (thin-ideal for girls and muscular-ideal for boys), and internalization of beauty ideals were assessed using an online survey. Two separate two-stage hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, controlling for sociodemographic and body image-related characteristics and internet use frequency. The analyses were conducted separately for girls and boys.
Results: Regardless of gender, a higher frequency of seeking online fitness-related health information was associated with online purchasing of weight loss and muscle-building products. Older adolescents purchased muscle-building products more frequently. Higher exposure to and nternalization of muscular body ideals was a significant predictor of purchasing muscle-building products for boys. Girls with a higher BMI were more likely to purchase weight loss products.
Discussion: This is the first study to show the significant role of online fitness-related content seeking in the online purchasing of fitness-related products in adolescents. It newly revealed that exposure to and internationalization of muscular-ideal content might be associated with an increased risk for purchasing muscle-building products in boys.