Photo: Christoph Böhm

FH researchers Elisabeth Höld and Theres Rathmanner explored the hashtag #fitspiration, a global health trend with over 20 million posts on Instagram alone.

Elisabeth Höld, a nutrition scientist and senior researcher at FH St. Pölten's Institute of Health Sciences, has studied adolescents' eating habits and nutrition apps. She notes:

"Social media is an integral part of Austrian teenagers' lives but also a breeding ground for self-proclaimed health prophets and nutrition experts."

Theres Rathmanner, also a nutrition scientist, has focused on eating behaviors and disorders in her research. She co-developed an online course for adolescents as part of the FIVE project and highlights:

"Despite growing up with smartphones and social media, teenagers often lack adequate social media and e-health literacy. This is problematic since they are particularly vulnerable. We must empower them to handle these influences critically."

Online course fosters critical engagement with social media trends

The researchers found that adolescents often overestimate their weight compared to scientific measurements. Eye-tracking studies revealed that they paid more attention to images of their own gender.

In response, a cross-disciplinary online course with 10 modules and an interactive image forensics tool was created for high school students. The course aims to help teenagers critically assess stereotypes about body and gender, the quality of health information, and marketing tactics on social media.

The FIVE project was developed with Hölzel Verlag, Austria's educational publisher, and gender expert Bettina Prokop, funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).