Check your likes but move your body! How the use of social media is influencing pre-teens body and the role of active lifestyle

The use of social media has been increasing among pre-teens (10-12 years) effects on body image concerns and disordered body image behaviours. In particular, pre-teens using image-centred social media (e.g., Instagram, Tik Tok, etc.) may perceive other users to be more attractive than them with negative influence on their self-esteem increasing body concerns and by impacting evaluations of one’s personal attributes, including physical appearance. It is also associated with a lower propensity to be physically active. This cross-sectional study aimed to test a model of relationships between active lifestyle, body image satisfaction and the use of social media among pre-teens. A sample of 2378 Italian pre-teens (Mage= 12.02 years, SD= 0.82) was recruited. Two anonymous and self-administered questionnaires were used to investigate: social media use, including typology, intensity, image-based use, type of profiles; the representation of the bodies through the social media; the body image; the level of physical activity. Descriptive statistics were computed for all the investigated variables. A multiple linear regression was used to explore the association between body satisfaction (dependent variable) and physical activity levels and the dualism (independent variables). It emerged that the massive use of social media and the exposure to images and videos promoting certain beauty standards are associated with body concerns and disaffection. However, the daily use of the body for walking, practicing sport, etc. helps individuals to establish a positive link between the self and the body, and to mitigate the negative effect of the altered sociocultural models of the body. Pre-teens that were active showed a lower propensity toward body concerns related to the use of social media. Therefore, it can be assumed that the engagement of pre-teens in offline activities counteracts the undesirable consequences of the virtual interactions as it may increase their emotional health and their social skills and reduce the negative effect of social media engagement.