Why a half-hour on Instagram will make you hate your body

JUST 30 minutes a day on Instagram is enough to make women obsessed with their appearance and weight, research reveals.

Kendall Jenner is a prolific user of Instagram.

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JUST 30 minutes a day on Instagram is enough to make women obsessed with their appearance and weight, research reveals. And the more “fitspo­” images women look at online, the more likely they are to have a negative body image.

Australia’s biggest eating disorder charity The Butterfly Foundation today launches a campaign encouraging women and men to take a stance against social media images which it says glorify “body obsession”.

Macquarie University and University of NSW research has now found that when women spend more than 30 minutes on Instagram each day, they were more likely to “self-objectify” and value their body for its appearance above its health and physical functions. It also found the more “fitspo” photos they looked at, the more likely they were to be unhappy about their body.

New research has found looking at #fitspo images is a likely cause of eating disorders in some people.

The study analysed a survey of more than 350 women aged 18-25 in Australia and the US quizzing them on their Instagram habits.

According to the research, women who compared themselves with celebrities were most likely to suffer from “self-objectification”.

“Fitspirations” celebrities include Julia Robert’s niece actor Emma Roberts and models Karlie Kloss and Kendall Jenner, who regularly rake in millions of likes when they post “fitness” photos.

Karlie Kloss on Instagram.

Kendall Jenner is a prolific Instagram poster, making millions from “fitness” photos.

Butterfly Foundation chief executive Christine Morgan said these “fitspo” images could be particularly dangerous because they sent the damaging message that health was about appearance. Ms Morgan said that “appearance-based talk and body comparison can be unremitting, with little understanding of how detrimental it is for self-esteem and mental­ health”.

“Given the increase in popularity of image-based social media platforms with adolescents, it is critical to look at ways that help to mitigate negative effects,” she said.

Emma Roberts is another pusher of the “fitspo” shot on Instagram.

“We need to work together with young people to build a countermovement that promotes true body confidence.”

Ms Morgan said the foundation was now working with Instagram to help point users to its hotline.

She also encouraged people to take a break from social media if they felt overwhelmed.

As part of its campaign, The Butterfly­ Foundation will challenge social media users to post positive body messages with the caption “My body is great because ...” for #LoveYourBodyWeek.

Butterfly Foundation helpline: 1800 334673