Promoting a healthy lifestyle: exploring the role of social media and fitness applications in the context of social media addiction risk

Abstract

Abstract The popularity of social networks turns them into a legal method for promoting a healthy lifestyle, which benefits not only people but also different countries’ governments. This research paper aimed to examine the Keep fitness app integrated into WeChat, Weibo and QQ as regards long-term improvements in health-related behaviors (physical activity, nutrition, health responsibility, spiritual growth, interpersonal relationships and stress management) and assess the associated risk of increased social media addiction. Students from Lishui University in China (N = 300) participated in this study, and they were formed into control and experimental groups. The Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale and Social Media Disorder Scale were used as psychometric instruments. The Keep app was found to improve respondents’ scores on the parameters of physical activity, nutrition and health responsibility (P = 0.00). However, the level of dependence on social media did not change in either the control or the experimental group during the year of research (P ≥ 0.05). It is concluded that fitness apps can be an effective tool to promote healthy lifestyles among young people in China and other countries. The feasibility of government investment in fitness apps to promote healthy lifestyles is substantiated.