OPINION
Health Awareness is Rising, But at What Price? Ellie George
Sadie Parvis
On the surface, gym and fitness culture seems simple. Go to the gym, eat healthy and take care of your body. Once you begin to dive in, the complexity of keeping your body healthy in the age of severe pressures from social media is more than what it seems. Fitness culture has evolved into something completely different than what it was even 20 years ago. Diet culture, body image and eating habits have evolved as well. The beginning of widespread physical health awareness boomed in the mid 20th century, as President Eisenhower implemented Presidential Fitness Testing into public schools. While the testing initiative has since been criticized, many believe that the origins of youth fitness began here. Since then, Gen Z especially has become more conscious of the importance of health and fitness. According to Center of Disease Control’s data from the National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition study, 12.2 percent of high school students do the recommended 60 minutes of aerobic exercise daily and muscle strengthening three or more days a week. This awareness provides a promising future for the improvement of health in our future generations, but at what cost? The wave of fitness influencers on social media has created an accessibility to diet culture that has not been experienced by prior generations. TikTokers, Instagram influencers and other social media personnel have generated a societal shift in the attitude teens have in relation to fitness. The prominence of social media has contributed to how teens and adults alike view staying healthy, and can even be motivation to work out. This phenomenon is a double-edged sword. Obviously, promoting healthy lifestyles for future generations is great, and is a large stride towards improving the health of future generations. But, if not promoted honestly and correctly, teens can possibly receive misinformation in regards to what their exercise and dieting regimen should be, and could instill harmful health habits. Physical education teacher Mrs. Carrie Keske, one of the LIFE (Lifelong Integration of Food and Exercise) teachers, emphasizes the importance of balancing a healthy diet with a consistent exercise regimen. “Changing your eating habits is a lifestyle change, not something you do for a few weeks, like a fad diet. That is the only way a diet change will be successful,” Mrs. Keske said. The prevalence of fad-diets can be extremely harmful to teens and young adults who are just starting their fitness journey. Calorie deficits paired with vigorous exercise can be very dangerous for growing and developing teens. 22
Sadie Parvis
Students take advantage of the weight room after school to improve their strength and prepare for their sport seasons. “As soon as you start taking away the foods and the things that you love, that’s when it’s going to be a chore,” Mrs. Keske explained. “My biggest suggestion is all in moderation.” While dieting and disordered eating can be prevalent in a gym-goers lifestyle, overexertion can be problematic as well. Fitness influencers and those in the fitness world love to post about different types of workouts and what muscles to work, but rarely do they ever talk about rest days. Many athletes and gym enthusiasts on social media claim to feel ‘gym guilt’ if they take a rest day. Gym guilt is feeling guilty about skipping a workout or taking extra time off from your workout routine. This phenomenon can cause more harm than good. Working out consistently is important, but taking rest days is just as necessary. Heather Fahrenkrog, owner of Heather’s Gym in Libertyville, is a fervent advocate for including diversity of exercises within fitness routines. “When you have a lot of variety in your fitness you don’t need to have a ‘rest day’,” Fahrenkrog said. “Inserting activities like yoga, or even a walk, will alleviate the feeling of gym guilt.” Mrs. Keske also stresses having a set routine to help alleviate the remorse of not working out. “Try and create a routine that you can stay consistent with every single day,” Mrs. Keske said. “Make sure to build in [organized] rest days, so you are still staying active but not harming
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