Wellness
Study suggests a new way to curb social media’s body image toll
Reflecting on how fitness posts on social media make them feel may help young women reduce the harmful tendency to compare themselves to idealised influencers and content online.
That’s according to a new study that explores the impact of “fitspiration”—fitness-themed inspirational content—on young women’s body image, and whether short, daily reflections could lead to meaningful changes in their emotions and self-perception.
The research found that sending young women twice-daily text messages prompting them to reflect on the fitness content they encountered on social media significantly reduced social comparison—one of the key mechanisms previous studies have identified as contributing to poor body image.
The research was led by Jessica Willoughby, associate professor of communication at Washington State University,
Willoughby said: “We wanted to see whether calling attention to the content people are viewing impacts how they perceive it and, in turn, how they feel about themselves.
“Even content meant to be motivational can include unrealistic ideals or objectifying imagery that affect how young women feel about their own bodies.”
For the study, researchers recruited 40 women between the ages of 18 and 24 who reported viewing fitness content at least occasionally.
Participants completed a pretest survey, then received two daily surveys for four days asking about the content they saw, how it made them feel and their levels of body appreciation.
A follow-up posttest and a set of in-depth interviews with seven participants rounded out the analysis.
The researchers found a significant drop in social comparison after the four-day reflection period.
On the other hand, body appreciation scores rose only slightly, contrary to the team’s initial assumptions, and were not statistically significant.
Likewise, participants showed no measurable change in their knowledge of traditional media literacy, which assesses a person’s ability to critically analyze message sources and content.
Yet the interviews told a deeper story.
Willoughby said: “Our interview participants said the daily surveys made them more aware of how specific types of content—whether body positive, objectifying, or focused on health—made them feel.
“That awareness led some to take action, like curating their feeds or unfollowing accounts that made them feel worse.”
Overall, Willoughby said the study demonstrates the potential of sending daily reflections via text as a low-cost way to help young women avoid the negative impacts of social comparison when viewing content online.
She said: “It’s really easy to get stuck in passive scrolling.
“But just calling attention to what you’re seeing and how it makes you feel can shift how you engage with content—and that can have lasting effects.”
While the study’s small, localised sample limits its generalizability it nevertheless could lay valuable groundwork for future interventions.
Moving forward, Willoughby’s next step is to develop a more robust version of the reflective approach used in the study, incorporating additional prompts informed by best practices in health communication theory.
She also hopes to better understand differences in how individuals perceive sexually objectifying content—especially in the nuanced world of fitness media—and how those perceptions relate to emotional and behavioral outcomes.
The researcher said: “Whether someone views a social post as sexually objectifying or not will vary a lot between a researcher and an 18–24-year-old student.
“That’s especially true with fitness content, where showing certain body parts can be part of the context.
“I think it’s important that we better understand how people perceive this kind of content differently and how those perceptions map onto actual effects.
“And from there, I’d love to develop this into a more fully realised intervention.”
Wearable technology could revolutionise how women understand and manage their menstrual and hormonal health, according to a major new review that assessed dozens of studies involving data from millions of participants.
The review, which examined 40 studies with cohorts ranging from small pilot groups to nearly 19 million participants, found that devices such as the Oura Ring, Apple Watch, Fitbit, WHOOP band and Garmin watches are capable of detecting meaningful physiological changes across the menstrual cycle – and could one day help identify conditions far sooner than current methods allow.
The findings come as growing attention is being paid to the economic and personal toll of menstrual health problems.
Up to 90 per cent of women report cycle-related symptoms including pain, bloating and mood swings, while up to 40 per cent suffer from premenstrual syndrome.
A more severe condition, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, affects up to 8 per cent of women. In economic terms alone, menstrual and perimenopausal symptoms are estimated to cost the United States more than US$26 billion a year.
Researchers found that wearables were able to reproduce well-established hormonal patterns in real-world settings.
Skin temperature was found to be lower in the first half of the cycle before ovulation, and higher afterwards, consistent with known effects of progesterone.
Resting heart rate rose by around two to four beats per minute from the pre-ovulation phase to the days following it.
Heart rate variability, a marker of nervous system activity, was highest in the early cycle and lowest in the premenstrual phase, with lower readings linked to symptoms of PMS and PMDD.
The review also challenged some long-held assumptions.
Digital data suggested that ovulation tends to occur later and more variably than previously thought, with the pre-ovulation phase averaging 15 to 17 days rather than the 13 to 14 days typically cited.
Skin temperature was also found to dip most sharply more than five days before ovulation – not immediately before it – a finding the authors said could have practical implications for women using cycle tracking for contraception or conception.
Large datasets revealed that cycle patterns vary considerably between individuals and across a lifetime.
Nearly 20 per cent of women showed significant cycle-to-cycle variability, and both low and high body weight were linked to longer and less predictable cycles.
The data also pointed to racial differences in menstrual characteristics that had previously gone largely undetected in smaller laboratory studies.
On contraception, the review found that combined hormonal contraceptive users showed flatter, inverted heart rate variability patterns across the cycle, while progestin-only methods produced trends closer to natural cycles.
The authors cautioned that most research has been conducted in the United States and Europe, with predominantly white participants, and called for broader, more diverse studies.
They also flagged significant gaps in research on perimenopause, partly because many studies excluded women with irregular cycles.
Despite these limitations, researchers concluded that wearable devices hold genuine promise for helping women monitor their health and enabling earlier identification of conditions that might warrant medical attention – provided privacy safeguards and standardised research methods are put in place.
Gum disease may impair female fertility by triggering inflammation that affects the ovaries and egg quality, a study in mice suggests.
The findings point to a possible biological link between oral health and unexplained infertility.
Researchers said chronic oral inflammation was linked to oxidative damage, disrupted follicle development and reduced live birth rates in mice.
The study was led by prof Michael Klutstein at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and prof Asaf Wilensky at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center, with students Dr Paz Kles and Stephen Ameho.
Scientists examined inflammation linked to dental implants in a mouse model, a common clinical scenario, meaning the research was carried out in animals rather than people.
They tracked how immune signals moved through the body and found the inflammation did not appear to stay confined to the mouth.
Instead, it triggered a systemic immune response, meaning an immune reaction across the body, that reached the ovaries.
The animals had increased levels of inflammatory cytokines in the ovaries. Cytokines are proteins used by immune cells to send signals during inflammation.
Researchers also found changes in immune cell populations, oxidative damage to ovarian tissue, impaired follicle development and reduced oocyte quality.
Oxidative damage happens when harmful molecules damage cells. Oocytes are immature egg cells, while follicles are small structures in the ovaries that contain developing eggs.
These biological changes were linked to reduced live birth rates under inflammatory conditions.
The study also found that oocytes showed DNA damage and epigenetic alterations similar to those seen in reproductive ageing.
Epigenetic changes affect how genes behave without changing the underlying DNA code.
Prof Klutstein said: “Inflammation is often thought of as a localised response, but our findings show that it can have systemic consequences that extend as far as the reproductive system.
“This work suggests that chronic oral inflammation may be an underrecognised factor in female infertility, potentially contributing to cases that currently have no clear explanation.”
The researchers said the findings add to growing evidence linking oral health with overall health.
Chronic oral inflammatory conditions, such as periodontitis, are widespread and have previously been associated with systemic diseases.
Periodontitis is a severe form of gum disease that can damage the tissue and bone supporting the teeth.
The authors said further research in clinical settings would be needed to understand whether the findings translate to patient care.
If confirmed in humans, they said the work could support new approaches to diagnosis and treatment, including anti-inflammatory or antioxidant strategies aimed at improving fertility outcomes.
Women over 40 are seeking raves for mental and physical wellbeing, with a study suggesting the benefits go beyond nightlife.
The findings challenge the idea that nightlife and electronic dance music events are mainly for younger people.
Published in Psychology of Music, the study focused on the common misconception that nightlife is only for younger audiences.
Researchers surveyed 136 female clubbers aged 40 to 65 about their experiences at electronic dance music events.
The study, carried out at the University of Leeds in England, found women reported mental and physical wellbeing benefits from attending these events.
Seeing favourite DJs was the most common motivation, but many women also described dancing as a way to relieve stress and find emotional support.
The research found that 65.9 per cent of participants described attending a rave as “spiritual”, while 62.9 per cent said it offered an escape from everyday life.
A further 58.3 per cent said they felt like a different version of themselves in a club environment.
Nine in ten participants said they felt at home at electronic dance music events, with many pointing to a shared passion for music and the sense of community around it.
The study also suggested physical fitness played a role, with some women saying they had made clubbing part of their regular exercise routine.
However, the findings also highlighted challenges for older women in nightlife spaces.
One fifth of participants said they felt visibly out of place because of their age.
Nearly half reported unwanted physical contact, leading some to seek out different venues or attend only with friends.
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