Pre-Teens, Social Media, And Body Image: The Role Of Physical Education

Pre-teens are increasingly using social media, impacting their body image and de-creasing physical activity. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok, heavily focused on visuals,might distort their body perception due to constant exposure to external influences. Tocounteract those negative effects, recent studies showed that physical education (PE) classesmight play a crucial role in promoting healthy and active lifestyles. Therefore, the presentstudy aimed to investigate the correlation between the perception of body shape and the in-tensity of PE classes, according to the daily usage of social media platforms among 2378Italian pre-teens. Two self-administered questionnaires were used to investigate social mediause, perception of body shapes, and intensity of PE classes. A statistically significant corre-lation between perceived body image and PE intensity was found for males using mainlyTikTok and Instagram. It also emerged that PE may have a positive impact on students'bodies. Thus, teachers should incorporate the use of social media platforms in their classes toencourage reflection on the use of technology, promote physical literacy, and improvepre-teens’ relationship with their bodies.