Ejercicio OPTION B - II · Inglés PAU País Vasco Ordinaria 2024

OPTION B

Fitspiration

Fitspiration is a new and popular social media trend that promotes exercise, health, and fitness. Fitspiration involves showing encouraging body images and videos that emphasise the importance of taking up exercise and healthy dietary habits to achieve an athletic body.

Fitspiration began several years after the #thinspiration movement, a trend that considered a thin body as an ideal body image, and it has since gained a huge worldwide following. In fact, more than 90 million related photos and videos were found when searching for #fitspiration and #fitspo on Instagram in April 2023.

Despite the good intentions and the many benefits of the #fitspiration movement, scientific evidence says that it is doing more harm than good. A study with more than 200 participants found that there was a high number of followers who felt stressed by Fitspiration content. One emerging problem related to this content is body dissatisfaction, mainly caused by constant exposure to photos or videos of people with 'perfect' body types. Actually, research has shown that this body dissatisfaction can contribute to mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts, low self-confidence and social isolation.

But body dissatisfaction is not the only negative aspect of this movement. Exercise addiction is also common among Fitspiration followers. Fitspiration encourages the idea of "pushing yourself to the limit", which can lead people to exercise despite being injured or feeling sick and may also cause feelings of guilt when interrupting an exercise routine, even for a necessary rest.

As the physique pursued by Fitspiration followers is often unrealistic and it is also difficult to achieve through natural means, many of them opt for nutritional supplements and unhealthy body-enhancing drugs, which are frequently associated with harmful side effects.

In addition, Fitspiration supporters are increasingly concerned because followers' excessive control over eating habits frequently leads to poor nutrition. Recent studies have found that individuals who are constantly exposed to Fitspiration content are more likely to suffer from anorexia or bulimia.

It is common for some people to use social media for self-confidence and approval. These people are more likely to be negatively affected by movements like Fitspiration. To prevent this from happening, experts advise people to develop the habit of using social media responsibly, to set limits on its use, and to balance life and social media, making an effort to interact with people in real life.

II.- Are these statements True or False? Justify your answers based on information from the text, rewriting the original sentences in your own words or quoting properly. (Choose 2 out of the 3 statements) (2 marks)

1.

Fitspiration is a trend that has many followers.

TRUE

FALSE

2.

According to recent scientific evidence, Fitspiration is more beneficial than harmful.

TRUE

FALSE

3.

Fitspiration supporters are not very worried about the way Fitspiration followers eat.

TRUE

FALSE