If you look at the feeds of influencers on Instagram these days, you can always see the body profile feeds. As such, body profiles, aimed at recording the moment by making your body look cool, have become popular. What the body profile craze has brought about is that there are negative winds that undermine its essence. Let’s take a moment to think about it. ..................................................................................... Ed
These days, everyone challenges ‘Body Profile’ in SNS. Body profile is a combination of ‘Body’ and ‘Profile,’which means taking pictures of the best-quality body created through exercise and diet management. Body profile regards it as meaningful to adjust people’s diet and exercise routine to the exact number and record their hard-working bodies by taking pictures. Body profile has an aim to minimize body fat rate and maximize muscle mass for two to three months and people manage diet strictly during the period. Ahn Ji-hyun, a professor of psychiatry at Samsung Medical Center, explained ”The phenomenon in which ordinary people take pictures at professional photo studios and share them on SNS seems to have led to a craze for body profiles that adds up ‘health’, ‘self-management’ and ‘sharing daily life.’”
However, Body Profile has many disadvantages, unlike its fancy appearance. First, bulimia and anorexia. Because Body Profile proceeds within a short period of time, you have to keep a tight diet, which causes anorexia that feels anxious about the eating behavior itself and refuses food. In addition, after following a strict diet menu, ‘cheating day,’ or bulimia due to compensation psychology, occurs. Second, imbalance of nutrients. Rapidly reducing carbohydrates reduces concentration, leading to headaches, fatigue and even dizziness. Also, excessive protein intake causes hair loss. In addition, immoderate reduction of salt may result in electrolyte imbalance. Third, it affects hormones. Hormonal secretion requires some body fat, and since fat cells contribute to estrogen levels, it affects hormone secretion in women, which can lead to irreaular menstruation and early menopause. Fourth, it is a psychological problem. If you suddenly gain weight again after the Body Profile is over, you can feel depression, despondency, and lethargy, and if you frequently measure the circumference of the body and pay too much attention to it, you can develop an obsession with figures. In addition, since it is a diet that sets goals and periods, you can feel impatient and helpless when you fail to achieve your goals.
If you search for ‘Body Profile’ on Instagram, you can see sexual photos that show more than showing off healthy body. Culture critic Kim Heon-sik said that the Body profile culture promotes an atmosphere that values appearance and harms the essence of Body Profile, ‘making a healthy body.’ In addition, it is said that it can be dangerous to see and copy only other people‘s Body Profile images because individual conditions are different. In order to build a healthy body, it is necessary to make a systematic and feasible plan through consultation with experts. Our body likes healty food and exercise, rather than LIKES.
Kim Tae-eun (Planning Editor)
rhfelddl01@soongsil.ac.kr
